As the regular season winds down, top teams are getting busy. This weekend has great match-ups from around the state, including four featuring ranked opponents.
Things get started on Thursday with a ranked match-up between #8 Wiley (10-4, 7th RPI) and #6 Genoa-Hugo (12-1, 3rd RPI). It’s a non-league contest, but with both teams inside the top-10 of the RPI, the winner should see a nice boost in the standings.
Genoa-Hugo will put a six-game winning streak on the line in this home game, and the Pirates have shown the ability to win by playing up tempo or by slugging it out on defense. Two wins in the streak saw them score more than 50 points and two more had the Pirates scoring 35 or fewer. On the season, the Pirates average 42 points a game. Ryely Smartt leads the way at 13.4 points and 10.8 rebounds, while Brylee Miller (8.9 ppg) and Dixie Lockhart (7.8 ppg) combine for close to 17 points.
Wiley dropped its last outing to Syracuse (KS) but had won three straight prior, and seven of nine overall. Marissa Vasquez tops the Panthers at close to 12 points a game. She had scored double figures in seven straight games before the game against Syracuse. Wiley has four players averaging at least seven points and five pulled down more than six rebounds. Mariana Morales is the leader on the glass, recording 13.3 rebounds a night. Wiley has won two straight against the Pirates, but Genoa-Hugo had won three in a row before.
Genoa-Hugo also has another key non-league game on Saturday, hosting #7 Fleming (12-2, 6th RPI). The Wildcats picked up a huge 49-41 victory over #3 Briggsdale (14-1, 2nd RPI) last week, creating a tie atop the North Central standings. Kendyl Kirkwood posted a double-double of 20 points and 15 rebounds in the win. She went a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line. It was her five straight double-double and tenth of the season. That was the 10th straight win for the Wildcats since an earlier loss to the Falcons.
While neither McClave (7-6, 14th RPI) nor Cheyenne Wells (4-9, 28th RPI) are ranked, their Thursday meeting has major implications inside the High Plains league. McClave is tied with #1 Kit Carson (14-0, 1st RPI) atop the league and the Cards need a win to keep the pressure on the Wildcats. Cheyenne Wells is one game back and a loss eliminates the Tigers from the race. Both enter the game on losses. McClave has lost two straight after a four-game winning streak, while the Tigers had their own three-game winning streak snapped in their last outing.
Kaci Chadwick is the lone double figure scorer for Cheyenne Wells, averaging just over 10 points a game. The senior also grabs close to 10 boards a night. She will try to help the Tigers snap a five-game skid in the series. McClave owns a 15-3 advantage in recent meetings, but six of the last eight have been decided by single digits.
Friday’s action includes a first place battle in the YWKC, with Otis (6-6, 37th RPI) hosting Arickaree/Woodlin (6-6, 15th RPI). Those two, along with Idalia (5-9, 25th RPI) share the top spot in the league and the winner gains the inside track to a league title. A/W enters on a two-game winning streak, including last week’s non-league victory over Idalia. In those two wins, the Indian-Mustangs allowed a total of 39 points. Micah Koolstra, who leads the Indian-Mustangs in scoring at just under 13 points a game, has scored double digits in five straight and 10 of 12 for the season. The only two times she failed to reach that plateau, she scored eight and nine points.
Otis has been trending the other direction, dropping four consecutive games. The first two losses in that stretch were by a total of eight points. The last two, against ranked opponents, were by 14 and 13. AnnaLise Glosson has been the primary scoring threat for the Bulldogs, averaging close to 11 points, but Becca Bleak can also put points on the board, averaging close to nine points. Otis, who owned long winnings streaks over both Woodlin and Arickaree as separate programs, has dropped five straight to the co-op program.
Heading to the Western Slope, 2A Hotchkiss enters the weekend tied with 2A #10 Soroco for second place in the league, one game back of 2A #8 Meeker. Those two play on Saturday, but first, North Park (9-3, 12th RPI) gets its shot at the Bulldogs. The Wildcats are tied with #8 De Beque (11-3, 8th RPI) for fourth in the league, but they own the tiebreaker over the Dragons, thanks to a head-to-head win three weeks ago. North Park rebounded from a loss to Soroco two weeks back with wins over a pair of 2A league opponents last week. The Wildcats don’t post stats, but last year’s top two scorers, Kayla Jenkins and Devynn Johnson are back. Both averaged more than 12 points last season. Most of the supporting cast is back as well, including Bailey VanValkenburg and Peyton Sanchez, who each scored just over four points a game last year. A win by North Park would move them into a tie for third place.
Sierra Grande (8-6. 26th RPI) finds itself needing to beat #10 Cotopaxi (12-2, 9th RPI) on Friday to remain tied with #4 Sangre de Cristo (11-2, 5th RPI) for first place in the Southern Peaks. The Panthers had a five-game winning streak snapped by 2A Sanford in their last game out, and they were held to just 18 points in that loss. In their six losses, the Panthers have scored 35 points or more just once, while in their wins, they’ve scored at least 48 points every time. Abby Corona shoulders much of the scoring load, leading the team with just over 15 points a game. The senior also leads the classification with eight steals a game. She’s recorded six double-doubles on the season, all with points and steals.
Cotopaxi brings a three-game winning streak into the match-up. Since being held to 12 points in a loss to Sangre de Cristo two weeks ago, the Pirates have averaged 52 points in the winning run. Koylynn Gulliford came up one point shy of matching her career-high with 28 points last week against Crested Butte. The sophomore also pulled down 11 boards to record her fourth double-double of the season. Claire Carlson also posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. It was her first of the year. Those two may need to have similar nights for the Pirates to snap an 11-game losing streak to the Panthers.
The marquee match-up of the weekend doesn’t take place until Saturday, but it should be worth the wait. Kit Carson takes what could be a 15-game winning streak (just this season) on the road for a non-league clash with #5 Haxtun (12-2, 11th RPI). The Wildcats enter the weekend having won all 14 of their games this season as they look for their third straight state championship. Before they head for the meeting with the Bulldogs, they must take care of business against Cheraw (6-8, 32nd RPI). The Bulldogs, who saw their six-game winning streak snapped by 2A #3 Wray last weekend, have already picked up two wins since that defeat, including one over 2A Akron earlier this week.
There are a number of talented players on each side, but the featured match-up is that of Kit Carson’s Tess Hornung and Haxtun’s Dawson Knode. Knode averages 16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and five steals and she’s coming off a rare quadruple-double against Akron. Tuesday night, the senior tallied 23 points, 12 rebounds, 14 steals, and 10 assists. It was the fourth time this season she’s recorded at least a triple-double. For a very deep Wildcat squad, Hornung averages 18 points, eight rebounds, two steals, and two assists. She recorded a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds last week against Springfield (8-4, 10th RPI) while only playing about half of the game.