A first place battle inside the 3A Metro conference grabs the top headline for the boys’ basketball top 10 schedule for Friday night.  Kent Denver and Manual square off for the early lead in a traditionally rugged and deep conference.
Kent Denver is 3-0 in league play and Manual sits at 2-0.  The winner though does not gain sole possession of first place as Lutheran (2-0) and Colorado Academy (3-0) also have a share of the lead.
Also in Class 3A, Platte Valley and Estes Park also face off inside the Patriot.  Neither has a lost a conference game but the loser drops out of the lead.  The two share the top spot with top ranked Sterling.  Alamosa and Centauri is also a game of interest based on rivalry level.  The Moose must avoid looking to Saturday’s highly anticipated matchup at Bayfield.
The winner between Crowley County and Fowler becomes the outright leader in the 2A Santa Fe.  The local rivals, separated by less than 15 miles, have a combined 11-0 league record.  They squared off three times a year ago with the Chargers winning both regular season contests and the Grizzlies taking the district tournament matchup.
In Class 1A, top ranked Creede could get pushed at home by Cotopaxi and two games will help sort out the Hi Plains league standings as Cheyenne Wells goes to Eads and Kit Carson meets McClave.
Top ranked Lewis Palmer has opened a two game lead on all other clubs in the 4A Pikes Peak.  After escaping against a quality Discovery Canyon team earlier this week, the Rangers meet long-time rival Air Academy this evening.
Evergreen and Valor Christian collide to determine first place in the rugged 4A Jeffco.  Both teams have won their first five conference games.  The loser falls into a second place tie with Golden while the winner will stand alone in first.  The two teams also meet a second time in February.
The outcome between Doherty and Regis will not impact top 10 rankings next week but could play a role in laying out the 5A state tournament bracket late next month.  Overland is 2-7 in non-league play but five straight conference wins have gotten them back to five hundred overall and the Blazers have also developed a two game lead in what’s been a crazy Centennial race thus far.  Mullen is one of four teams at 3-2 and tied for second place.
Below is the entire Top 10 Schedule for the night.  We’ll post scores first to our Daily Scoreboard and then update our list here.  Final scores can be sent to us through email to [email protected] or by text to 970.380.7737.
 
CLASS 1A
FINAL:  #1 Creede beat Cotopaxi 70-61
FINAL:  #3 Holly beat Walsh 69-29
FINAL:  Gilpin County beat #4 Heritage Christian 45-38
#5 Sangre De Cristo vs Mountain Valley
FINAL:  #6 Cheyenne Wells beat Eads 56-41
FINAL:  #9 South Baca beat Des Moines NM 71-41
FINAL:  #10 Kit Carson beat McClave 50-44
 
CLASS 2A
FINAL:  #1 Sedgwick County beat Merino 47-25
FINAL:  #2 Crowley County beat Fowler 41-40
FINAL:  #3 Del Norte beat Center 60-56
FINAL:  #4 Limon beat Deer Trail 80-36
FINAL:  #5 Yuma beat Holyoke 56-26
FINAL:  #7 Byers beat Flagler/Hi Plains 71-35
FINAL:  #10 Highland beat Akron 61-55
 
CLASS 3A
FINAL:  #2 Alamosa beat Centauri 55-41
FINAL:  #3 Kent Denver beat #9 Manual 69-68
FINAL:  #4 Grand Valley beat Gunnison 74-47
FINAL:  #5 Platte Valley beat Estes Park 69-60
FINAL:  #7 Faith Christian beat Prospect Ridge 74-48
FINAL:  #9 Resurrection Christian beat Liberty Common 93-38
 
CLASS 4A
FINAL:  #1 Lewis Palmer beat Air Academy 67-52
FINAL:  #2 Pueblo South beat Pueblo County 70-41
FINAL:  #3 Pueblo West beat Pueblo Centennial 73-46
FINAL:  #5 Golden beat Green Mountain 75-60
FINAL:  #7 Valor Christian beat #8 Evergreen 62-57
FINAL:  #9 Windsor beat Berthoud 71-64
FINAL:  Greeley Central beat #10 Thompson Valley 64-54
 
CLASS 5A
FINAL:  #8 Regis beat #7 Doherty 78-76
FINAL:  #9 Overland beat Mullen 65-41