The latest look at the Class 2A boys’ basketball post-season includes two different district champions from our projections last week.  Denver Christian scored a big win over Byers and now becomes our favorite to land the District 4 championship and Peyton’s win over Simla makes the Panthers the favorite inside District 8.  We make those changes this week and that alters the potential regional bracket quite a bit.
First up, our thoughts on district tournaments.  Below is our pick for each champion and then other qualifiers from each bracket.  District 3 receives three bids to the regional tournament and District 5 has five qualifiers with the remaining districts each sending their top four clubs.  Order behind the district champions is not that important in the bracket as non-champions are simply seeded 9-32 based on RPI with a few teams possibly moved to avoid district pairings in round one.  Geography and travel could also come into play for teams seeded 25-32.

  • District 1
    • Champion: Sanford
    • Other qualifiers: Del Norte, Sargent, Center
  • District 2
    • Champion: Yuma
    • Other qualifiers: Sedgwick County, Wray, Akron
  • District 3
    • Champion: Mancos
    • Other qualifiers: Ignacio, Telluride
  • District 4
    • Champion: Denver Christian
    • Other qualifiers: Byers, Limon, Clear Creek
  • District 5
    • Champion: Vail Christian
    • Other qualifiers: Soroco, Plateau Valley, Paonia, Meeker
  • District 6
    • Champion: Holly
    • Other qualifiers: Fowler, Rocky Ford, Swallows Charter
  • District 7
    • Champion: Highland
    • Other qualifiers: Heritage Christian, Dayspring Christian, Gilpin County
  • District 8
    • Champion: Peyton
    • Other qualifiers: Simla, Dolores Huerta, Colorado Springs School

 
With those selections, the district champions are seeded one through eight based on RPI with the remaining qualifiers placed in positions nine through 32.
District champions

  1. Holly
  2. Highland
  3. Yuma
  4. Denver Christian
  5. Peyton
  6. Sanford
  7. Mancos
  8. Vail Christian

Remaining Qualifiers

  1. Fowler
  2. Limon
  3. Heritage Christian
  4. Byers
  5. Sargent
  6. Dayspring Christian
  7. Sedgwick County
  8. Simla
  9. Rocky Ford
  10. Del Norte
  11. Swallows Charter
  12. Dolores Huerta
  13. Akron
  14. Plateau Valley
  15. Wray
  16. Paonia
  17. Ignacio
  18. Telluride
  19. Colorado Springs School
  20. Clear Creek
  21. Meeker
  22. Soroco
  23. Gilpin County
  24. Center

In laying out brackets, we moved just four teams.  We exchanged spots with Telluride and Colorado Springs School to avoid placing the Miners in a first round pairing with league rival Mancos.  Abd then we moved Soroco and Gilpin County to avoid placing Gilpin County with Highland in round one.  Additional teams could obviously be moved for travel purposes as well but overall the bracket lays out quite well.
Please note that once the regional champions are crowned, the bracket will be reseeded for the state tournament.
 
REGION ONE

#1 Holly
#32 Center
#16 Simla
#17 Rocky Ford

 
REGION TWO

#2 Highland
#31 Soroco
#15 Sedgwick County
#18 Del Norte

 
REGION THREE

#3 Yuma
#30 Gilpin County
#14 Dayspring Christian
#19 Swallows Charter

 
REGION FOUR

#4 Denver Christian
#29 Meeker
#13 Sargent
#20 Dolores Huerta

 
REGION FIVE

#5 Peyton
#28 Clear Creek
#12 Byers
#21 Akron

 
REGION SIX

#6 Sanford
#27 Telluride
#11 Heritage Christian
#22 Plateau Valley

 
REGION SEVEN

#7 Mancos
#26 Colorado Springs School
#10 Limon
#23 Wray

 
REGION EIGHT

#8 Vail Christian
#25 Ignacio
#9 Fowler
#24 Paonia

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.