It’s a very important day for boys’ basketball teams in Classes 1A through 3A as eight state tournament qualifiers will be determined in each class. There are a combined 24 games on the schedule today and every winner earns a state tournament berth. As we’ve done throughout the season, Colorado Preps will provide a daily blog of the events with results and what they mean. Once we get a long list of state qualifiers, we can then start to process where the clubs may land in the state tournament pairings. Updates will be made throughout the day so we invite you to check back often.
7:47pm: Mile High Academy is entry number seven to state tournament as they moved past Longmont Christian 67-51 in their regional final. This is their first ever state tournament trip.
7:37pm: Two more entries into the 1A bracket as Kit Carson topped South Baca and Mile High Academy pushed back Longmont Christian. Those wins leave just one spot left in the eight team state tournament and that will be decided late tonight when Briggsdale meets Denver Jewish Day. Tip time for that one is 8:15pm.
5:35pm: Class 2A boys has determined their eight qualifiers to the state tournament and the Lower Platte is the only conference with more than one representative. Yuma and Wray both earned bids with wins today. Other leagues involved include San Juan (Ignacio), Mile High (Highland), Black Forest (Peyton), Southern Peaks (Sanford), Santa Fe (Fowler) & Union Pacific (Limon).
5:33pm: Four of the seven 3A leagues are represented in the state quarterfinals. The Metro leads the way with three as Lutheran, Faith Christian and Manual are still alive. The Patriot (Rez Christian & Sterling) and IML (Alamosa, Centauri) both have two with Vanguard as the lone rep from the Tri Peaks.
5:06pm: Centauri finishes off Manitou Springs 68-53 to complete the state quarterfinal pairings for 3A. The games below are listed in bracket order and will take place Thursday at DU.
- #1 Resurrection Christian vs #9 Lutheran
- #4 Manual vs #5 Centauri
- #2 Vanguard vs #10 Sterling
- #3 Faith Christian vs #11 Alamosa
5:00pm: Two qualifiers over the past few minutes include Limon in Class 2A and Walsh in Class 1A. Both are making return trips to their respective tournament. Limon will battle Highland for the top overall seed in Class 2A while Walsh is in the running for a top two bid in the 1A division. Limon rolled Dawson 80-50 and Walsh tripped up Cheraw 58-51.
4:19pm: Merino got plenty of notice for their late season charge a year ago and the Rams are making another this year. They knocked off #2 Denver Waldorf 57-52 as part of the Northeast regional and become the fourth qualifier in Class 1A. The Rams record is only 14-8 but the tough schedule had them at #11 in RPI before regional tournament play.
4:15pm: Ouray is the third qualifier to the 1A boys state tournament as they upset Sangre De Cristo 61-52 in Gunnison this afternoon. The T-Birds were hoping to get back into the bracket after finishing second a year ago but that quest fell one game short. Ouray moves forward with a record of 13-6 and they entered the weekend #14 in RPI. The Trojans last made the tournament in 2017.
4:03pm: It wouldn’t be 3A basketball without Faith Christian in the state quarterfinals and the Eagles advanced with a 57-37 win over St Mary’s on Saturday. Next up is a quarterfinal pairing with Alamosa who upset #6 DSST-Byers earlier today.
4:02pm: Defending state champion Manual is still alive as the Thunderbolts topple Eaton 72-65. The win pushes the Thunderbolts back to DU for a quarterfinal matchup with the winner of Manitou Springs and Centauri. Manitou led that game 15-14 after one.
3:46pm: Alamosa is another road winner in Class 3A as the Moose took out DSST-Byers 46-41 in a regional final. They advance to the state quarterfinals next week where they face either Faith Christian or St Mary’s on Thursday.
3:43pm: Fowler is the seventh qualifier to the 2A state tournament. Battling with Crested Butte and leading just one after three, the Grizzlies outscored the Titans 21-12 in the fourth to score a 56-46 decision. The Grizzlies finished third at state a year ago and will return for another run with a record of 22-2. The final state berth will be decided when Limon faces Dawson and that game is just tipping off.
3:32pm: Sanford gets into the state quarterfinals as they methodically pulled away from Burlington for a 56-38 win. With the win, the Indians are 20-4 on the season and they started the weekend #3 in RPI.
3:24pm: Resurrection Christian used a quick 21-3 run to start the game and then held off DSST-Green Valley 59-40 to capture the regional championship. The win puts Rez into a state quarterfinals matchup with Lutheran and those two clubs spent much of the season ranked 1-2 for the year.
2:53pm: Evangelical Christian and DeBeque are the only two 1A qualifiers thus far. The Eagles moved past Kim/Branson and the Dragons stunned Primero late. Both clubs are making a second straight appearance at the 1A tournament.
2:52pm: had some great games this afternoon in Class 2A boys including a thrilling state semifinal rematch between Holly and Highland. The Wildcats led throughout the game but missed a potential game tying shot at the buzzer and fell 65-63. The Huskies are #2 in RPI this weekend but easily could be the #1 seed when the state bracket is released on Sunday. #6 Wray, #7 Peyton and #9 Yuma also posted wins to reach the state quarters.
2:50pm: Playing some catchup as we had some 25 games go final in a matter of minutes. So in Class 3A, those teams advancing to the state quarterfinals include #9 Lutheran, #2 Vanguard and #10 Sterling. Among those three, Sterling was the only lower seed to gain a victory as they toppled #7 Gunnison on the Cowboys home floor. Five more quarterfinals are being decided today and once final, we can set the stage for games next Thursday. The bracket is not reseeded after games today as we continue through bracket order.
2:16pm: Sterling will make another trip to the 3A state tournament after beating Gunnison 57-41 on the road in a regional final. The Tigers are the first of eight teams to reach the state quarterfinals next Thursday at DU. They will most likely face Vanguard as the 2nd seeded Coursers are leading University big in the fourth quarter.
1:54pm: Mark down a second straight state appearance for Evangelical Christian. The Eagles topped Kim/Branson 56-49 to earn a spot in the 1A state tournament next week. ECA is now 19-3 on the season and opened the regional tournament at #12 in RPI. Those numbers will change after results from today are finalized. ECA is the returning consolation champion from a year ago.
12:58pm: The defending 1A champs live to fight another day. A buzzer beating layup from Wes Ryan pushes DeBeque past Primero 58-57 in the first of two regional finals in Gunnison. The Dragons are 20-2 on the season and opened the day #6 in RPI. They are the first team to qualify for the 1A state tournament with seven more spots to be filled throughout the day.
12:40pm: Getting set to scramble as the one o’clock window opens. Total of 25 games will be in progress at that time including nine that tip in the boys division. Four state berths will be decided in Class 2A and three in Class 3A. One apiece in both Class 1A and 5A.
12:26pm: Hot shooting from Brady McCaw in the fourth quarter pushed Ignacio past Mancos 58-48 and into the 2A state tournament. The Bobcats improve to 19-4 with the win. They entered the weekend #11 in RPI but those numbers will change once the regional finals wrap up today. Ignacio is in the final eight for the second time in three years.
9:00am: We’re about two hours away from the boys’ schedule to get started today as the first contest tips at 11:00am. It should be a dandy however as Mancos and Ignacio face off for the fourth time this season. Ignacio won the first conference game in January but Mancos avenged that loss to win the league championship and then beat the Bobcats for the district crown last week. Unfortunately, seeding and RPI placed the two league rivals into the same regional bracket so they square off again with a state tournament invitation on the line. The game will be played at Mancos high school. Two of the three previous games were decided by six points or less including the Bluejays 54-50 decision in the district final.
8:53am: Only six games were played across Class 1A on Friday but two went into overtime. South Baca finished the day with a double overtime win over Pikes Peak Christian (59-57) and the Patriots now face top seeded Kit Carson for a state tournament berth. The second overtime contest saw Kim/Branson stun Granada 55-54. The loss brought the lengthy and highly successful career of Manual Gonzales to a close. He had announced he was stepping down at the end of the season earlier in the year. And the game makes one wonder…..over 40 plus years…how many buzzer beaters was he involved with? Based on his winning percentage, we’re guessing he won more than he lost in those situations but it was still a tough way to go out. Credit to his kids though as they played extremely well down the stretch; getting the Bobcats to the regional tournament and within a whisker to playing for a state tournament berth.
8:50am: It was very difficult to find upsets on Friday as most of the higher seeds were able to post wins and advance to regional finals today. In Class 2A, there was the mild surprise of #17 Dawson over #16 Vail Christian in Region 1 and #19 Burlington downed #14 Heritage Christian in Region 3. Otherwise, every higher seed nailed down a victory. In Class 3A, #17 DSST-Green Valley also earned a win over #6 Coal Ridge but the biggest upset of the day went to Fort Lupton. Seeded #25, the Blue Devils downed #8 DSST-Montview 61-60 to capture a big win in Region 8. Now the Blue Devils face probably a bigger challenge against Lutheran as they hope to reach the 3A state bracket.
