Very good dose of boys basketball on Tuesday night with 27 ranked teams set to get on the court. There are many other conference games of importance as well and Colorado Preps looks at the best matchups in our daily report.
Final scores of these games will be posted here tonight. Those results can be sent to us by text at 970.380.7737 or by email to [email protected].
CLASS 1A
FINAL: #1 Belleview Christian beat Shining Mountain 85-32
FINAL: #2 DeBeque beat Paonia 69-25
FINAL: #5 Merino beat Akron 53-27
FINAL: #6 Evangelical Christian beat Miami Yoder 59-25
FINAL: #7 Mile High Academy beat Denver Waldorf 72-39
FINAL: #9 Granada beat McClave 59-45
FINAL: Cheyenne Wells beat Eads 40-34
FINAL: Monte Vista beat Sangre De Cristo 47-45
FINAL: Genoa Hugo beat Simla 54-37
NOTES: Hard to predict what will happen in the High Plains league as the six teams seems to be evenly matched. Five of the league members have winning records overall. Two more contests are set for tonight with Granada battling McClave and Eads going to Cheyenne Wells. McClave starts the night tied with Cheraw in first with the other three just one game off the pace. Winless a year ago, the Cards are a very good story as they’ve opened with a 3-2 mark and started league play by upsetting Eads. Youngsters are carrying the load with sophomores Aiden Martinez (12.8) and Aydin Gomez (11.8) scoring in double figures. Freshman Connor Forgue (10.5) is also there. And all three are grabbing at least five rebounds per game. Granada’s lone loss is against Eads (63-55) but they responded with a 45-36 win over Kit Carson last Friday behind 10 points from freshman Jonus Guverra. He also had six rebounds. John Hainer had eight points and nine rebounds. Eads-Cheyenne Wells is likely an elimination game as each has already suffered one league loss. With only five conference games, it will be difficult to win the title with two early setbacks. The Tigers (4-2) are looking to break a two-game skid overall as they followed up the Cheraw loss with another to Genoa Hugo. Eads is on the court for the first time since the loss to McClave. Simla is 10th in RPI and Genoa Hugo 14th so the non-conference game is very important to those standings. The Pirates have won two straight and got 16 points from Wyatt Miller in the win over Cheyenne Wells. Triston Lindt added 11. Simla lost to Cheyenne Wells early (49-40) but has won four in-a-row. Coletin Mazerall netted 22 and Brayden Glover 19 in Saturday’s win over Stratton/Liberty. Sangre De Cristo will be favored but could get pushed from 2A Monte Vista. The Pirates are 2-3 but have played three Class 3A clubs. Sangre’s lone loss is against Sanford (52-42). Luke Christensen and Kevin Enriquez each score 14.4 points a game for the Thunderbirds. Top tens Belleview Christian, DeBeque, Merino, Evangelical Christian and Mile High Academy are favored to post wins this evening. In facing 2A Akron, Merino may face the best opponent but they have momentum from Friday’s 71-52 win over Haxtun. Kole Armstrong buried eight three-pointers on his way to 33 points.
CLASS 2A
FINAL: #2 Wray beat Hi Plains 74-35
FINAL: Ignacio beat #3 Mancos 68-50
FINAL: #4 Denver Christian beat Byers 56-36
FINAL: #6 Yuma beat #8 Haxtun (1A) 97-43
FINAL: #7 Peyton beat Elbert 65-51
FINAL: #8 Holly beat Swallows Charter 63-47
NOTES: Mancos and Ignacio normally meet twice in the San Juan conference with both results helping decide the league champion. But with the shortened COVID regular season, tonight marks the Bluejays and Bobcats only meeting so it may be for all the marbles. Both teams are unbeaten in league play and tied with Dove Cree for the San Juan lead but the Bluejays are favored. They are healthy and have wins over Sanford and Bayfield. Ignacio is banged up with losses to both the Indians and Wolverines. Connor Showalter, with 19 points and 11 rebounds per game, paces Mancos with a double-double average. Evan Sehnert (15.5) and Kail Wayman (11.0) also score in double digits. Ignacio has been missing standout Brady McCaw for several games and his status for tonight is up in the air. Yuma carries a four-game winning streak into the battle with Haxtun. The Indians also need the win to keep pace with Wray (4-0) atop the Lower Platte standings. Haxtun is 1-2 in league play with losses to Wray and Merino. Their tough schedule has kept them 8th in 1A RPI standings. Peyton had a huge week; beating both Sanford and Fowler on back-to-back nights. They’re favored against Elbert. The Panthers came up with eight steals against Fowler and 10 against Sanford. Brennen Meyers led the way with four against Fowler; a number matched by AJ Lashley against Sanford. The Panthers also scored a nice league win over Thomas MacLaren last night (63-44). Holly (4-0) is tied with Fowler for the Santa Fe lead but Swallows Charter (2-1) is still very much alive so that’s an important matchup as well. The Wildcats allow just 44 points per game defensively and are getting a big year from Brigden Parker. He leads the club in both scoring (15.1) and rebounding (8.5). Josue Avalos (12.4) and Dakota Eaton (10.9) also provide plenty of offense. Swallows Charter beat Rocky Ford and Hoehne to open conference action but was surprised by Rye (43-42) last Tuesday. They were 7 of 22 from outside the arc but only 9 of 32 inside it. Wray scores 81 points a game and is favored against Hi Plains tonight but Denver Christian may get tested by Byers. The Bulldogs were handled by Limon but have played solid otherwise including a nice 66-59 win over Holyoke. Freshman Zach Cary scored 20 in their last win; a 65-25 blowout of Flagler.
CLASS 3A
FINAL: #2 Lutheran beat Stargate 70-44
FINAL: #5 Centauri beat Gunnison 53-39
FINAL: #6 Faith Christian beat #10 Kent Denver 84-81
FINAL: #8 Resurrection Christian beat Platte Valley 57-55 (OT)
FINAL: #9 Manual beat Denver North 86-51
FINAL: Eaton beat Strasburg 63-60
FINAL: Coal Ridge beat Moffat County 83-47
FINAL: Eagle Ridge Academy beat Fort Lupton 57-41
NOTES: Three very important conference games on the schedule today between Faith Christian-Kent Denver (Metro), Eaton-Strasburg (Patriot) and Moffat County-Coal Ridge (Western Slope). Kent Denver is four spots lower in the statewide rankings but leads Faith Christian by two games in the Metro league standings. The Devils (4-0) need a win to keep pace with fellow unbeatens Colorado Academy (2-0) and Lutheran (3-0) while the Eagles (2-2) likely need a win to remain in the chase for a top five finish. Offensive minded this year, Kent is averaging 86 points per game with three players scoring at least 16 per game; Jay Royal (18.4), Adrian Doerr (17.0) and Duke Benson (16.7). Those three have also combined for 54 of the team’s 88 three-pointers. Ethan Levin is another double figure scorer (11.2) with 13 treys. Faith Christian’s league schedule lightens up tremendously after this one as they’ve already faced Lutheran, Manual and Machebeuf. They’ve won two straight since a 90-72 loss to Manual including a 63-20 league blowout of Stargate. Geo Velarde netted 22 points including four three-pointers in that win. Strasburg looks to build on the mojo created with last week’s win over Resurrection Christian (58-56). That win pushed the Indians to third in the Patriot; one game back of Brush and Sterling. Collin Russell scored 13 and Adam Schneider 12 in that win. Freshman Landen Martin also chipped in a dozen pushing his season average to 7.2. Eaton (2-2) is probably fighting to stay alive in the league championship discussion. They have games remaining with Sterling and Brush but probably need a win tonight to make those games meaningful. The Reds were stunned by Estes Park on the road last Wednesday but responded with wins over Frontier Academy (64-51) and Peak to Peak (75-29) on the weekend. Resurrection Christian also needs a win over Platte Valley to remain in contention. They’re also 3-1 but the loss to Strasburg has them fourth. Coal Ridge looks to avoid a letdown after taking out Aspen last week (57-47). The Skiers were the number one team in RPI going in so it was a big conference win for the Titans. Moises Contreras scored 17 points and Hank DiMarco had 11 rebounds for the winners. Moffat County (3-2) finally enters conference play and an upset tonight puts them right in the middle of the title chase. They’ve dropped their last two to Montrose (67-41) and Grand Junction (54-48). Aurora Central (6-1) and Englewood (5-1) are the likely Colorado favorites but Eagle Ridge Academy (4-3) and Fort Lupton (4-2) would like to get in the mix. It’s the league opener for the Blue Devils while Eagle Ridge is already 1-1.
CLASS 4A
FINAL: #5 Pueblo Central beat Pueblo West 73-60
FINAL: #7 Montrose beat Fruita Monument 52-48
FINAL: Severance rolled Northridge 76-31
FINAL: Thompson Valley beat Fort Morgan 60-52
FINAL: Frederick beat Roosevelt 77-55
FINAL: Steamboat Springs beat Summit 49-32
FINAL: Grand Junction beat Grand Junction Central 43-35
FINAL: Mesa Ridge beat Canon City 71-61
NOTES: It shapes up to a be a wild week inside the Longs Peak conference as six teams enter the week within one game of the lead including a five-way tie for second. Six games are scheduled this week involving those six teams including two tonight between Thompson Valley-Fort Morgan and Roosevelt-Frederick. All four are 2-1 and chasing first place Severance (3-0). Thompson Valley topped Mountain View 77-54 in their last game as Antonio Melendez scored 26. He averages just 9.8 per game. Fort Morgan has won two straight since falling to Severance (72-65) in their first conference outing. Fernando Marquez (16.0) and Briggs Wheatley (13.5) pace the offense and between them grab 10 rebounds a game. Frederick and Roosevelt both look to rebound from losses. The Warriors lost to Fort Morgan (63-57) last week despite 17 points from Izayah Elize and 15 from Jacoby Conway. Roosevelt came up short to Riverdale Ridge (55-53). Brock Saya had 20 and Keaton Kaiser 15 for the Riders. Steamboat Springs (5-0) is starting to gain some notice statewide as they were 14th in the rankings released on Monday. They need a win over Summit tonight to maintain sole possession of the West Slope lead. They lead the Tigers (4-1) and Palisade (3-1) by one game. Summit and Palisade also play later this week. Eric Pollert tops Steamboat in points (14.0) and is second in rebounding (7.0) to Jakob Kreissig (7.4). Kreissig also puts up the same number of points (7.4). Grand Junction and GJ Central are both 1-1 and tied with Durango for second in the SWL. All three teams trail Montrose by one game. The Tigers are just 4-3 overall but sit 12th in RPI points; the Warriors are 30th and squarely on the playoff bubble as the top 32 teams earn a berth. Pueblo Central and Montrose face rivalry games in league play tonight but both are favored. Pueblo West is 1-6 overall and sits fifth in the South Central at 1-3. Central leads the pack at 4-0 and is 7-1 overall. Montrose (2-0) is alone atop the Southwestern league with Fruita Monument on the other end of the standings (0-2).
CLASS 5A
FINAL: #2 Rangeview beat Prairie View 71-39
FINAL: #10 George Washington beat #3 ThunderRidge 65-59
FINAL: #4 Regis beat Douglas County 77-60
FINAL: #5 Chaparral beat Heritage 53-40
FINAL: #6 Mountain Vista beat Legend 50-42
FINAL: #8 Denver East beat Northfield 90-22
FINAL: Liberty beat Rampart 75-72
NOTES: Both ThunderRidge and George Washington head into the Tuesday showdown still buzzing from double overtime affairs last week. But the results were different as the Grizzlies outlasted Mountain Vista 80-71 on Friday and the Patriots came up short to Denver East 97-94. The win kept ThunderRidge alive for the Continental crown while GW likely ends up second to East in the DPL. The Patriots also have a test with #4 Regis later this week. The Raiders tonight could get tested by a solid Douglas County team that features the very talented Jaeton Hackley. The junior averages 19.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.9 steals. He went for 32, six, eight and five in those categories in last week’s upset of George Washington. Alonzo Paul (18) and Blakely Stoughton (16) combined for 34 points in Regis’ win over Legend last week as they stayed tied with ThunderRidge and Chaparral atop the Continental. Rampart (4-0) and Liberty (3-0) battle for the outright lead in the Pikes Peak. The Rams scored a huge 80-58 win over Doherty last week and it will try to keep up that momentum. Dante Wydra scored 20 for an offense that dropped in nine three-pointers. Liberty has beaten Vista Ridge, Discovery Canyon and Pine Creek in league play with each win coming by seven points or less. Jordan McKay (20.4) and Josiah Sewell (19.6) pace the offense with McKay also pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds a night.
