A few basketball games were played on Monday night but the schedules picks up some early pace with nine ranked teams stepping on the court Tuesday.  All nine teams are found in either the 3A or 4A Top 10 and in two games, ranked clubs face off.  A quick preview of the matchups.

 

CLASS 3A

#1 St Mary’s at #9 Faith Christian:  St Mary’s reached the state finals before falling to Lutheran in Colorado Springs but the Pirates have big goals this year with the return of Sam Howery (21.4), Max Howery (13.1) and Cyrus Hernandez (10.3) who combined for nearly 45 points a game last season.  Faith Christian gave up 103 points in an early season loss to the Pirates last season but welcomes back Geo Velarde to the lineup.  He averaged 15.5 points per game as a junior.

#4 Manual at DSST-Green Valley Ranch:  This could be a good matchup as Manual finished 12-4 and DSST-Green Valley Ranch 10-4 last season.  Manual won the regular season matchup 71-51 a year ago and is favored again as Jordan Reed returns for his senior season.  He netted 19 points a game along with seven assists and six rebounds as a junior.  Green Valley will be led by Giovanni Durst who led them with 15 points during his sophomore season.

#3 Lutheran at #9 Holy Family (4A):  An old Metro rivalry that now counts as a very attractive non-league contest.  Lutheran has mentioned is the defending state champion but lost Baye Fall to transfer (Colorado Prep Academy) and various key seniors to graduation.  Brendan Kooienga is back after getting nearly 13 points a game as a sophomore.  That was second best on last year’s state championship team.  Holy Family (10-6) lost to Lutheran last season (73-59) and saw their season come to a close against eventual champion Mead in the Sweet 16.  Jackson Ward led the Tigers with 13 points and nine rebounds as a junior and should lead both categories again this season.

 

CLASS 4A

#2 Longmont vs Mountain View:  Despite the graduation loss of Eddie Kurjak who scored 18 points with nine rebounds a game this year, Longmont should again be in the title mix.  Keegan Patterson is the key returnee.  He scored 14 points and nearly three rebounds and assists per game as a junior.  Mountain View (10-6) reached the Sweet 16 last season but graduated their top three scorers.  The top returnee is Javi Carillo with five points and five rebounds a game last season.

#5 Lewis Palmer at Erie:  Graduation hit the Rangers very hard as Edward Speller, Colin Westfall and Noah Ragsdale all ended their careers with a home loss to Mead in the state quarterfinals (61-5).  But the Rangers have great tradition and always find new faces to help fill in the gaps.  Erie (0-1) is already playing their second game of the young season as they fell to 5A Legacy on Monday (49-46).  Some of their key players are still involved in football as the Tigers will battle for the 4A state championship this Saturday against Chatfield.

#6 Pueblo Central at Mesa Ridge:  One of the best players statewide in any class returns to help Pueblo Central make a deep postseason run.  Kadyn Betts totaled 18 points and 11 rebounds per game as a sophomore and will again be the first option on offense for the Wildcats.  The next two scorers were lost to graduation so younger players will need to step up and fill those roles.  Central won 14 of 17 games before falling to Longmont (58-44) in the state quarterfinals.  Mesa Ridge won just five games in the COVID shortened season but got solid play from sophomore Terrell Moorer who averaged 11 points and six rebounds per game as a sophomore.

#10 Steamboat Springs vs Moffat County:  This is a good rivalry in all sports in the Northwest and it may be closer than the rankings indicate.  Steamboat Springs won their first 16 games last year before a loss to Montrose ended their run in the state quarterfinals.  Two seniors who combined for 26 points and 17 rebounds graduated so the Sailors will turn to Cade Gedeon for leadership.  He scored nine points and handed out six assists a night last season.  Moffat County finished at 6-7 last year including a 57-36 loss to Steamboat Springs but they return three of their top four scorers.

 

MONDAY RESULTS

  • #3 Rock Canyon (5A) topped Grandview 47-38
  • #5 Chaparral (5A) handled Horizon 66-48
  • #7 Windsor (4A) downed Poudre 62-49)

 

NOTE:  If you host a tournament this week, please send us brackets/schedule by email to [email protected].