Official district tournament pairings will start showing up in our inbox over the next couple of days, but we want to look at each district and project out which teams have already clinched or are in position to land top tournament seeds. Teams of course are battling to earn berths to the regional tournaments in the first week of March.
District 3 earns three regional tournament berths and five teams from District 5 will qualify. All other districts in Class 2A advance their top four teams to the regional tournament round. District champs earn the right to play at home and those teams will be seeded one through eight based on RPI standings once district brackets are played out.
DISTRICT #1
The order of the top four seeds is almost set. Del Norte beat Sanford and Sargent earlier this year so the Tigers will be the top district seed with Sanford second as the Indians beat the Farmers head-to-head in the conference meeting. Spot number four could be determined on Friday as the winner between Center and Custer County should earn that position.
DISTRICT #2
Yuma’s win over Holyoke on Tuesday gave the top seed to the Indians. They close their regular season against Akron on Thursday. With the loss, Holyoke dropped into a second-place tie with Wray and those two clubs meet on Friday to decide spots two and three in the bracket. Wray beat the Dragons in non-league play earlier this year and game two could be a preview of the district semifinals.
Haxtun has wrapped up the fourth seed with Merino most likely the 5th seed. Wiggins, Sedgwick County and Akron will sit in spots six through eight.
DISTRICT #3
Ignacio is unbeaten in the San Juan conference and the Bobcats have already locked up the top district seed. They are a whopping five games better in the loss column than any other 2A league rival.
Dolores (7-5) and Norwood (6-5) are battling for the second position. Dolores hosts Mancos on Friday and will be favored there after beating the Bluejays 51-30 in the first meeting. If that happens, then Norwood must win twice to force a tie with Dolores. The Mavericks are home to Dove Creek on Friday and then visit Ridgway on Saturday. Even if that happens, Dolores is the likely #2 seed based on point differential in two head-to-head meetings with Norwood.
Telluride closes up the regular season against Ridgway on Friday and will be the fourth seed win or lose as they’ve beaten fifth place Mancos twice. Ridgway will be the sixth seed.
DISTRICT #4
Head-to-head results coupled with RPI to break ties are used to determine the seeding order. 2A teams from the Union Pacific are joined by a few clubs from the Mile HIgh to make up the district bracket.
Limon currently sits as the number one seed and will earn a first-round seed in the seven-team tournament. Denver Christian is the second seed and due to a strong showing in RPI is looking at a very high regional seed if they can nab the district crown.
Burlington is the #3 seed and has momentum based on Tuesday’s win over 2nd ranked Wray. Byers is the fourth seed with Front Range Christian in the fifth spot. Nederland and Lotus Academy round out the field.
DISTRICT #5
Soroco (10-0) enters the final weekend with a one game edge on Rangely and Meeker (9-1). The Rams close the season against Meeker and a win there gives the Rams the outright championship. In that scenario, Rangely grabs the second seed based on a win over Meeker. The Panthers have a tough road trip to Paonia on Friday in their regular season finale.
Things get a bit messy if Meeker upsets Soroco. If Rangely also wins, then the three teams will share the league title and a tiebreaker will be needed to determine the order. If Meeker and Paonia both win, then Meeker is #1 with Soroco #2 and Rangely #3. Paonia could jump to fourth with a win if Vail Christian falls to Hotchkiss. Paonia and Vail Christian currently share fourth (7-3) and Vail Christian won the head-to-head meeting.
DISTRICT #6
Swink is the league champion and draws the top seed for the district tournament which begins later this week. The Lions and Fowler earn byes all the way to the semifinal round which clinches a berth in the regional tournament in early March.
Fowler grabbed the second spot and bye to the semifinals by beating Rocky Ford on Tuesday night (34-29). Rocky Ford falls to third with the loss. Las Animas is the fourth seed and both the Meloneers and Trojans also receive a first-round bye.
Hoehne and Crowley County finished with identical league records of 5-9 to share fifth. They split two matchups but the Chargers will get the fifth seed as they have a higher RPI overall. Both teams will host first round games later this week. Crowley County will entertain Swallows Charter and Hoehne will host John Mall.
DISTRICT #7
Denver Christian edged Highland to win the Mile-High league championship on Saturday but as mentioned, the Thunder move to District 4 for the post-season. That leaves the Huskies as the top seed. Lyons will be the number two seed with Clear Creek coming in as the third seed after winning the 3A Frontier championship. The Golddiggers have a very early win over Lyons so they would be considered the favorite if a rematch occurs in the district semifinals.
Dawson and Dayspring Christian (both 5-5) are in a tight race for the fourth spot. It’s a crucial race as the winner gets a chance to play at home in the quarterfinals with the loser facing a tough road challenge. Dayspring Christian won the head-to-head meeting so they get the nod if both teams grab wins in their final games. Dawson closes at Longmont Christian while Dayspring Christian concludes the schedule against Union Colony Prep.
DISTRICT #8
The final bracket in Class 2A may have the most to decide in the final week as three teams remain in the chase for the top overall seed. Simla and Ellicott are both 6-0 in the Black Forest standings and currently share the top spot.  They collide on Friday but both teams have a second important game as well.
Simla starts the fun by facing third-place Calhan (5-1) on Wednesday night. Calhan beat the Cubs 60-46 in non-league play and is the only team to topple Simla this year. Simla also meets Ellicott on Friday and that game will decide the top two seeds if the Cubs take out Calhan on Wednesday.
Ellicott stayed in a first-place tie by topping Calhan 52-48 last week. The Thunderhawks also have a date with Dolores Huerta on Saturday but that game is meaningless to the championship picture if they grab a win over Simla the night before.
Peyton (4-2) and Colorado Springs School (3-3) are fourth and fifth but will factor greatly into spots one through five. They meet on Thursday plus Peyton has the aforementioned date with Calhan on Friday. Colorado Springs School beat Peyton 54-48 in a non-league matchup earlier this year.
