It’s a fun day in Class 4A as the boys basketball regular season comes to a close today. Eight of the top 10 teams in the rankings are in action today and two tournament titles are on the line.
Top ranked Lewis Palmer faces off with Doherty to determine the Pikes Peak tournament champion. The Rangers won a very exciting first matchup 48-46 back on January 11th so they’re the slight favorites going into today.
Up north, #3 Mead battles #7 Frederick for the championship of the Northern/Longs Peak conference crossover bracket. It’s the battle of the two league champions as the Mavericks earned the Northern crown and the Warriors finished on top of the Longs Peak standings. Despite proximity, the two clubs did not meet in the regular season this year and the Mavericks have won the last 14 in the series.
#6 Windsor faces #10 Longmont for third place with #8 Centaurus playing Silver Creek for fifth. All three games will be played at Niwot high school.
Out west, #4 Montrose seeks a second straight unbeaten regular season as they line up with Durango. The Indians only loss the last two seasons came in the state finals to Mead last Spring. Palisade also needs a win over Battle Mountain to remain tied with Steamboat Springs atop the Western Slope. A loss gives the title to the Sailors
Two games of note in the 5A ranks as Denver East battles long-time rival George Washington and Rangeview meets Vista Peak. All four teams are safely in the state tournament bracket but the winners of each automatically get in as league champions.
Very interesting non-league game to close the 2A campaign as Heritage Christian makes the long drive out to Wray. The Eagles are the defending state champions and placed second to Yuma in the rugged Lower Platte this year. Heritage Christian is unranked but coming off a big win over #2 Denver Christian on Thursday that earned them a piece of the Mile High title with the Thunder and 3A Highland.
In Class 1A, #8 Caprock Academy can move to second in the Western Slope chase by beating Hayden. Meeker locked up the crown with their win over Hayden last night and a win today keeps the Eagles tied with the Cowboys and Vail Mountain atop the standings. Caprock would end up second due to a loss to Meeker and a win over the Gore Rangers.
Cotopaxi and Creede also get together in what could be a district semifinal preview in Class 1A. They’re battling the likes of Centennial for a semifinal berth opposite 2nd ranked Sierra Grande from the Southern Peaks.
Class 3A sees a very busy of district tournament basketball as early round games take place in the Metro, Tri Peaks and Frontier conferences. They are elimination games as only winners advance to the district quarterfinals.
Full schedule of games is below and Colorado Preps will update with results throughout the day. We’ll also spend the weekend gathering district tournament brackets in Classes 1A-3A and post state tournament pairings for Classes 4A-5A when they’re released by CHSAA on Sunday.
CLASS 1A
FINAL: #3 Briggsdale beat Hi Plains 81-39
FINAL: #8 Caprock Academy beat Hayden 38-17
CLASS 2A
FINAL: #5 Sanford beat Del Norte 51-49
FINAL: #6 Wray beat Heritage Christian 59-31
FINAL: #9 Thomas MacLaren beat Dolores Huerta 81-53
FINAL: #10 Peyton beat Calhan 71-24
CLASS 4A
FINAL: #1 Lewis Palmer beat Doherty 71-68
FINAL: #3 Mead beat #7 Frederick 62-53
FINAL: #4 Montrose beat Durango 58-33
FINAL: #10 Longmont beat #6 Windsor 46-34
FINAL: #8 Centaurus beat Silver Creek 44-30
FINAL: Dakota Ridge beat#9 Green Mountain 54-41
CLASS 5A
FINAL: #4 Denver East beat George Washington 79-76
OTHER GAMES OF NOTE
1A: FINAL: Creede beat Cotopaxi 60-33
2A: FINAL: Ignacio beat Dolores 56-40
4A: FINAL: Palisade beat Battle Mountain 61-45
5A: FINAL: Rangeview beat Vista Peak 62-53
3A DISTRICT TOURNAMENTS
Sheridan at Bennett (Frontier)
Bruce Randolph at Jefferson (Frontier)
FINAL: Denver West beat KIPP Collegiate 76-43 (Frontier)
FINAL: Machebeuf beat Peak to Peak 73-58 (Metro)
FINAL: Stargate beat Jefferson Academy 47-32 (Metro)
FINAL: Kent Denver beat Skyview Academy 90-58 (Metro)
FINAL: La Junta beat Ellicott 71-44 (Tri Peaks)
FINAL: Woodland Park beat Lamar 53-24 (Tri Peaks)
FINAL: Buena Vista beat Florence 68-47 (Tri Peaks)
FINAL: Banning Lewis beat Vanguard 57-52 (Tri Peaks)
