As our weekly report is published Thursday, the 2A girls’ basketball schedule is down to the final 10 days of the regular season.  We look at each conference race and lay out the scenarios in the race for league championships.
 

BLACK FOREST

Simla, Ellicott and Calhan all remain unbeaten in league play and all three are one game up on fourth place Peyton.  Ellicott is involved in two games this week as they host Peyton on Friday and then venture to Calhan on Saturday.  Simla has one conference game left this week as they meet Colorado Springs School Saturday afternoon.
Simla also meets Calhan and Ellicott next week so the league champion won’t be crowned until the final few days of the season.  If Simla and Calhan both win on Saturday, then their meeting on the 14th will determine first and second for the league race and district bracketing.  The same scenario holds true for Simla and Ellicott if they stay perfect ahead of their clash on the 16th.
Despite a tough loss to Limon (69-37) on Tuesday, the Bulldogs could be considered the slight favorite for the crown as they beat Simla (60-46) and Peyton (59-54) earlier this season.  Ellicott has won their last two and four of their last five.  They also have a win over Peyton but fell short to Simla in non-league play last month.
 

SANTA FE

Swink took a huge step to winning another league championship by beating Rocky Ford last week.  The Lions (11-1) are now alone in first by one game over both the Meloneers (10-2) and Fowler (9-2).  They do not have any games remaining against their top two challengers so they can clinch the championship outright by beating Swallows Charter on Thursday and Crowley County next week.  One win will also do the trick if Fowler beats Rocky Ford on the 13th.
The Rocky Ford-Fowler rematch will help determine second and third in the conference race.  Rocky Ford won the first meeting 47-40.  The winner earns an automatic trip to the regional tournament as the top two seeds to the semifinals which guarantees a top four district finish and advancement to the following week of play.
The race for fourth is a tight battle between Las Animas, Crowley County and Hoehne.  Las Animas has finished games with the top three clubs so they may have the advantage.  Crowley County must still play both Swink and Fowler so it may be difficult for the Chargers to keep pace with the other two.
 

SOUTHERN PEAKS

Sargent has a busy and important week as they face both Del Norte (Friday) and Sanford (Saturday) this weekend.  The Farmers dropped both first meetings against the two and likely won’t catch them in the league standings.  Still a win against either gives them momentum heading into the district tournament later this month.
Del Norte has a one game edge on Sanford and those two collide again next week.  But we believe the game is a non-league affair and won’t affect district pairings.
 

LOWER PLATTE

Yuma and Holyoke share the top spot with identical 5-0 records with Wray sitting alone in third (4-1) and Haxtun fourth at 3-2.  Haxtun scored a big win over Merino last week and another win over Wiggins on Thursday will lock up a top four finish which gives them a home game for the district quarterfinals.
Three major games remain on the schedule that will determine the order of the top four spots.  Getting the most attention is next Tuesday’s battle between Yuma and Holyoke.  For Yuma, that game could be the clincher to the league championship if the Indians get by Haxtun this Friday.  Holyoke cannot clinch the title by beating Yuma next week as they also have third place Wray on their schedule on the 16th.
Wray has two games this weekend.  They host Merino on Thursday and then visit Akron on Friday.  Holyoke goes to Caliche on Thursday for their only conference game of the week.
 

MILE HIGH

Three clubs remain in the chase for the league championship, but ironically all three teams will head to different district tournaments come playoff time.  Highland (7-0) and Denver Christian (9-0) share first place with Heritage Christian (7-1) in third place.  Highland will be favored to win 2A District 7, Denver Christian moves to District 4 to battle Limon and Heritage Christian drops into Class 1A District 4 and will face Fleming and Briggsdale there.
Two games will determine the league championship and both involve Highland.  The Huskies face Heritage Christian on Saturday and Denver Christian next Tuesday.  If the Huskies get the win on Saturday, the contest with Denver Christian will determine first and second place.
Highland has won 11 straight since a loss to Eaton on December 5th.  They also have games with Nederland this Friday and Twin Peaks Charter next week but the Huskies will be heavily favored in both and we don’t expect either to impact the league championship chase.
Denver Christian has a win over Heritage Christian (45-41) and has won their last nine since falling to Limon (55-46).  They’re at Union Colony Prep on Friday and will be favored there.
 

SAN JUAN

Even with five games remaining, Ignacio can become the first club in Class 2A to clinch a number one district seed.  They lead all other 2A clubs by at least four games in the league standings so a win over Telluride on Friday locks up the top district seed.  For the league race, the Bobcats lead 1A rivals Dove Creek and Ouray by two games.  They’ve beaten Dove Creek and close with Ouray but that final game could be meaningless in Ignacio wins out in league play until then.
Dolores, Telluride and Norwood all have four league losses and are battling for spots two through four in the district tournament.  Dolores plays Telluride on Thursday and Norwood on Saturday and wins in both will give them the runner-up spot.  The Bears are favored in both as they beat Telluride (34-13) and Norwood (62-35) in first meetings.
Norwood and Telluride square off next Tuesday and if both lose to Dolores this week, that game will determine third and fourth.
 

UNION PACIFIC

Limon clinched the league championship with their exciting double-overtime win at Burlington last Saturday.  The Badgers wrap up their league schedule against Byers on Friday.  They then have three non-conference games remaining on their schedule including a date with 3A Strasburg this Saturday.
Burlington responded from the loss by beating Stratton/Liberty 41-27 on Tuesday and that gave the Cougars second place.  The Cougars are 14th in RPI points and could still move up higher as they have games remaining with Simla (Friday) and Wray (next Tuesday).
 

WESTERN SLOPE

Soroco (9-0) remains alone in first place and can clinch the league championship by beating Plateau Valley on Friday if Paonia also beats Meeker the same night.  Soroco leads Rangely and Meeker by one game in the league chase with Paonia in fourth two league losses.
Meeker still has a game with remaining with Soroco on the 16th and will remain in the championship race if they get by Paonia on Friday regardless of what else happens.
Another key game next week has Rangely going to Paonia.  If Paonia beats Meeker, that outcome will help determine spots two through four.  If Meeker gets the win over Paonia, then the Rangely-Paonia winner should land third place.