Not a whole bunch of suspense over the final week in either 4A or 5A girls’ basketball as most conference champions have been crowned with others needing just one more win to raise the top trophy.  We still run through each league and breakdown the top games for the top teams.

Playoff brackets are released on Monday March 8th with first round games set to tip the very next night.  32 teams in each bracket make the playoffs including league champions that don’t finish in the top 32 of the seeding criteria.  That criteria consists of the CHSAA coach’s poll, RPI and rankings from MaxPreps and Packard.

Photo by Steve Abeyta.

 

CLASS 4A

COLORADO:  Weld Central (5-0) goes into week six with a one game edge on Thornton.  The two leaders meet on Thursday in what should be the league championship game.  Weld Central is 10-2 on the season with Thornton at 6-1.

  • THURSDAY: Weld Central at Thornton

CS METRO NORTH:  Falcon has clinched the league championship.  The Falcons are perfect 9-0 with two wins against second place Classical Academy (7-2).  TCA has also secured second.  Falcon meets Canon City this Thursday to determine the overall league champion as the Tigers won the Southern division.

  • THURSDAY: Canon City at Falcon

CS METRO SOUTH:  Canon City (9-0) is the league champion as they lead second place Coronado (5-2) by two games.  They’ve also beat the Cougars twice.  As mentioned, the Tigers have a big test with Falcon coming up on Thursday.  Both teams want the win to boost their placement in the 4A playoff bracket.

  • THURSDAY: Canon City at Falcon

JEFFCO:  League play has concluded with Green Mountain (8-0) landing the championship.  D’Evelyn (7-1) ended up second with Evergreen third and Littleton fourth.  Green Mountain is 12-0 overall and in the discussion for top overall playoff seed.  They’re battling the likes of Holy Family, Falcon and Windsor for that honor.

  • WEDNESDAY: Evergreen at Green Mountain (non-league)

LONGS PEAK:  With only one week of regular season play remaining, Northridge (8-1) and Thompson Valley (7-1) continue to share the lead.  Roosevelt and Berthoud each have two league losses and sit tied for third.  Northridge won the matchup with Thompson Valley so they’re the champions by beating Riverdale Ridge on Monday night.  If the Grizzlies are upset, then TV likely grabs the title by beating winless Niwot the same night.  The Eagles have a major test with Windsor later in the week.

  • MONDAY: Northridge at Riverdale Ridge
  • THURSDAY: Thompson Valley at Windsor

NORTHERN:  Holy Family (6-0) starts the final week with a one game advantage in the loss over Windsor (6-1) and Mead (4-1).  The Tigers have a win over Windsor and just one league game left so they’ve wrapped up the race.  They could face a good test with Berthoud on Wednesday.  Windsor beat Mead head-to-head so the Wizards are the runner-up by beating Longmont at home on Tuesday.

  • WEDNESDAY: Berthoud at Holy Family (non-league)
  • THURSDAY: Thompson Valley at Windsor (non-league)

PIKES PEAK:  Doherty’s win over Fountain Fort Carson last week gave the Spartans sole possession of the conference (7-0).  They lead the Trojans and Air Academy (6-1) by one game.  Doherty also beat Air Academy earlier this season so they need to win just one of their remaining two league games to win the championship.  Second place should go to Monday’s winner between the Trojans and Kadets.

  • MONDAY: Fountain Fort Carson at Air Academy
  • WEDNESDAY: Liberty at Doherty
  • FRIDAY: Doherty at Vista Ridge

SOUTH CENTRAL:  The race is not over as Pueblo West (7-1) starts the final week with a one game advantage over Pueblo County and Pueblo South (both 6-2).  West missed a chance to clinch with last week’s to South (31-26) and now has to win their remaining two conference games against County (Tuesday) and Central (Friday) to claim the outright crown.

  • TUESDAY: Pueblo County at Pueblo West

WEST SLOPE:  Rifle remains alone in first (8-1) by one game over Palisade (7-2) and Glenwood Springs (5-2).  The Bears however cannot hibernate over the final week as they have games remaining with both second-place clubs on tap.  They beat Glenwood 32-28 in game one but fell to Palisade 37-26 in the first meeting.

  • TUESDAY: Rifle at Glenwood Springs
  • THURSDAY: Palisade at Rifle

 

CLASS 5A

CENTENNIAL:  Grandview (11-0) has outscored league rivals 817-403 in building up a two-game edge on Mullen and Arapahoe (both 9-2).  The Wolves can clinch a tie for the title by beating Smoky Hill (1-10) on Tuesday and then win it outright against Arapahoe two nights later.  Arapahoe and Mullen should determine third on Saturday.  Mullen won game one rather easily 78-48.

  • THURSDAY: Arapahoe at Grandview
  • SATURDAY: Arapahoe at Mullen

CONTINENTAL:  Regis (7-0) is still alone in first by one game on Highlands Ranch and Chaparral (both 6-1).  The Raiders have been in quarantine but are expected to return for Friday’s big battle with Chaparral.  They need a win there to win the championship outright.  Regis is favored.  They beat Highlands Ranch and the Falcons topped Chaparral 59-35.

  • FRIDAY: Regis at Chaparral

DENVER PREP:  George Washington and Denver South (both 7-0) each have a piece of first place.  Denver East (6-2) is two games back in third.  Each team has a league game or two before the weekend but the matchup of the two league leaders on Saturday should tell us the conference champion.

  • WEDNESDASY: George Washington at Valor Christian (non-league)
  • SATURDAY: George Washington at Denver South

EAST METRO:  Rangeview rolled past Westminster last Friday to take command of the league chase.  The win pushed the Raiders to 6-0 and they now have a one-game lead on Brighton (5-1) and Vista Peak (2-1).  Rangeview gained a ton of respect in a one-point loss to Chaparral last week but must still get by Vista Peak before claiming the league title.  That’s also if the Bison get by Brighton on Wednesday.  A loss there gives the crown to the Raiders.

  • WEDNESDAY: Vista Peak at Brighton
  • SATURDAY: Vista Peak at Rangeview

FRONT RANGE:  Monarch (7-1) sits alone atop the standings by one game over Horizon (7-2) and Fossil Ridge (6-2).  According to MaxPreps, the Coyotes have concluded the regular season so they would be conference champions if that’s the case.  Horizon dumped Fossil Ridge 50-42 so the Hawks have the inside track to spot two.  They could get pushed by Rocky Mountain on Friday.

  • FRIDAY: Rocky Mountain at Horizon

JEFFCO:  All games played last week were considered non-league games as Valor Christian won the championship the week prior.  The Eagles finished the league slate 8-0 with Ralston Valley in second at 7-1.  Chatfield claimed third with six wins in eight league games.  Valor needs wins over Vista Peak and George Washington to finish unbeaten.  Ralston looks for another deep playoff run and will prep by meeting a solid Denver East club in the final week.

  • WEDNESDAY: George Washington at Valor Christian (non-league)
  • THURSDAY: Denver East at Ralston Valley (non-league)

SOUTHWESTERN:  The race tightened a bit when Grand Junction Central handed Fruita Monument their first league loss but the Wildcats (5-1) still maintain the lead.  Central is second at 5-2 but has already played Fruita twice; meaning they will need help from others to catch them.  That’s not likely as the other three conference teams are a combined 10-24 on the season.  Fruita has a rematch with 3A Delta this week as they look to perform better than in a previous 56-37 loss.  Central also meets the Panthers the night before.

  • TUESDAY: Delta at Grand Junction Central (non-league)
  • WEDNESDAY: Delta at Fruita Monument (non-league)