Boys’ basketball playoffs are down to just 20 total teams still battling for a state championship. The teams match up in the state semifinals on Thursday with winners advancing the state championship game either Saturday or Sunday in Colorado Springs. Colorado Preps looks at each matchup and tosses in a few historical nuggets as well.
Photo provided by Heather Jennings.
CLASS 1A
GRANADA AT BELLEVIEW CHRISTIAN: Belleview Christian beat Denver Jewish Day by just four points in overtime during the regular season but hammered the Tigers 63-27 in the state quarterfinals Tuesday night. They’ve now won their two playoff games by a combined 64 points and continue to be the overwhelming choice to land the overall championship. Logan Owen scored 20 and Assane Diop 16 in the win. Diop added 18 rebounds and seven assists. Granada spotted Cheraw a 15-0 lead but somehow rallied for a 42-40 win on Tuesday night. It was their second win over the Wolverines as they also topped them 56-31 for the High Plains league championship. They’re led offensively by the trio of Dominic Coleman, John Hainer and Brandon Gonzales who combine for 43 points a game.
- HISTORY: Belleview Christian is in the semifinals for the first time since 2000. The Bruins are 2-0 all-time in the round; beating Merino 57-37 in 2000 and Kim 58-52 in 1999. They went on to win championships each year. Granada is 5-8 in semifinal contests with their last win coming in 2002. The most recent appearance in 2009 in a loss to Caliche (64-47). This is the first ever playoff meeting between the Bruins and Bobcats.
DEBEQUE AT MERINO: After quickly taking out Cheyenne Wells 57-25 in their opening playoff game, the state quarterfinals proved a much tougher challenge for Merino. They held off a late surge from Mile High Academy to beat the Eagles 47-45. The Rams led by eight points at both halftime and at the end of the third quarter. DeBeque led Haxtun 31-18 at halftime and picked up an eight-point win on Tuesday night (54-46). Wes Ryan continued his hot streak; scoring 27 points including four three-pointers in the win. That number matches his season average in scoring but is the lowest total over his last six games where he’s netted at least 35 in four of them.
- HISTORY: Merino has won nine semifinal games in school history but has not tasted victory since a 1999 win over Granada (50-40). They’ve dropped their last three including a 62-52 loss to Sangre De Cristo in 2019. They also fell short to Sanford in 2003 and Belleview Christian in 2000. DeBeque has two semifinal wins from 1998 and 2019. Two years ago they beat Haxtun 70-55 on their way to the state championship; the last one contested in Class 1A. Their lone loss in this round came in 2003 against Eads (75-45). The teams have not met in the postseason.
CLASS 2A
YUMA AT WRAY: There’s much anticipation for this game as the two Lower Platte league and county rivals did not get a chance to play in the regular season. Their contest was slated for the final week and was to decide the league championship but could not be played when Yuma went into quarantine. Wray was awarded the league title based on data points used to determine playoff qualifiers. We could see quite a few points in this one as both teams like to push tempo and pressure the length of the court. The game also features two strong Player of the Year candidates in Wray’s Junior Arambula and Yuma’s Clay Robinson. The Indians are coming off a 99-point effort in Monday’s win over Wiggins and they also fought past a good Fowler club in the opening round (66-65). Wray has posted lopsided wins over Monte Vista (86-57) and Sedgwick County (74-44) in the playoffs. They have just one game decided by less than 23 points this season; beating Limon 72-66 in what turned out to be the regular season finale.
- HISTORY: Wray is in the semifinals for the second straight year but just the third time in school history. They of course did not get the chance to play in this round a year ago as the season was cancelled so their last on-court semifinal appearance came in 1994. They lost to Lamar 39-23 in Class B. Yuma is 7-5 all-time in semifinal games and is in the Final 4 for the fourth straight year. They beat Byers in 2018 and Fowler in 2019 on their way to state titles each year. They were also scheduled to face Limon in the semifinals a year ago. Their last loss came in 2011 (Lutheran-Parker). The clubs have never met in the playoffs.
PEYTON AT LIMON: This is a rematch of a state quarterfinal pairing a year ago where Limon scored a 43-34 victory in what turned out to be the final game of the year for both clubs. The Badgers led the game 25-5 at halftime before Peyton tallied 20 points in third to climb back in. Alex Carr (13), Camden Smithburg (12) and Kory Tacha (11) combined for 36 points in the win. Logan Nickell, then just a freshman, scored 12 for the Panthers and Gibson Gellerman added nine. All five players should be back on the court for the rematch on Thursday. This year, the clubs took different routes to the Final Four. Peyton worked through a very tight battle with Denver Christian; finally winning 48-47. Gellerman scored 18 points and AJ Lashley dished out seven assists in the win. The Panthers also committed just seven turnovers. It was their 13th straight win following a season opening loss to 3A semifinalist Manitou Springs. Limon meantime created a 19-point halftime advantage on Ignacio on their way to a decisive 71-39 decision on Monday. Alex Carr continued his hot stretch with 21 points and Kory Tacha added 19 in the victory.
- HISTORY: Peyton’s win on Tuesday was just their third in state tournament play in school history but it pushed them to the semifinals for the first time since 2009. That year they beat Valley 51-44 to earn their first and only state championship game appearance. As mentioned, last year’s run was ended with a loss to Limon in the state quarterfinals. Limon’s trip to the semifinals last year was their first since 2013. They beat Sierra Grande 53-43 that year which pushed their all-time mark to 7-5 in semifinal contests.
CLASS 3A
MANITOU SPRINGS AT ST MARY’S: Shouldn’t take either coach much time to scout for this one as the city rivals played just 11 days ago (March 6th). The Pirates took that one 83-63; scoring 46 first half points in creating a 14-point advantage. Sam Howery hit 10 of 17 field goal attempts on his way to a game high 24 points. Luke Stockelman added 19 while Max Howery and Cyrus Hernandez each added 11. Hernandez nailed three treys in the win and Andon Mindrup added two. Defensively, the Pirate came away with 19 steals including nine from Howery and five from Mindrup. Manitou Springs lost to Joah Armour to injury in the game as he was limited to just two points. John Maynard topped their offense with 17 points while Lars Marquardt and Isaiah Thomas each netted 11. Manitou downed Coal Ridge 69-47 in their opening playoff game and then moved past Colorado Academy 65-54 in the quarterfinals. St Mary’s has scored 185 points in disposing of Kent Denver and Englewood this postseason.
- HISTORY: Tuesday’s win over Englewood was the first ever in state tournament play for the Pirates so this is also their first visit to the semifinals. Their only previous visit to the Great 8 came in 2006 where they fell to Colorado Springs Christian (47-42). Manitou Springs has played in three previous semifinal games and all have been decided by three points or less. Their lone win came in 1973 over Hotchkiss (68-67) with losses suffered to Brush in 1974 (67-66) and Salida in 1991 (58-55).
STERLING AT LUTHERAN: A couple of league champions collide in this one as Sterling ran through the Patriot league without a loss and Lutheran matched that effort in the Metro. They have common opponents in Faith Christian and Manual. Sterling downed Manual 54-52 very early in the season and then downed Faith 54-43 in the final week. Lutheran rallied past Faith in overtime (59-50) but took out Manual rather easily (70-50). The Lions had a tougher time with Manual in the state quarterfinals on Tuesday but still scored a 73-65 decision. Sterling advanced by edging Aspen 54-52. There is also a difference in offensive personality. Lutheran has hit 59 three pointers on the season as they get most of their points on the inside with the combination of Baye Fall (22.4) and Mamadou Sow (11.7). They also combine for 15 rebounds. Sterling meantime has 131 three-pointers overall and has hit at least 10 in six games this year; including a season best 17 in a 74-57 decision against University.
- HISTORY: Despite all the post-season success for both clubs, they’ve met just once previously in the playoffs. That game was three years in the 2018 semifinals where Lutheran collected a narrow 39-37 win. That loss ended Sterling’s hopes for back-to-back state championships. As mentioned, the Tigers are in the semifinals for a fifth straight year with their lone win in that stretch coming in 2017 over Colorado Springs Christian (51-43). In addition to the Lutheran loss in 2018, they also came up short to Manual in 2019. They of course did not get the chance to play last year. All-time, Sterling is 4-8 in this round. Lutheran’s win over Sterling was their first in the semifinals since 20011. They are 5-8 in semifinal games including a win by sister school Lutheran-Parker in 2018 as well.
CLASS 4A
PUEBLO SOUTH AT MEAD: Based on seeding, the Mavericks and Colts may be considered surprise entrants to the Final Four but both have enough talent to win the whole tournament. Mead lost three straight games to Windsor, Longmont and Holy Family at mid-season but has scored seven straight wins since and all have come by double digits. That includes a highly impressive road win over tradition rich Lewis Palmer in the quarterfinals (61-50). The Mavericks defense limited Lewis Palmer to just 4-18 from the three-point line and 38 percent shooting overall. They also jumped to a 30-25 advantage at halftime and then used a 17-10 fourth quarter to secure the victory. Pueblo South narrowly escaped the round of 16 when Tarrance Austin banked in a buzzer beating three-pointer from 35 feet against Erie but they didn’t celebrate that moment very long apparently as they rolled top seeded Windsor 86-70 on Tuesday night. Austin, with 27 points, again led the way but he had plenty of support from Micaiah Smith (21), Maurice Austin (21) and Ray Aragon (14). Those four pushed the Colts to a whopping 52 second half points.
- HISTORY: Mead has not won a semifinal game since 1957 when they moved past Hotchkiss 59-49 in the Class B tournament. It’s their only previous semifinal game played. They qualified for the Final Four last season by beating Lincoln (69-63) but like all other quarterfinal winners, the Mavericks did not get the chance to finish off the possible state title run. Pueblo South is in the semifinals for the third time since 2017 but lost in their previous two visits; falling to Longmont (71-60) in 2018 and Lewis Palmer (58-45) in 2017. Their last win came in 2009 over Sterling (50-35) and they stand 6-7 all-time in semifinal games.
MONTROSE AT LONGMONT: Due to COVID scheduling where teams were recommended to stay close to home for regular season games, Montrose did not make an annual trip to the Front Range for some games this year. As a result, coaches along the I-25 corridor probably got their first look at the Indians in a video stream on Monday night in the state quarterfinals. What they saw was an impressive team that won the battle of unbeatens 61-47. The Indians jumped to a 16-9 first quarter lead and they then outscored the Sailors by at least three points in each of the ensuing three quarters. Luke Hutto dropped in 24 points while Ashden Oberg (18) and Trey Reese (11) also reached double figures. They hit just one three-pointer but connected on 22 of 37 shots inside the arc while committing just 11 turnovers. Longmont rarely awes you with stats but all they do is win. They used a strong defense to slow down Sand Creek and Pueblo Central in the playoffs; allowing just 82 combined points. Eddie Kurjak will be a great matchup with Hutto as he averages 19 points and nine rebounds a game. Keagan Patterson is next with 14 points per game this year.
- HISTORY: Montrose is two wins away from becoming the first West Slope program to win the 4A state tournament since Montezuma Cortez grabbed the crown in 2002. Monday’s win was just the seventh in state tournament play for the Indians. In the semifinals, Montrose has one victory; beating Fort Morgan in 1951 (50-34). Their last semifinal visit was in 1992 where they lost to Lamar (74-65). Longmont is in the Final Four for the fourth time since 2015. They’re 2-1 in that stretch with wins over Pueblo South (71-60) in 2018 and Sierra (43-36) in 2015. The loss was suffered to Valor Christian (56-53) in 2016. All-time, the Trojans are 7-6.
CLASS 5A
THUNDERRIDGE AT CHERRY CREEK: Despite going 5-0 in the Continental league, ThunderRidge was not awarded the conference championship because they did not play a full schedule. That honor went to Chaparral but the Grizzlies got a bit of revenge by downing the Wolverines in the semifinals on Tuesday (62-47). Nolan Marold poured in 25 and Jason Simental 15 as they combined for all but 22 of the Grizzlies points on the night. It was their sixth straight win since an overtime loss to George Washington. Cherry Creek has been ranked number one throughout the season and remains the pick to win it all. This will be just their third game against a team outside the Centennial. 13 of their 15 regular season games were league contests and that trend has continued in the playoffs with wins over Smoky Hill (80-75) and Eaglecrest (77-55). Chase Penry and Julian Hammond each went for 21 against Eaglecrest and Myles Purchase provided 20.
- HISTORY: Cherry Creek is 4-6 in semifinal games; last celebrating in 2006 with a win over Grandview (55-54). That was also their last appearance. The Bruins have just one state basketball championship as they topped Arapahoe 55-53 in overtime for the 1995 crown. This is their first meeting with ThunderRidge. The Grizzlies made the semifinals three straight years from 2017-19 but all ended with a loss. They do have six wins in school history with their most recent in 2015 over Eaglecrest (57-47).
GEORGE WASHINGTON AT RANGEVIEW: Rangeview tallied a 61st consecutive win this week; beating Rock Canyon 66-55 in the state quarterfinals. Cade Palmer did the most of the damage as he finished with 23 points including a pair of three-pointers. He also tossed out five assists. Josh Wyatt also netted 13 points and five other Raiders also scored. Damarjo Merritt and Jayden Foster each collected six rebounds. George Washington was the lone road team to win in the state quarterfinals, stunning Regis 54-52. Regis won the three-point line (6-1) but the Patriots hit an amazing 18 of 28 shots from inside the arc. They also outrebounded Regis 37-29. Trey Edmonds scored 15, Eddie McPhee 12 and Kendale Johnson 10.
- HISTORY: Rangeview has the last big school title decided on the court as they beat Chaparral 61-47 for the 2019 championship. They were also in line to repeat following a 59-43 win over Columbine in the quarterfinals last season. Their semifinal win in 2019 was the fourth in school history but first since 1993. Other wins are from 1989 and 1985. Rangeview also has four semifinal losses including 2016 and 2012 against Eaglecrest and Arapahoe respectively. George is in the Final Four for the third time since 2017. They beat Rock Canyon in 2018 (47-41) and ThunderRidge in 2017 (61-56). They’re 9-4 overall but have not lost in this round since 1992. The only previous meeting between the two came in the 1993 championship. George Washington claimed the 62-50 victory and the title.
