League races take center stage in the boys’ basketball report for Thursday. There’s a first place battle between Sterling-Brush in the 3A Patriot while Kent Denver and Manual meet for a big clash in the 3A Metro. A top 10 pairing of Mile High Academy and Denver Jewish Day also takes place in the 1A 5280 and in non-league play, George Washington looks for another win over a top 10 foe from the Continental.
Top games are previewed below in our daily report. Final scores will be posted here as well and they can be sent to us through email to [email protected] or by text to 970.380.7737.
Photo by Joe Skerjanec / OT SportsChek
CLASS 1A
FINAL: #1 Belleview Christian beat Denver Waldorf 67-26
#4 Primero at Las Animas
FINAL: #6 Evangelical Christian beat Hanover 59-31
#7 Mile High Academy at #10 Denver Jewish Day
FINAL: #9 Granada beat South Baca 59-25
NOTES: With Primero, Evangelical Christian and Granada poised to post easy wins on Thursday, the attention turns to the 5280 chase. Belleview Christian (5-0) is tied for first with Flatirons Academy (1-0) with Mile High Academy, Denver Waldorf and Denver Jewish Day all lurking a game back. That means Waldorf and Jewish Day will have to spring upsets to stay in the title discussion. Since they’ve already beaten Mile High Academy, Belleview Christian has to be considered the favorite. In five league wins; they’ve outscored opposition 360-184. They also continue to see insane numbers from Assane Diop as he totaled 45 points, a whopping 65 rebounds, 19 assists and 24 blocks in wins over Pikes Peak Christian and Shining Mountain. His quadruple-double against Pikes Peak Christian was his second such effort of the season. Waldorf will need big games from Will McHenry (13.5 pts) and Dylan Quinn (11.5) to stay in the game. Mile High Academy (1-1) has played just two games overall so they’re not included in the MaxPreps rankings until they reach four. And that currently impacts their playoff positioning. They handled Waldorf 72-39 just five days after the lopsided loss to Belleview Christian. Jewish Day gets solid offense from the tandem of Jonathan Kochavi (18.4) and Gavin Foonberg (12.4). Kochavi also leads the team with over 12 rebounds a game.
CLASS 2A
FINAL: #4 Denver Christian beat Gilpin County 56-49
FINAL: #6 Yuma beat Akron 87-45
#7 Peyton vs Colorado Springs School (Moved to Feb 23rd)
NOTES: Not many teams have been playing as well as Peyton of late. The Panthers zoomed into the top 10 this week after beating both Sanford and Fowler last weekend. Another win tonight gives them a playoff berth as the Black Forest league champions. Both the Panthers (3-0) and Kodiaks (2-0) are unbeaten in league play and this is the last conference game for Peyton. Should CSS spring the upset, they will still need to beat Thomas MacLaren on Saturday to clinch the league crown. The Kodiaks (2-3) have not won a game outside the conference and rely heavily on Ben McCurdy as he leads them in scoring (19.6) and rebounds (5.6). He’s scored 27 points in two of the last three games. Since winning the Fowler tournament last week, Peyton has also beaten Thomas MacLaren and Elbert this week. Gibson Gellerman combined for 50 points in those wins and has bumped his scoring average to 14.5 which tops the club. Brennen Myers (16) led the way against Fowler and AJ Lasley had nine in the Sanford win. Denver Christian and Yuma look to hold serve in their conference races. The Thunder share first place with Highland in the Mile High and the Indians are tied with Wray atop the Lower Platte. RPI wise, Yuma is 5th and Denver Christian 7th so both are also in the running for a top eight seed and first round playoff bye.
CLASS 3A
#2 Lutheran at Jefferson Academy
FINAL: #4 Sterling beat Brush 66-42
FINAL: #7 Colorado Academy beat Peak to Peak 62-36
FINAL: #9 Manual beat #10 Kent Denver 101-76
FINAL: Aspen beat Roaring Fork 56-23
FINAL: Aurora Central beat Eagle Ridge Academy 76-57
NOTES: Three important games can be found in the Metro but the Sterling-Brush battle draws first attention as the winner becomes the last unbeaten conference team in the Patriot. Sterling is 4-0 in league play and 6-1 overall with a lone setback to Resurrection Christian (non-league). Brush has yet to experience a loss as they’ve rattled off six straight wins including University, Platte Valley and Valley in league. Their latest win came on Wednesday over Weld Central (68-40) as Tyler Barfuss netted 23 points and Cesar Hinojos 18. They also combined for 12 rebounds. On the season, Hinojos averages 20 points and 12 rebounds; Barfuss sits 16 and four. Sterling hasn’t played since the weekend where they rolled Platte Valley on Friday and Ogallala NE on Saturday. Jackson Keil (20.) is their leading scorer and tossed in a season high 26 last Saturday. He also has 22 three-pointers on the season. In the Metro, Lutheran, Colorado Academy and Manual begin action tied for the top spot. By far, Manual has the most difficult test as they meet a high-scoring Kent Denver squad that sits just one game off the pace. The Sun Devils fell out of the first-place mix on Tuesday due to a 84-81 loss to Faith Christian. Now they must knock off the Thunderbolts to remain a game back of the leaders. Kent made 13 threes against Faith Christian including five from Duke Benson and four from Adrian Doerr. Benson finished with 35 overall and now averages 19 for the season. Manual averages 73 per game so they won’t shy from pace. They own a 90-72 decision over Faith Christian as Jordan Reed led five players in double figures with 23. Lutheran and Colorado Academy should stay perfect in the conference as their opponents have just three combined wins overall. Roaring Fork is 3-3 overall but has started West Slope play at 2-0 and sharing the top spot with Basalt (2-0) and Coal Ridge (3-0). That makes their game with fourth place Aspen (2-1) very important. Both teams have a league win over Delta with the Rams taking a 54-47 decision and the Skiers 65-53. Aurora Central (6-1) and Eagle Ridge Academy (5-3) are both over 500 on the season and expect to battle with Englewood (6-1) for the Colorado crown. Central through is heavily favored after rolling Eagle Ridge 84-56 in non-league play just last week. Khafre Garrett-Miles tossed in 26 and Kavon Williams 19 for the winners.
CLASS 4A
FINAL: #5 Pueblo Central beat Pueblo County 61-49
FINAL: #9 Pueblo South beat Pueblo Centennial 73-56
FINAL: Thompson Valley beat Riverdale Ridge 50-47
NOTES: Look for Pueblo Central to stay alone atop the South Central standings tonight as the second round of league play gets started. The Wildcats made it through the first round unbeaten but it wasn’t easy as they slipped by second place teams East (52-50) and South (56-50) by a combined eight points. Rematches with those two begin on Monday as they host East. Pueblo South is on the road on March 1st. Kadyn Betts, with 17.9 points and 10.8 rebounds, leads Central in both categories. Adonis Reynolds is second in scoring (17.6) and Kyle Bigly second on the boards (7.3). Pueblo South and Pueblo East share second at 3-1 but have not played yet. They face off twice over a seven-day period with game one set for the 27th. Riverdale Ridge and Thompson Valley both sit 3-1 in the Longs Peak and each is one game behind Severance (4-0). The Ravens have won three straight overall following a one-point league loss to Mountain View. They don’t play Severance until the 25th. Ryan Leopold tops Riverdale Ridge in scoring (13.6) and is coming off a season-high 23 points in the win over Niwot. MJ Nuce and Anthony Chavez also provide 10 points a game. Thompson Valley is playing their fourth straight road game. They lost to Frederick (62-60) to open the string but followed up with wins over Mountain View and Fort Morgan. Jaromy Morgan (17) and Antonio Melendez (13) combined for 30 against the Mustangs.
CLASS 5A
FINAL: #2 Rangeview beat Northglenn 92-36
FINAL: #3 ThunderRidge beat Castle View 66-33
FINAL: #4 Regis beat Heritage 60-59
FINAL: #10 George Washington beat #5 Chaparral 59-57
FINAL: Rock Canyon beat #6 Mountain Vista 70-68
NOTES: After beating ThunderRidge on Tuesday, George Washington pays another visit to the Continental league to face a top 10 opponent. Eddie McPhee, Jarmell Johnson and Kendale Johnson each scored 16 in leading the Patriots past ThunderRidge. They jumped to a quick 20-10 first half lead and mostly held that margin for the rest of the game. Against Chaparral (7-0), they face a team that has a quality early win over Denver East (59-48). East last week outlasted GW in double overtime. Leading scorers for the Wolverines include Luke Williams (15.4) Joel Speckman (14.1) and Braden Boley (10.7). Mountain Vista and Rock Canyon collide with the winner staying a game back of Continental leaders Regis, Chaparral and ThunderRidge. Mountain Vista’s lone league blemish is in double overtime toe ThunderRidge last Friday. Ben Bowen dropped in 27 and Henry Gamble 15 in the loss. Rock Canyon lost to Chaparral (51-40) on Friday but bounced back to beat Vista Peak 64-42 two nights ago. Braxton Jones led the way with 16. ThunderRidge and Regis are both heavily favored to stay perfect in conference play this evening. Rangeview should do the same in the EMAC where they face a Northglenn team that has produced just one victory this season.
