We have reserved our basketball rankings through our Colorado PrepsCast but we’ve had so many requests to place them on the website in written from, we will do that this week.  We announce our top five teams in Classes 1A, 2A and 3A plus provide a next five and others teams to watch.
 

CLASS 1A

  1. De Beque (10-0)
  2. Cornerstone Christian (10-0)
  3. Sangre De Cristo (6-1)
  4. Haxtun (8-2)
  5. Peetz (7-2)

Next Five:  Front Range Baptist, Walsh, Briggsdale, Cheraw, Kit Carson
Others to watch:  Longmont Christian, Ouray, Belleview Christian, Pikes Peak Christian, Springfield, Evangelical Christian, Kim/ Branson
Notes:  No change to our top five this week as the clubs made it through the week without a loss.  De Beque scored an important win over North Park as it likely gave the Dragons the top district seed from the 2A/1A Western Slope.  Cornerstone Christian picked up a hard-fought overtime win over Longmont Christian and Sangre De Cristo rolled Creede 76-43.  Haxtun finished off a season sweep with Holyoke beating the Dragons 56-34 and Peetz had little trouble in downing Fleming 65-34.  Despite the overtime loss to Cornerstone Christian, Longmont Christian fell from our next five as they also dropped games to Dawson and Denver Christian during the week.  Walsh picked up a nice win over Cheraw last week and the Eagles moved closer to the top five.  They’re only 5-3 overall but two of the losses are to out-of-state opponents and the third is to 2A power Holly.
 

CLASS 2A

  1. Yuma (9-0)
  2. Holly (12-0)
  3. Highland (8-1)
  4. Byers (7-2)
  5. Fowler (7-3)

Next Five:  Simla, Limon, Heritage Christian, Denver Christian, Paonia
Others to watch:  Sedgwick County, Dolores Huerta, Vail Christian, Sanford
Notes:  Slight changes occurred in our top five as Byers picked up a nice home win over Simla (53-51) last Tuesday.  Byers was ranked fifth and Simla fourth last week so the Bulldogs moved up one spot with the Cubs dropping into our next five.  Replacing them is Fowler.  The Grizzlies (7-3) have just one loss to a 2A team (Holly) and they’re coming off two important conference wins over Swallows Charter and Rocky Ford.  It moved them very close to a top two Santa Fe league finish.  Top ranked Yuma scored lopsided victories over Wray and Burlington last weekend.  The second was the 300th career win for Yuma coach Dave Sheffield.  Holly was also impressive last week; beating Wiley, Las Animas and Crowley County on consecutive nights.  They won each game by at least 22 points.  Highland blew past Union Colony Prep (81-23) for their fifth straight win since a loss to 3A Frontier Academy.  They have a huge game with Heritage Christian this Friday and that winner could end up the Mile-High league champion at years end.
 

CLASS 3A

  1. Sterling (9-0)
  2. Vanguard (7-2)
  3. Kent Denver (9-0)
  4. Manual (7-2)
  5. Coal Ridge (10-1)

Next Five:  Faith Christian, Resurrection Christian, Centauri, Gunnison, Colorado Academy
Others to watch:  Delta, Platte Valley, University, Lutheran, Bayfield, Montezuma Cortez, Lamar, Colorado Springs Christian, St Mary’s
Notes:  No team in Class 3A had a better week than Manual.  The Thunderbolts simply dominated two quality opponents inside the Metro; beating Colorado Academy 99-63 and Jefferson Academy 90-48.  As a result, the Thunderbolts crash back into the top five at number four.  They replaced Colorado Academy (5th last week) in the polls and moved past Coal Ridge who dropped two spots to fifth with a surprising loss to Gunnison (70-63).  Sterling and Vanguard kept spots 1-2 easily.  Sterling downed Patriot rivals Valley and Brush while the Coursers cruised past Buena Vista.   Both clubs have important league tests on deck this week as the Tigers meet Resurrection Christian on Tuesday and Vanguard heads to Lamar on Saturday.  Resurrection Christian topped Platte Valley and University last week so their game with Sterling could determine the eventual Patriot champion.  Lamar has a home win over Colorado Springs Christian already this season and an upset of Vanguard gives the Savages a very good chance at landing the Tri Peaks title.  In other games of note last week, Bayfield handed Montezuma Cortez their first loss and Delta earned an important West Slope win over Roaring Fork.  Kent Denver and Manual also collide inside the 3A Metro and those two along with Faith Christian appear to be the best challengers for the league championship.