Might have rested too long during the holiday break as we were able to take in just one boys basketball game over the past week. It was on Saturday as we made the 700 mile round trip to catch the top 10 Class 2A battle between #4 Sanford and #7 Mancos. That’s where our notebook begins as the first week of January has wrapped up.
The matchup was good one. Mancos was on the road and playing their first game of 2022 plus they also had their complete roster healthy for the first time this season. At times during December, they were missing three starters due to injuries holding over from their tremendous football season. They put together a strong second half to score the 55-51 road win. It was the second straight tough loss for the Indians as they were knocked off by 3A Pagosa Springs in their 2022 opener the night before.
The first half was sloppy but Sanford used quite a few second half points to gain the 23-20 advantage. Defensive rebounding is something future opponents will have to deal with as the Indians hit the offensive glass very hard with a group led by starters McCray Larson and Ethan Larsen and complimented off the bench with Tyler Christensen.
Sanford then added some outside shooting in the third with as both Collin Stagner and Cash Caldon hit shots from the perimeter. Those shots actually helped the Indians build a nice 43-33 near the end of the third quarter. But in what turned out to be a big shot, Kail Wayman buried a three-pointer at the buzzer for the Bluejays.
That shot sparked a 11-point run that allowed Mancos to storm back for a 44-43 lead with about six minutes left. Connor Showalter, the Bluejays leading scorer at over 20 points per game, then made some big shots and free throws down the stretch as they held on for the clutch win.
Both teams overall have enough talent to reach the final eight in Class 2A. Both may find themselves down the ladder a bit RPI wise because they will not be pushed very much in their respective leagues. That’s why we picked this game to catch both of them on the same court. Sanford is heavily favored to land the Southern Peaks title and may not be challenged until a late season game with Del Norte. Mancos will have their two annual battles with rival Ignacio and those two outcomes should determine the San Juan champion again.
Mancos is aggressive on the defense end and tries to trap out of different zone defenses. Showalter is the key offensively, but the Bluejays can also get points from the likes of Evan Sehnert, Mason Goodwin and Wayman. Edgar Hernandez is also a pesky guard on defense and likes to leak out to get easy baskets in the up-tempo game.
Sanford has a good mix of size on the inside with perimeter shooting. They’re also adjusting to a new coach as Brice Crowther has taken over the program from Rhett Larsen. As they continue to learn the new schemes, there’s enough talent to make another state tournament push. They’ll be favored to land a district title which will give them the advantage of hosting a regional tournament.
Class 2A rankings will get a facelift on Monday
The Mancos road win was one of many unexpected results during a wild weekend in Class 2A. In addition to Mancos, #5 Denver Christian beat #2 Limon on the road Saturday and #3 Wray was also beaten by Dundy County Nebraska. On Friday, numbers four and ten lost and #9 was also beaten on Thursday. As a result, pollsters will almost have to start over when ranking teams for the coaches vote on Monday.
About the only sure thing for the poll is Yuma as the Indians will easily hold onto the top spot after two impressive wins over ranked opponents. The two wins were by a combined 65 points; they rolled 1A Haxtun 75-35 on Friday and then stuffed 2A Holyoke 75-50 the next night.
After Yuma, we’d probably go with Denver Christian in the second spot. The Thunder scored the win over Limon Saturday to remain unbeaten against 2A clubs. Their lone loss is against 3A #2 Sterling. Wray, despite the out of state loss last week, remains third as their only in-state loss is against Yuma. Mancos would also climb to fourth on the strength of that win over Sanford.
In our poll, Limon would drop to fifth with Sanford, Peyton and Holyoke earning the next three positions.
Think the pollsters should also consider getting Fowler into the top 10 this week. The Grizzlies were 2-3 in December and not in the top 15 last week but two quality wins should get them strong consideration. They downed #9 Thomas MacLaren with ease (57-29) last Thursday and then also handled Holly 60-46 the next night. Holly had beaten #10 Rye the night before so couple those wins together and Fowler is probably the favorite to land the Santa Fe title again this year.
Class 3A thoughts
Think the rankings are in good shape in this division at this point. St Mary’s is number one and is considered the team to beat. The Pirates reached the state championship game last year and return a bevy of talent again this season. And they’ve dominated opponents thus far; outscoring eight opponents 669-501. Sam Howery is averaging 25 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and three steals per game and is line for Player of the Year honors. Andon Mindrup (18.0) and Cyrus Hernandez (16.5) are also having big senior seasons.
The Pirates have a date with Centauri on the road January 15th but that’s the only current ranked team left on their schedule. A win over the Falcons sets the Pirates up for a perfect regular season.
Sterling also solidified their hold on the second spot with a quality win at Manual on Saturday. The three point win was their seventh win in the last eight games against the Thunderbolts. Jackson Keil (21), Ryder McConnell (13) and Ben Browning (10) all reached double digits in the win and the Tigers also buried nine three pointers. Manual matched that numbers from beyond the arc and got 28 points from Jordan Reed.
With the win, the Tigers bumped their mark to 7-1 to remain perfect against Colorado opponents. They now prep for a rugged Patriot schedule that will include tough dates with University, Platte Valley, Brush, Eaton and Resurrection Christian. A road trip to Faith Christian on January 29th is also mixed in.
Manual meantime will remain very much a part of the Metro league championship picture. They’ll face top challenges from Faith Christian, Kent Denver and Colorado Academy as all four clubs are currently or have been ranked in the top 10 this season. Such competition could help all four programs make the final eight.
Centauri is right now favored to land the IML title but that’s always a fun race with Alamosa and Pagosa Springs. Alamosa (7-2) scored wins over Salida and Delta last week. They open the conference run at Pagosa Springs on the 14th. The Pirates (6-3) as mentioned, scored that quality road win at Sanford last Friday and are getting solid play from Gunnar Dozier (15.1 points) and Kayson Shahan (5.3 rebounds) plus coach Wes Lewis has state championship experience from his day as the girls’ coach in Pagosa Springs.
Academy and DSST-Montview could battle for the Frontier crown. Academy is a tough team to figure out as they had losses to Alamosa and Basalt along with a 40-point setback to Sterling in December. But then they opened 2022 with a high scoring 88-85 win over Kent Denver which resulted in the Devils first loss of the year. Andrew Sterling (25) and Kasper Konarski (23) combined for 48 points and together went 18 of 27 from the field. They also limited Kent Denver to just seven three pointers on the game. DSST-Montview (3-4) is below water on the year but pushed Faith Christian in a five point loss last week (52-47). Montview and Academy get together on February 5th.
Aspen is the sleeper. The Skiers are ranked third and have good talent out west. They may also be hurt by RPI as there are questions on who will step up and challenge them for the Western Slope. A good pick could be Coal Ridge as the Titans routinely push for a league title. Those two don’t collide until very late in the year (February 17th).
Aspen has not played yet in 2022 as they return to the court against Steamboat Springs on Tuesday. Coal Ridge (4-3) blew past North Fork 89-63 last Saturday but fell to Steamboat Springs (53-48) two nights earlier.
Big School Post-Season notes
Compared to the likes of BasketballColorado.com, we do not see as many games on the big school level but based on action to date, we do have some thoughts on the best bets for state championship runs.
In Class 4A, we would have left Mead the top team in the statewide rankings as they’re unbeaten against teams in-state. The Mavericks of course are the defending state champs and with the talent they return, until some 4A team in Colorado beats them, I would keep them number one. They have three losses but the Mavericks will not have face any of teams in their bid to repeat. One is against 5A Horizon and the other two came in the Tarkanian Classic to out of state teams.
Lewis Palmer would be our pick for number two. Their lone loss is against 5A Chaparral and again the Rangers won’t have to beat them again for the 4A state title. Great tradition of course, and the Rangers will be battle tested by competing in the very rugged Pikes Peak conference. They will see several 5A clubs in that run.
Montrose, in our mind, should be in the third spot. The Indians placed second to Mead in the division and have almost their entire roster back. They rolled through the Rampart Classic over the weekend and are now in position to run the regular season table. If that happens, then the Indians will be a top four seed; giving them the chance to host every playoff game until the tournament turns to the Denver Coliseum for the state semifinals. Playing at home gives Montrose a huge advantage since most clubs in 4A are not familiar with traveling that far one game.
Pueblo South and Pueblo Central will be a great battle for the remaining top four seed. They collide on January 27th at South and again on February 15th at Central. Pueblo County is also a good ballclub but those two games should determine the South Central conference title.
In 5A, again, the rankings are solid. ThunderRidge has had some tight games coming off Christmas but the Grizzlies are the overwhelming choice to win another championship. Fossil Ridge makes sense at number two as they have a lone loss to ThunderRidge but also a quality win over Chaparral. Denver East is probably solid at number three after beating Chaparral in a great game on Saturday (66-64). And despite those two narrow losses, Chaparral is probably a solid choice for the fourth seed but will have to battle past the likes of Rock Canyon, Regis and Douglas County in the Continental.
It will also be interesting to see if a Centennial team can join the push for a top four seed. Top contenders from that group are Smoky Hill and Eaglecrest but again all teams are chasing ThunderRidge in the title quest.
1A Post-Season could be crazy
With no clear cut favorite at this point, we might be in store for a crazy ride in the Class 1A post-season. We’ve not had a chance to see many teams in person so far this year but there are surprising results each and every week. The last few days have extended that trend. On Friday, a one-win Fleming team stunned Merino on the road as the Rams opened the game just outside the top 10. Then on Saturday, Springfield took out #7 Cheyenne Wells and #9 Prairie moved past #4 Haxtun. In our mind, those kind of results may be commonplace by the time the post-season arises.
We watched the first half of the Fleming-Merino game but didn’t take many notes. It was not expected to be a close game but the Wildcats used energy and effort the entire game to score the win. Both teams are in the same district with the likes of Briggsdale, Haxtun and Prairie and only three teams move on to regionals. That bracket could be intense.
Springfield’s win over Cheyenne Wells was not a huge surprise. We mentioned the Longhorns back in December as we thought they would be a tough out come January and February. Very young at certain positions, the Longhorns are lanky and athletic throughout and we thought with confidence and the continued adjustment to a new coach that they could post some serious wins down the stretch. The victory over Cheyenne Wells maybe gets them on that patch a big quicker than expected.
Overall, the Southeast will be filled with surprises we think. Springfield, as proven, can win some games, so can Wiley and McClave. Cheyenne Wells and Cheraw will also score some victories and of course Kim/Branson is always better in late February than early January.
But based on what we know right now, Granada would be our pick to land the state title in Class 1A. The Bobcats reached the Final Four last year and gave eventual champion Belleview Christian their toughest playoff match. The Bobcats return most of the lineup from that loss and have added a couple of freshman to the rotation.
We pick Granada but haven’t seen Evangelical Christian, Briggsdale, Genoa Hugo, Haxtun, Sierra Grande, Denver Waldorf, Prairie or Belleview Christian in person yet. Haxtun and Genoa Hugo both lost last week and ECA was also pushed by Flatirons Academy before posting a 42-36 win. Sierra Grande was slated to open their new facility against Lake City last Friday but that game was postponed so they’ll celebrate a bit later in the year.
Prairie may have scored the best win of the week in a 45-41 win over Haxtun. Doug Holloway, the former assistant to Mike Holloway in Sterling, is now in charge of the Mustangs program and he’s got the team playing well right now. They’re two points away from being unbeaten as the lone loss is by one point league rival Briggsdale (49-48) last month. Andy Long dropped in 22 in that loss and David Speicher added 13. Freshman Carter Jaeger added nine rebounds.
