Surviving and qualifying may be the motto of girls basketball teams entering the final five days of the regular season. Programs are trying to stay away from quarantine to remain eligible for the playoff bracket set for release on Monday. The top 24 teams in Classes 1A, 2A and 3A get into the bracket with the top 32 reaching the 4A and 5A post-season.
We’ll update the story with final scores and what those results mean throughout the night. Games of note include Elbert vs Evangelical Christian in 1A, Holyoke at Burlington in 2A, and matchups out west between Rifle-Glenwood Springs and Palisade-Battle Mountain. Elbert is tied for second with Simla in the Black Forest and both trail Evangelical Christian by one game in the standings. ECA and Simla also get together later this week. Holyoke is still in the running for the top overall playoff seed while Burlington wants to reach the top 16 to earn a first round game at home. Rifle leads a crowded Western Slope standings by one game over Glenwood Springs and Palisade with Battle Mountain sitting two games back in fourth.
Photo by OT Sportschek.
CLASS 1A
FINAL: #2 Kit Carson beat Genoa Hugo 68-31
FINAL: Fleming beat #4 Flatirons Academy 60-53
FINAL: Evangelical Christian beat #7 Elbert 43-35
FINAL: #9 Simla beat Cripple Creek 88-4
GAME NOTES: Evangelical Christian keeps the lead in the Black Forest as they hand #7 Elbert their second league loss. Simla stays a game back with their win over Cripple Creek and the Cubs will face ECA later this week. Fleming continues to play well. After pushing top ranked Briggsdale to within five points, the Wildcats have since taken down top 10 opponents Sedgwick County (2A) and Flatirons Academy.
CLASS 2A
FINAL: #2 Cedaredge beat Caprock Academy 71-19
FINAL: #3 Holyoke beat Burlington 56-44
FINAL: #4 Rye beat Swink 69-14
FINAL: #7 Paonia beat Hotchkiss 41-32
FINAL: #9 Limon beat Deer Trail 51-9
FINAL: Mancos beat #10 Ignacio 38-32
FINAL: Del Norte beat Center 44-26
GAME NOTES: Cedaredge is the Western Slope South division winner and will visit Soroco for the overall league championship on Saturday. The Rams have locked up the Northern crown. Holyoke rallied from six down in the third quarter to win their 13th game without a loss this season. Burlington will be in the playoffs but they fall to 9-3 on the season. Limon finished off a perfect run through the Union Pacific with their easy win over Deer Trail. Ignacio’s upset loss to Mancos leaves 1A Dove Creek alone atop the San Juan conference. But Ignacio can still win the championship by beating the Bulldogs on the road Thursday. Center suffered their first league loss inside the Southern Peaks so top ranked Sanford is alone in first. Del Norte moved close to the runner-up spot as they’re tied for second with Center but now own the tiebreaker.
CLASS 3A
FINAL: #9 Academy beat Jefferson 61-15
FINAL: #10 Grand Junction Central (4A) beat #6 Delta 69-67 (2 OT)
CLASS 4A
FINAL: #3 Mullen beat Cherokee Trail 64-37
FINAL: #4 Falcon beat Mitchell 77-34
FINAL: #6 Windsor beat Longmont 108-24
FINAL: #7 Classical Academy beat Sierra 58-32
FINAL: Glenwood Springs beat Rifle 32-25
FINAL: Battle Mountain beat Palisade 58-46
FINAL: Pueblo West beat Pueblo County 68-37
GAME NOTES: Crazy race inside the Western Slope this year and it’s continued tonight. Rifle opened the night alone in first by one game over Glenwood Springs and Palisade and by two over Battle Mountain. Now Rifle and Glenwood Springs share the top spot with Palisade and Battle Mountain together in third. Rifle still has a game with Palisade on Thursday and Glenwood Springs meets Battle Mountain on Saturday so there’s a chance of a four-way tie for the championship. Windsor stays tied with Mead in second place inside the Northern conference. Both trail Holy Family by one game pending the Tigers outcome with Greeley West. Falcon had already clinched the CS Metro North crown before tonight’s win over Mitchell. Pueblo West maintained their hold on the South Central chase with a second win over Pueblo County. It keeps the Cyclones one game up on Pueblo South but they must still beat Pueblo Central later this week to win the crown outright. Mullen continues to share second place with Arapahoe in the Centennial. Both are two games back of Grandview as the Wolves clinched at least a share of the crown with their win in 5A last night.
CLASS 5A
FINAL: #1 Grandview beat Smoky Hill 89-20
FINAL: #5 Ralston Valley beat Lakewood 57-36
FINAL: #7 Arapahoe beat Eaglecrest 71-52
FINAL: Fruita Monument beat Montrose 45-29
GAME NOTES: Grandview is one step away from clinching another Centennial championship. Tonight’s victory means they can clinch the crown outright by beating either Arapahoe on Thursday or Overland on Saturday. They beat the Warriors by 28 and Trailblazers by 63 in the first meeting so they will be heavily favored. Fruita Monument secured at least a share of the Southwestern title with a second win over Montrose. They will win the title outright with a win over Grand Junction on Friday but in between (tomorrow) they look to avenge a loss to 3A Delta from earlier this season.
