Friday is normally the busiest day of the week in boys basketball and tonight follows that trend.  It may be the most important night to date as several league leaders collide to help sort out the early standings.  Conference championships are very important; they’re a goal of every team in the state and teams earn top district seeds or automatic playoffs by winning the crown.

Photo by OT Sportscheck

Leading us off today is a fun one in Class 2A between #1 Yuma and #3 Wray.  League and county rivals; they’ve been the bell weathers in the division of late.   Wray is the defending state champion and beat Yuma in the semifinals a year ago.  Both were in the Final Four when the last two days of the 2020 season were cancelled and Yuma won back-to-back state championships in 2018 and 2019.

Yuma is favored tonight.  They’re the healthier team and also beat Wray 68-58 in a non-league game back in week one of the season.  The Eagles enter the rematch without point guard Chris Arambula and that’s crucial against the aggressive full-court defensive pressure of the Indians.  Arambula scored eight points and has state championship game experience but won’t be in the lineup due to injury tonight.

Bryant Schoenthal had a huge game in the first meeting; scoring 27 points with 11 rebounds.  With Arambula out, Schoenthal will receive even more defensive attention from the Indians tonight.

Yuma is led by Clay Robinson.  A four-year starter, the senior is trying to lead his team to a fifth consecutive final four appearance.  He scored 20 points in the first matchup this year but got plenty of support from Javier Duran (15) and Jesus Ross (10) who combined for 27 points.

Out west, Meeker and Caprock Academy are playing to stay alive in the 13-team Western Slope league.  Vail Christian (3-0) is alone atop the standings but the Cowboys and Eagles are two of five teams one game back in the loss column.  Both though have suffered their only league loss to Vail Christian so the loser falls two games back with a head-to-head loss to the first place club.   That’s not a good position to be this early in the conference race.

The game is in the middle of a busy weekend for Meeker.  They beat Little Snake River WY on Thursday and face Soroco on Saturday.  The Rams are one of those five one-loss league teams so it’s a key stretch for Meeker.  They have balance offensively this season with Liam Demin (9.9), Zach Simonsen (9.4) and Zagar Brown (9.1) all scoring nine points per game.

Caprock Academy recovered from the Vail Christian loss to upset then #8 Vail Mountain (2A) the next night.  Johnathon Abshear (18.7) leads the Eagles in scoring but was held to 15 in the loss to Vail Christian.

There’s two important games inside the 3A Patriot tonight.  The first is between #1 Sterling and Platte Valley and the second pits University at Resurrection Christian.  Sterling, Platte Valley and Resurrection Christian open the night unbeaten and tied for the conference lead.  University has two league losses and must win to stay alive for a top four league finish at season’s end.

Sterling has beaten Strasburg, University and Liberty Common in league action and all three came by at least 18 points.  Their best win is against University (64-46) as they exploded out of the gate with 31 first quarter points.  They knocked in ten three-pointers in the win including from four from Jackson Keil.  He was the leading scorer overall (23) but Dylan Diorio (14), Ryder McConnell (11) and Ben Browning (11) all reached double figures as well.

Platte Valley is coming off a late rally in the 39-37 win over Brush.  The Broncos closed with a 9-1 run including the game winner with 1.7 seconds left.  Max Zenk hit the winner and finished with 20 points.  They were just 3 of 16 from the three-point line and need a much better percentage against the Tigers tonight.

Resurrection Christian kept pace with Sterling and Platte Valley by upsetting #8 Eaton last Friday (59-52).  Freshman guard Ty Yoder dropped in 23 and hit two treys.  Cade Crutcher added three more.  Yoder also totaled 20 the next night in a win over Erie.  Senior Ryan Ward though finished with 24 including six three-pointers.

University has battled injuries but it appears that their top two scorers Tayt Chacon and Dezmond Williams are ready for the stretch run.  Chacon did not play in the tough 57-55 loss to Brush.  Williams scored 16 in that game with Andrew Mendoza dropping in a team-best 19.

Top ranked Pueblo South put on an offensive display on Tuesday night as they put up 120 points against Pueblo Centennial.  105 of that total came in the first three quarters.  The Colts dished out an amazing 44 assists in the win including 11 from Ray J Aragon and nine from Jace Bellah.  Aragon also scored 28 points, but that was only third on the team as Maurice Austin tallied 31 and Tarrance Austin 30.

Up tonight for the Colts is another South Central affair with Pueblo County.  The Hornets are playing their second straight top five league opponent as they fell to #5 Pueblo Central on Tuesday (70-51).  They were down by just seven points at halftime but were outscored 26-13 in the third quarter.  The defense must play at a high level against Pueblo South to avoid a third loss in four games.

The Montrose-Grand Junction winner takes over the outright lead in the Southwestern chase.  Ranked fourth this week, Montrose is also the defending league champions.  They opened league play with a narrow 52-48 win over Fruita Monument as Luke Hutto (19) and Fletcher Cheezum (17) combined for 36 points.  That’s a bit above their 29 per game average for the season.  Grand Junction has edged Durango and Grand Junction Central in conference play.  Dillon Chapman netted 18 and Reese Skinner 13 in the win at Durango last week.  Wonde Yao-Clay led them against Central on Tuesday.  He finished with 13 points including three treys.

Windsor also goes to Longmont in a game featuring two of the top four clubs in the 4A/5A Northern conference standings.  Windsor shares the lead with Holy Family and Mead.  All three are unbeaten with Longmont a game back in fourth.  Their blemish came against Centaurus last week but bounced back to take out Skyline with ease on Tuesday (61-28).  Keegan Patterson (20) and Brendan Barcewski (18) combined for 38 in that win but managed just 26 in the loss to Centaurus.

Unbeaten against 4A teams, Windsor finally cracked the top ten rankings this week as they’re 8th this week.  They’ve won four straight and were pushed by Greeley Central on Tuesday (67-59).  David Hageman had 23 and Parker Seybolt 14.

Up in 5A, the focus is on the Continental as Regis meets Chaparral and Highlands Ranch heads to Rock Canyon.  Of those four, Highlands Ranch is probably the surprise.  They’re 3-0 in the conference and share first place with Castle View and top ranked ThunderRidge.  Despite that start and their 9-4 overall record, the Falcons have not been in the rankings this year.  A win at Rock Canyon tonight could change that.

Sasha Stelic leads Highlands Ranch with 14.6 points per game and he also collects five rebounds a game.  He went for 15 and 8 in Tuesday’s win over Ponderosa.

Rock Canyon lost to Regis (60-58) in their league opener but balanced the league mark by downing Legend 78-57 last Saturday.  They have Douglas County and ThunderRidge on deck next week so they must win this game to keep their conference title hopes a live.  A second loss in league play this early likely ends those aspirations.  Four players reached double figures in their win over Legend; a group led by Chris Schlesinger with 13.  He’s scored at least 10 points in ten straight and averages nearly 13 per contest.

Regis and Chaparral have spent the entire year in the rankings but the loser falls two games off the pace and as mentioned, that puts the team in a tough spot this early in the league schedule.  Chaparral is 5th in RPI and Regis 11th so both are still in contention for a top four seed and a win boosts those chances.

Both clubs struggled early in their last games.  Regis gave up 27 first quarter points in a 81-61 loss to Mountain Vista on Tuesday.  Chaparral allowed 20 first quarter points in their 56-49 loss to Douglas County on the same night.  They also committed 15 turnovers compared to just seven for the Huskies.

There are several other matchups of note across the state tonight:

  • The winner between Front Range Baptist and Belleview Christian stays tied with Flatirons Academy atop the 5280.  Belleview is the defending league and state champion while Front Range was taken out by #2 Briggsdale in non-conference play earlier this week (76-38).
  • Both Wiley and Cheyenne Wells have a league win over Kit Carson and they face off tonight.  The winner keeps a share of the 1A High Plains lead.  Both clubs are 6-2 overall this year.
  • Granada heads to Cheraw in a second 1A High Plains league game of note tonight.  It’s a tough outing for the Wolverines who will play despite losing a student in a car accident earlier in the week.  They’re 0-1 with a loss to McClave.  Granada is unbeaten and ranked third statewide.
  • Prairie heads to Merino in a 1A non-conference game that could serve as a preview of a district tournament contest.  Both teams have been in the top 10 this year but each has battled consistency issues at ime.
  • Crowley County lost a share of first place in the 2A Santa Fe on Tuesday with their loss to Holly.  Those two and Hoehne now share third place as all three are one game back of first-place Fowler.  One will fall off a pace as the Chargers go to Hoehne tonight.  They met in December with Crowley County picked up a 45-32 behind four three’s and 19 points from freshman Gunnar Hughes.
  • THIS GAME HAS BEEN POSTPONED:  Del Norte heads to Ignacio in a nice non-league game of two teams fighting to improve their RPI numbers.  Ignacio is #21 and Del Norte #27.  Both could also end up as second place clubs in their respective conference behind Mancos (San Juan) and Sanford (Southern Peaks).
  • Haxtun and Holyoke is a solid county rivalry and it’s a league game tonight but it will play second fiddle in the Lower Platte to Yuma-Wray.  The winner though has a very good chance of a top three league finish at year’s end.  Holyoke won the non-league tilt in December 62-53.
  • The 4A Jeffco is very tight with Green Mountain and D’Evelyn tied for first and Standley Lake, Golden and Littleton all one game back.  D’Evleyn meets Standley Lake tonight.  The Jags look to bounce back from the loss to Green Mountain on Wednesday.  The Gators have losses to Golden and Littleton so they could use a win against a top-tier league rival.
  • Still a toss-up in the 5A Centennial with a key game on tap between Overland and Smoky Hill tonight.  Both have just one league loss and share the conference lead with Eaglecrest.  Overland beat Cherry Creek 56-45 on Wednesday to keep pace.  Smoky Hill lost to Creek last week (67-65) but responded by blowing past Grandview 85-59 just two nights ago.