The schedule for classes 3A, 4A and 5A are filled with excellent games this week and many involve either cross-division matchups or tournament pairings. Some of the games have already been played but we recap them along with a preview of the others.
CLASS 3A
Wednesday: #1 Lutheran at Colorado Springs Christian
Good recent tradition can be found for both clubs. Lutheran is coming off two consecutive final four appearances while Colorado Springs Christian won back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016.
Ranked #1 in the division, Lutheran has the higher expectations this year and they’re coming off a solid first week where they posted wins over Coal Ridge (50-30) and Roaring Fork (87-37). After this game, they head off to Las Vegas Nevada for two games this weekend.
Colorado Springs Christian has just one game on their 2019-20 resume but it was a 76-49 blowout of Calhan. Their matchup with Lutheran is their only game of the week but they will hit the court three times next week with a game at Pinnacle and two at the Fowler Tournament.
Thursday: #3 Faith Christian vs Alamosa
A pair of first year coaches collide in the opening round of the Glenwood Springs Tournament. Faith Christian opened the Abram Zeimer era by beating Manitou Springs and Vanguard to capture their own tournament championship. Alamosa scored two homes win for first-year boss Myles Baker as they took down both Sanford and Lamar.
For Faith Christian, the mild upset of Vanguard pushed them to third in the rankings this week. The Eagles were fifth a week ago and the Coursers second. A pair of Caleb’s led the way. Ruter ended up with 18 points and 18 rebounds while Clark drained five three-pointers on his way to 17 points. Isaiah Kroll added 11.
Alamosa had two solid efforts from Brendan Crowther. He tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds against Sanford and went for 19 and five and Lamar. Ian Jackson also had a nice effort against the Savages with a game high 22 points and 10 rebounds.
The winner faces either #7 Denver Christian (2A) or Glenwood Springs in the semifinals. Coal Ridge, Peak to Peak, Montrose (4A) and Moffat County are the other four clubs in the traditional eight-team bracket.
Saturday: #2 Resurrection Christian vs #8 St Mary’s (projected)
We are projecting these two teams to face off in the championship game of the Resurrection Christian tournament. Both must win on Friday to secure the matchup but the Cougars are favored against Roaring Fork and the Pirates should get by Olathe. We look for a high paced and high scoring game as both teams have the ability to score points in bunches.
The Cougars jumped to second in the rankings this week after blowing past three 4A schools in Pueblo by a combined 134 points last week. Included in that run was an 87-41 domination of then #10 Pueblo West. Three seniors led the was as Reece Johnson (18.7), Isaac Jessup (16.7) and Jackson Romero (14.0) all averaged at least 14 points per game. They also combined for nearly 12 steals per game defensively. Sophomore Drew Bobo (10.0) and senior Ethan Reeser (9.0) also contributed on the offensive end.
St Mary’s rang up 248 points in three wins over Skyview Academy, Pinnacle and Kent Denver last week and tallied at least 79 in each one. The Pirates feature three double-digit scorers in Sam Howery (21.0), Luke Stockelman (19.7) and RayShawn Dearmon (12.7). Stockelman went for 26 and Howery 25 against Kent Denver; Dearmon’s best effort was 18 against Pinnacle.
Fairview Festival: Manual vs 5A clubs
On their way to the 3A state title last year, Manual placed second at the Fairview Festival and will spend this week trying to take the final step in the bracket this year. Step one was achieved on Monday as the Thunderbolts moved past Broomfield 55-51. Now they face Ralston Valley in the semifinals on Wednesday and a win there advances them to the finals against either Horizon or Fairview. All three opponents are in the 5A division. Jaden Stoffell dropped in a game high 30 against Broomfield. He averaged 16.9 points per game as a junior while playing alongside Jaeden Bowles (27.7). With Bowles gone to graduation, expect the offensive numbers for Stoffell to increase quite a bit this year.
CLASS 4A
Tuesday: #5 Lincoln vs #4 Grandview (5A)
Both teams suffered a loss in week one but rankings results were much different. Lincoln went 2-1 with a loss to unranked Ponderosa at the Denver Tipoff Classic but improved two spots in the 4A poll. Grandview beat Doherty and lost to top ranked Rangeview by just one point but it cost them a spot in the 5A poll as they went from third to fourth.
Lincoln’s Tijana Bamba had a huge first week including a 38-piont outburst against Falcon. He also totaled 22 in the loss to Ponderosa. Grandview managed just 37 points against Rangeview but 29 of those came from the duo of Lian Ramiro (15) and Caleb McGill (14). The Wolves hit just 32 percent of their shots including two of 14 from the three-point line. Rangeview wasn’t much better with 38 percent shooting and 2 of 15 from the arc. And the teams combined for 36 turnovers.
Wednesday: #6 Erie at Centaurus
As the only two clubs in the Centaurus tournament bracket that have spent time in the top 10 this year, it’s a bit surprising they’ve been paired together in the quarterfinals. The winner thus becomes the favorite to land tournament championship on Saturday night. Northfield and Thornton are the same side of the bracket with Kennedy, Brighton, Discovery Canyon and Trinidad in the lower half.
Erie is 2-0 with tough wins over Longmont and Silver Creek by a combined five points. While the wins were close, they were quite a bit different. The Tigers led Longmont 43-34 after three and held off a strong Trojans rally for the two-point win. And the attack was balanced as Kevin Loy’s 18 points led four players in double figures. Against Silver Creek, the Tigers took control with a 22-11 run in the third quarter with Ladorian Howard the only player reaching double figures as he finished with 24.
For Centaurus, it’s the second straight difficult tournament draw. They were matched up with defending state champion Lewis Palmer in the quarterfinals of the Golden/D’Evelyn Preview Classic. They came up short 67-50 but responded with wins over Steamboat Springs and Sierra. That effort was not enough to keep them in the rankings after sitting 9th in pre-season polling.
Owen Koonce (15.7) is the leading scorer. He was limited to just five against Lewis Palmer but had back-to-back efforts of 21 against Steamboat Springs and Sierra. He also pulled down 17 rebounds with seven steals on the week.
Saturday: #4 Mead at #10 Longmont
Since this series resumed in the 2012-13 season, Longmont has won six of seven games with the only blemish coming in 2016-17. Mead picked up their only win that season (60-52) but Longmont has responded with two double-digit wins including a solid 77-64 decision a year ago. Overall, the Trojans were unbeaten until a 57-52 loss to Lewis Palmer in the state finals.
Based on rankings, Mead is favored this year as they sit six spots ahead of Longmont in the 4A poll this week. Longmont lost ground with the two-point loss to Erie (58-56) on opening night. They followed up with a 42-36 win at Broomfield four nights later. Mead also dropped their opener to Palmer (94-91) but rallied for lopsided wins over Westminster (86-61) and Greeley West (101-69).
Both teams have action before the weekend battle. Longmont faces both D’Evelyn and Thomas Jefferson while the Mavericks entertain Battle Mountain on Friday.
Pace will play a role. Longmont averages just 49 points a game while Mead has scored at least 86 each time out. Seven players average at least seven points for the Mavericks. That group is led by Trey Ward (18.0), Elijah Knudsen (17.7) and Will Maher (15.7). Nick Jacobs (10.3) is another double-figure scorer. Longmont gets points from Dallas Dye (14.5), Ryan Schneider (11.5) and Eddie Kurjak (11.0)
CLASS 5A
Monday: #7 Smoky Hill vs #10 George Washington
Let’s hope for a rematch of this one somewhere in the post-season as Smoky Hill outscored the Patriots 82-75 on Monday night. The Buffs were down one point through three quarters but then exploded for 29 points over the final exciting eight minutes.
The Buffs improved to 2-1 with the win and will take part in the Chaparral/ThunderRidge Tipoff Classic this week. First up is Legacy on Thursday. George Washington fell to 3-1 and now has a week to prepare for the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas NV starting on the 18th. Their first opponent is Bingham UT.
Thursday: #1 Rangeview at Regis
Tradition rich Regis is winless through three games this year but much of it is due to an extremely difficult schedule which continues this week. After meeting the defending state champions in this one; they also tangle with #9 Cherry Creek on the road two nights later.
The lone in-state loss for Regis came on December 3rd when they fell by just three points to #2 Overland (63-60). The Raiders actually led by three at intermission but were outscored 33-27 over the final two quarters. Since that loss, Regis has faced out-of-state opponents.
Rangeview as mentioned, did not play well in their 38-37 win over Grandview last week but they responded with a 112-29 blowout of Prairie View on Monday night. They made 43 of 65 shots (66%) and hit 9 of 22 three-point attempts (41%). Christian Speller had 24 points and Obi Agbim (19) to lead 11 players in the scoring column.
Saturday: #9 Cherry Creek vs Regis
The Bruins return to the Front Range this week after going 2-1 at the Grand Junction Central Warrior Classic last week. They started with a win over Grand Junction Central and ended by beating Grand Junction but in-between was an overtime loss to Fruita Monument (60-55). Creek was cold from the field; hitting just 21 of 67 attempts compared to 46 percent shooting (18-39) for the Wildcats.
Thomas Hawley (19) and Chance Hausman (11) were the lone double-figure scorers. The Bruins attempted 35 three-pointers and made just seven. Two came from Hawley.
This will represent the second game of the week for Creek as they also visit Boulder on Thursday. Regis also has the Panthers on the schedule this week as well (Tuesday).
