League games of note across the board in Class 3A today and that’s where the Saturday schedule and preview begins. Important matchups include Colorado Academy-Manual, Aspen-Moffat County and Middle Park-DSST Montview.
Colorado Academy is ranked third in Class 3A and sits alone atop the Metro with a perfect 6-0 mark. Today they deal with a Manual club that is coming off a solid win over Faith Christian and a group that is making their regular late season charge now that the playoffs are approaching.
With the win over Faith Christian, Manual took over second place in the Metro but they still trail Colorado Academy by two full games. As a result, the Mustangs can take a hit and still retain the lead going into the final weekend of the season. They are 14-1 on the season with a lone loss to St Mary’s in their season opener.
Aspen is coming off a long road trip and impressive win at Highland on Thursday and today the 4th ranked Skiers take to the road again to Craig where a win gives them the Western Slope championship. Moffat County could also be playing for the conference crown as they trail Aspen by just one game in the league standings.
Middle Park and DSST-Montview are the top two clubs in the 3A Frontier and they’re separated by one game in the loss column. Middle Park sits in first and a win gives them the conference championship. DSST-Montview still has a game with Bennett on Monday and must win both to secure the league crown.
Key conference games are also on the docket in Class 2A with the headliner pitting Wray on the road to Wiggins. With Merino’s loss to Haxtun on Friday, the winner of this one takes over sole possession of second place in the Lower Platte. Both start the day one game back of Yuma and bot have their only league loss to the top ranked Indians. The game continues a brutal late season slate for the Tigers who topped Holyoke in overtime on Thursday and will face Merino and Haxtun next week.
Sanford remains the heavy favorite to win the 2A Southern Peaks but the race for spots two through four is still up in the air. Two games will help sort it out today as Del Norte goes to Center and Crested Butte makes the trek to Monte Vista. All four teams remain in the chase for spots two and three which are important as those clubs will be opposite Sanford in the district bracket.
Two non-conference games should draw some attention in Class 1A. The first is the top 10 battle between Evangelical Christian and Denver Waldorf. Both have enough talent to reach the final eight and if that happens, today’s outcome will factor into the quarterfinal pairings. ECA currently leads the 1A RPI standings while Waldorf has slid to 13th.
Caprock Academy and Ouray meet out west and that’s likely a preview of a district semifinal or even a championship pairing. Seeding will be important in that bracket as only the two clubs advance to regionals where they will pair up with the top two finishers in the 5280 district.
In Class 4A, the top 10 schedule again centers on the crossover tournament between the Northern and Longs Peak conferences. The three games involving a ranked team are the tournament quarterfinals with the fourth game set for Monday between Mead and Centaurus. The Mavericks are scheduled to host that game but a regional wrestling tournament is in their gym today.
Up in Class 5A, Eaglecrest needs a win to stay one game up on Overland in the Centennial chase. Overland has a tough game as well as they meet third place Cherry Creek. Eaglecrest has the tiebreaker as well due to their 64-51 win against Overland in earlier league action.
Below is the entire schedule for top 10 teams. We’ll update scores throughout the night and then below the rankings, update some games that impact league championship races. Final scores can be sent to Colorado Preps by text to 970.380.7737.
CLASS 1A
FINAL: #2 Sierra Grande beat Centennial 74-43
FINAL: #4 Evangelical Christian beat #8 Denver Waldorf 48-36
FINAL: #6 McClave beat Hi Plains 78-46
#9 Caprock Academy vs Ouray
CLASS 2A
FINAL: #3 Limon beat Fowler 56-40
FINAL: #5 Wray beat Wiggins 44-42
#7 Thomas MacLaren vs Colorado Springs School
FINAL: #10 Holly beat Cheyenne Wells 56-44
CLASS 3A
FINAL: #1 St Mary’s beat Ellicott 73-43
FINAL: #3 Colorado Academy beat Manual 55-51
FINAL: #4 Aspen beat Moffat County 65-56
FINAL: #6 Centauri beat Bayfield 62-35
FINAL: #7 Faith Christian beat Stargate 57-40
FINAL: #8 Highland beat Gilpin County 91-32
#9 Kent Denver at Jefferson Academy
CLASS 4A
FINAL: #7 Windsor beat Silver Creek 63-47
FINAL: #8 Frederick beat Holy Family 62-40
FINAL: #10 Longmont beat Severance 72-46
CLASS 5A
FINAL: #4 Eaglecrest beat Arapahoe 57-44
FINAL: #10 Smoky Hill beat Grandview 59-50
OTHER GAMES OF NOTE
1A: FINAL: Simla beat Stratton 67-45
2A: Del Norte at Center (Southern Peaks)
2A: FINAL: Crested Butte beat Monte Vista 50-46
3A: FINAL: Middle Park beat DSST-Montview (Frontier) 58-47
3A: FINAL: Montezuma Cortez beat Alamosa 85-77
5A: FINAL: Rangeview beat Aurora Central 85-56
5A: FINAL: Cherry Creek beat Overland 66-62
