The regular season for 1A girls’ basketball is in the final two weeks and we continue our weekly series on predicting post-season brackets.  In our report this week, we again will pick district champions and other qualifiers and then place them in the regional bracket.  And then later on Tuesday, we’ll produce a podcast where we pick the state tournament qualifiers.
Leading us off are picks for district qualifiers.  Districts 1 and 7 send two qualifiers to regionals and the remaining six brackets will advance their top three.  Our picks, in order, for district finish.

  • District 1: DeBeque, North Park
  • District 2: Kit Carson, McClave, Eads
  • District 3: South Baca, Wiley, Springfield
  • District 4: Briggsdale, Fleming, Merino
  • District 5: Haxtun, Arickaree/Woodlin, Idalia (plays Otis this week)
  • District 6: Sangre De Cristo, Cotopaxi, Sierra Grande
  • District 7: Genoa Hugo, Elbert
  • District 8: Shining Mountain, Belleview Christian, Cornerstone Christian

 
Next, we use the district qualifiers to project regional tournament brackets.  Region 1 is easy as Districts 1 and 7 simply cross bracket their champions against the runner-up teams from the opposite division.  These games will be played March 2nd with both winners advancing to the state tournament.  The matchup between Genoa Hugo and North Park could be one of the best regional finals statewide.  North Park beat DeBeque in the regular season but we moved the Dragons ahead of them for districts since they were missing a key player in the contest.
Region 1 — Glenwood Springs

  • DeBeque vs Elbert
  • Genoa Hugo vs North Park

 
Region Two pairings are set strictly by RPI with some possible movement to avoid district matchups in round one.  Using our list of qualifiers and RPI standings from February 5th, Briggsdale, Fleming and Haxtun earn the top three seeds and receive first round byes.  They will meet winners from Friday on Saturday March 2nd with winners of all three games that day moving to state.  Based on RPI standings from today, teams should stay in order with no movement since district rivals are not paired up.
Region 2 — Northeastern Junior College

  • #4 Arickaree/Woodlin vs #9 Cornerstone Christian — winner vs #3 Haxtun
  • #5 Shining Mountain vs #8 Idalia — winner vs #2 Fleming
  • #6 Belleview Christian vs #7 Merino — winner vs #1 Briggsdale

 
Region Three pairings are a bit different as the committee will avoid placing two teams from the same district into a three-team pod.  So each pod will consist of one team apiece from Districts 2, 3 and 6.  Some shifting from true RPI seeding will be needed to avoid such matchups.  Kit Carson, South Baca and Sangre De Cristo are projected as district champions so they would receive first round byes as the top three seeds.  By RPI, Kit Carson would be #1, South Baca #2 and Sangre De Cristo #3.  First round games are March 1st with the regional finals on March 2nd.  All three winners on Saturday move forward to the state tournament in Pueblo.
Region 3 — La Junta High School

  • #4 Springfield vs #9 Eads — winner vs #3 Sangre De Cristo
  • #5 Cotopaxi vs #8 McClave — winner vs #2 South Baca
  • #6 Wiley vs #7 Sierra Grande — winner vs #1 Kit Carson

 
Colorado Preps will also predict state tournament qualifiers in Classes 1A, 2A and 3A later Monday. It will be presented in our newest podcast and will be available through the website.