When district tournament seeds are finalized in late February, fans of 3A boys basketball may look back to this week as the defining moment of the regular season. Four top 10 matchups are on the schedule including highly anticipated clashes between Resurrection Christian-Sterling and Lutheran-Faith Christian. Both are set for Tuesday night and that evening also includes an important meeting of Eaton and University.
Since neither #4 Lutheran or #5 Faith Christian is expected to drop another conference game, their Tuesday clash should determine the top two spots in the Metro. It should be a very good contest.
When facing Lutheran, opponents must always deal with the tremendous size of the Lions as they trot out 6-11 Baye Fall, 6-7 Madamou Sow and 6-5 Kyle Budnack. Fall is always a matchup nightmare but Faith Christian can battle the other two with the likes of Caleb Ruter (6-6), Garret Everitt (6-5) and Caleb Clark and Seth Sperger (both 6-4).
Defense has been very strong for Faith Christian of late as they’ve allowed just 30 total points in blowing past Skyview Academy (58-12) and Stargate (68-18) last week. The Eagles allowed just 50 total shots in those two wins and forced 53 turnovers. Individually, Ruter leads Faith in both scoring (14.3) and rebounds (8.1) while Isaiah Kroll (12.2) and Clark (12.0) both average double figures.
Lutheran also had an easy time in their lone conference game to date in beating Prospect Ridge 87-37. The Lions led 26-4 after one quarter and then 52-12 at halftime. In limited minutes, Fall totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds. Sow went for 15 points and Budnack 14 as the team connected on 38 of 70 shots.
The game is also important for RPI consideration especially for Lutheran. Despite their 9-2 start and #4 ranking, the Lions are just #22 in RPI. Faith Christian is fifth overall.
The Patriot seems to be much deeper than the Metro this year so the pairing of #1 Resurrection Christian and #3 Sterling may not decide the league title. They are just two of the four ranked teams in the conference as Eaton is #8 and University #9 this week. The Cougars and Tigers head into the week unbeaten in conference play but tied with Eaton and surprising Strasburg for the top spot.
No team is shooting the ball better than Sterling right now. The Tigers average nearly 12 three-pointers per game and they surpassed that total in both conference wins last week. They made a whopping 19 against Valley and then blistered Brush with 15. Overall, Sterling scored 193 points in those two wins including a school record 108 against Valley. Despite the recent hot streak, the Tigers will be matched up against a long and aggressive Resurrection Christian defense on Tuesday.
Individually, Axel Henry had nine treys on the week and combined for 41 points. Jackson Keil connected on six treys and totaled 42 points. Dylan Anderson had four three’s against Valley and tied Henry for game high honors with 23. Brock Shalla had 15 points including four treys against Brush.
Resurrection Christian can also score from the outside as they’ve tallied 79 treys over their ten games. They’re a bit more battle tested in league play thanks to their hard fought win over University last Friday. The third quarter was the difference as the Cougars won that eight minute stretch 17-8. Both clubs scored 50 points in the other three periods.
Reece Johnson is pushing for Player of the Year honors as the senior went for 24 points. Isaac Jessup added 18 and Jude Howell finished with 10. Jackson Romero, Howell and Jessup all knocked in a pair of three-pointers.
The Cougars also look to end a four-game slide to Sterling. The Tigers won both the regular season matchup and district finals last year and did the same during the 2017-18 season. Resurrection Christian last beat Sterling in the 2017 district championship.
If they get the win on Tuesday, Sterling cannot celebrate too long as they have a date with Eaton three days. That Friday matchup is also the second tough game for the Reds as they also tangle with University. Eaton moved past both Estes Park and Platte Valley by 13 points last week and sit at 10-1 on the season.
Gage Butler scored 17 and Nic Inda 11 against Estes Park. Ryan Ure also produced a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Against Platte Valley, Scott Grable hit all four three-point attempts and led the team with 23 points. Inda and Ure each collected 16 and Bryce Leafgren added 11.
Because of their strong effort against Resurrection Christian, University gave proof they belong among the top teams in Class 3A. But a second league loss to Eaton likely leaves the Bulldogs hoping for at best, a third place finish. Their league win came against Brush (89-60) as Tayt Chacon scored 25, Alex Martinez 23 and Jaden Humphrey 21. Humphrey (5) and Chacon (4) also combined for nine treys.
Two days after battling Eaton, University also meets a second league unbeaten at Strasburg on Thursday. The Indians improved to 8-2 last week after winning three games in four days. Included in that run were league wins over Liberty Common and Estes Park so this will be their first difficult league challenge. Collin Russell (13.7), Trystan Graff (12.7) and Mitchell Davis (12.4) average in double figures. None will be fazed by the big game mentality as all played important roles for the Indians football club who has reached the state final four consecutive years.
Alamosa goes to Bayfield on Tuesday in a makeup from a game originally scheduled for last Friday. A road win for the Moose sets up two important battles featuring IML league leaders for the weekend. Montezuma Cortez visits Alamosa on Friday and then Centauri on Saturday. Provided Alamosa wins on Tuesday, all three teams go into those games at 2-0 within the conference. Centauri leads the RPI standings to start the week with Cortez 12th and Alamosa 17th.
Cortez moved to 8-3 by beating Pagosa Springs 48-47 and Bayfield 77-51 last week. The Panthers have won their last four following a loss to Mancos to close December. They’re senior oriented with Teagan Whiteskunk, Titus Jackson and Adrian Mark providing a good share of the offense.
Centauri knocked out Monte Vista (55-38) and Pagosa Springs (52-42) last week. They’ve played just one game decided by single digits this season; beating 2A Fowler 59-54 in the first round of the La Junta Holiday Tournament.
Alamosa picked up 17 points from Brendan Crowther and 10 from Ian Jackson in their lone conference win over Monte Vista (58-34). Crowler, Jackson and Sam Clark all dropped in two three-pointers.
The same scenario could play out in the Tri Peaks as four teams share the league lead and those four face off this weekend. Salida heads to Manitou Springs on Friday and Lamar heads to Vanguard the next day. Provided all four take care of business in other games this week, the two winners will share first place going into next week.
Vanguard is the pre-season favorite and already have a quality win over St Mary’s (64-62) in league play. The outcome was important as they gained the victory despite just 12 points from Dominique Clifford. Joseph Padilla totaled 24 points and Ryan Lair 21 and the two combined for 11 three-pointers. The Coursers also meet La Junta on Friday.
Lamar plays twice before challenging Vanguard as they head to Trinidad on Tuesday and then return home to Atlas Prep on Friday. Five players average at least eight points for the Savages led by Michael Woodall with 10.6.
Manitou Springs moved into the role of top challenger to Vanguard by downing St Mary’s last week (67-50). The game was not that close as the Mustangs held a 59-33 advantage after three quarters. Defense was the difference as St Mary’s hit just 17 of 63 shots overall including 9 of 36 from the arc.
Salida is quietly 6-3 on the season and has league wins over Florence, La Junta and Trinidad by a combined 89 points. Their matchup at Manitou Springs is important as a win puts them in title contention. Myles Godina paces the Spartans in scoring (14.3) and rebounding (8.0). Jonah Ellis is next in scoring with 13.6 points per game while Leif Gislason adds nine points and seven rebounds.
The Western Slope is on the way to becoming a wild ride. Our preseason favorites were Gunnison and Coal Ridge but both clubs have already suffered a loss. The Cowboys lost at Moffat County last week but also held off Coal Ridge. Those results leave Aspen (1-0), Moffat County (2-0) and Delta (3-0) sharing the top spot.
This week, Aspen heads to Gunnison and Coal Ridge goes to Delta. Both games are Friday night. Aspen scored their league win over Cedaredge (66-45) last week while Gunnison is coming off the solid win over Coal Ridge. Hunter Wood exploded for 32 points in that win also dropped in 25 in the loss to Moffat County. Coal Ridge picked up 23 from Austin Gerber.
Delta has league wins over Roaring Fork (65-52) and Basalt (83-31). Javier Medina (13.4), Nate Workman (12.3), Hunter Hughes (9.6) and Colbi Braslin (8.8) provide balanced scoring on offense and together average over 20 rebounds per game.
Moffat County is just 4-6 overall and has two road games this week at Grand Valley and Cedaredge on Friday and Saturday.
DSST-Byers is probably favored to win the Confluence. They’re coming off their first loss of the season in falling to Pueblo Central (71-61) last Saturday. Up next is a tough test with #7 Golden from 4A this Friday.
There’s no clear cut favorite in the Frontier as no team has more than four wins overall. KIPP Collegiate at #31 is the highest ranked conference team in RPI.
