Regular season play in girls’ basketball concludes this week and there is plenty to decide concerning league championships. Colorado Preps breaks down all the races, lists teams that have captured crowns and features games that will help determine the others.
CLASS 1A
5280: Flatirons Academy is the champion with Rocky Mountain Lutheran earning second with their win over Front Range Baptist last week.
BLACK FOREST: Simla (6-0) heads into the final week with a one game edge on Kiowa and Evangelical Christian. The Cubs have beaten Kiowa and will try to clinch by beating ECA on the road Tuesday. Kiowa has a win over ECA so the Indians will end up second with a Simla victory.
FISHERS PEAK: La Veta is the league champion.
HIGH PLAINS: McClave (4-0) leads Cheyenne Wells (4-1) by one game and beat the Tigers earlier this year. The Cardinals play Wiley on Thursday and Granada on Friday. Both games are at home and the Cards need a win in just one to wrap up the crown. Cheyenne Wells hosts Cheraw on Friday and a win gives the Tigers second place.
NORTH CENTRAL: Briggsdale (2-0) leads the standings and can clinch the title by beating Prairie on the road Friday. If that happens, then Fleming is the runner-up squad.
SOUTHERN PEAKS: Sangre De Cristo clinched the championship by beating Sierra Grande and Mountain Valley last week. Centennial wrapped up second with their win over Sierra Grande over the weekend.
YWKC: Lone Star is the league champion with Idalia the runner-up squad.
ARK VALLEY: South Baca beat Kim/Branson over the weekend to claim the crown. Kim/Branson goes to Springfield on Friday to decide second and third.
CLASS 2A
BLACK FOREST: Peyton (3-0) leads Calhan by one game in the league standings but the Panthers have nine more wins on the season overall. They collide in Peyton for their conference matchup. The Panthers also go to Thomas MacLaren on Thursday.
SANTA FE: Rye easily won the championship as they captured each league win by at least 30 points. Hoehne has clinched second and Swink third. The district tournament opens late in the week.
SOUTHERN PEAKS: Sanford (6-0) is alone in first and got there by beating Sargent on Friday. The Farmers and Del Norte (both 5-1) are now tied for second. Sargent has a win over Del Norte and the Tigers must visit Sanford on Saturday. Sanford also has a date at Center on Friday.
LOWER PLATTE: Holyoke (7-0) has clinched the league title and closes their league schedule at Caliche on Friday. Sedgwick County (5-1) needs one more win to secure second and the Cougars go to Yuma on Tuesday and Akron on Friday. Neither can be considered an easy contest. Merino (5-2) and Wray (3-3) are third and fourth and they meet up on Friday in Wray.
SAN JUAN: Dove Creek has won the league championship. Mancos, Ignacio and Nucla each have two league losses and are battling for second. The Bluejays have the advantage as they’ve beaten the other two. They close league play with Telluride on Wednesday and Dolores on Friday.
UNION PACIFIC: Limon is the league champion with Burlington finishing second. Stratton is the top 1A club and third in the conference overall.
WEST CENTRAL: Cotopaxi is the league champion with Custer County placing second.
WESTERN SLOPE: Soroco (9-0) and can clinch the championship by beating either North Park on Friday or Plateau Valley on Saturday. Cedaredge clinched second by beating Meeker on Friday and the Bruins finish up with DeBeque on Friday.
MILE HIGH: Heritage Christian (9-0) wrapped up the league championship by beating Dayspring Christian (8-1) over the weekend. The Eagles are now tied with Highland in second and they square off on Tuesday to determine spots two and three.
CLASS 3A
INTERMOUNTAIN: Centauri and Alamosa enter the final week tied for the conference lead and they break the tie on Tuesday. It’s the second league matchup for each with Centauri taking round one 52-38.
METRO: Lutheran earned another championship with their win over Skyview Academy last Friday. Despite the loss, Skyview Academy has secured second place. Kent Denver and Colorado Academy are tied for third but the Sun Devils won the head-to-head meeting so they earn the nod by beating Manual on Wednesday. The district tournament opens this week.
PATRIOT: The order of the top three clubs hinges completely on Tuesday’s game between Platte Valley and University. A Broncos win gives them the championship and then Eaton finishes second and University third. Should University knock off the defending champs, then the three highly ranked clubs will all share the top spot. Resurrection Christian is locked into fourth and has a fun date with 1A defending state champion Flatirons Academy coming up this week.
TRI PEAKS: Vanguard topped St Mary’s last week to grab the championship. The Pirates dropped into second and have clinched that spot as well. Colorado Springs Christian has also secured third. The district tournament opens on Saturday.
WESTERN SLOPE: Delta is the league champion thanks to their win over Moffat County (60-32) last week. Despite that loss, Moffat County will be the second place club. Coal Ridge and Grand Valley share third but they play on Tuesday to break the tie. Delta closes at North Fork on Thursday and Moffat County finishes the schedule with Basalt.
CONFLUENCE: It appears that Lotus, DSST-Byers and Addenbrooke will share the championship as all have one league loss. None of the three leaders collide this week. Lotus and Addenbrooke both drop into Class 2A for the playoffs.
FRONTIER: Academy beat Bennett on Friday so the Wildcats are again the league champion with the Tigers settling for second. Arrupe Jesuit is third. The district tournament gets going later in the week.
CLASS 4A
CS METRO NORTH: Classical Academy (7-0) can win the title by beating Elizabeth on Monday or Sand Creek on Tuesday. Falcon and Sand Creek share second (4-3) but are three games off the pace.
CS METRO SOUTH: Canon City (7-0) and Mesa Ridge (6-1) are one-two and they meet on Thursday to finalize the top two spots. Canon City has the edge based on their overtime win in the first meeting.
JEFFCO: D’Evelyn (11-1) earned a share of the top spot by beating Green Mountain (10-1) last week. They’ve now split two league meetings. Green Mountain has two league games remaining against Golden on Monday and Wheat Ridge on Thursday. D’Evelyn has a tough closing date with third place Littleton on Friday. Ironically, D’Evelyn and Green Mountain meet for a third time on Wednesday but it’s considered a non-league game. If the two clubs finish tied in conference play, Green Mountain will get the nod as league champion based on point differential in their two games with D’Evelyn.
LONGS PEAK: The league is involved in the cross over tournament with the Northern conference. Roosevelt is the regular season and will get the automatic bid to the playoffs.
NORTHERN: The league is involved in the cross over tournament with the Longs Peak conference. Defending state runner-up Windsor is the league champion and will receive the automatic bid to the postseason.
SOUTH CENTRAL: Pueblo West (5A) has clinched the championship. Pueblo South and Pueblo County (4-3) share second but South won both conference matchups against the Hornets.
WESTERN SLOPE: Glenwood Springs (10-0) wrapped up the crown by beating Steamboat Springs on Saturday. That win also gave Summit second place with Steamboat Springs locked into third. Glenwood Springs has two more league games with Palisade (Thursday) and Rifle (Saturday). Summit closes at Palisade on Tuesday.
COLORADO: Skyview is the league champion with Weld Central number two. All teams compete in the league tournament starting on Tuesday.
CLASS 5A
PIKES PEAK: Doherty is the league champion with Air Academy ending up second. The league tournament gets started on Tuesday.
SOUTHWESTERN: Fruita Monument (6-0) and Grand Junction Central (5-1) both beat Durango on the road this past week so they will finish 1-2 in the conference. Fruita Monument has the edge currently thanks to a 45-37 win over Central earlier in conference play. The rematch is Tuesday at Central with the Warriors needing a win to grab a piece of the league championship.
CENTENNIAL: Grandview (8-1) leads Arapahoe (97-2) by one game with Cherry Creek and Mullen sharing third (6-3). Arapahoe has the toughest final week as they host Grandview on Wednesday and then visits Mullen on Friday. Arapahoe beat Mullen 54-45 in the first meeting but lost to Grandview 74-55.
EAST METRO: Vista Peak (6-0) and Rangeview (5-0) occupy first place with Brighton (4-1) in third place. Brighton plays both first place teams in the final week; Rangeview on Monday and Vista Peak on Tuesday. Then for good measure, Rangeview heads to Vista Peak to close the season with many scenarios still possible. Rangeview is favored as they have a 92-57 non-league win over Vista Peak.
FRONT RANGE: Fossil Ridge (8-1) and Monarch (7-1) sit atop the standings with Rocky Mountain (7-2) in third. Monarch has the advantage for the title as they beat Fossil Ridge in their head-to-head meeting. That means the Coyotes are the champions by winning their remaining games. They have three; home to Mountain Range on Tuesday, at Bromfield on Thursday and at Loveland on Friday. Fossil Ridge has two games remaining against Fairview on Tuesday and then Boulder on Thursday.
JEFFCO: Valor Christian (6-0) leads Columbine (4-1) by one game. The Eagles have the head-to-head win so they need just one more win to clinch the title. They meet Arvada West on Wednesday and Pomona on Friday. Ralston Valley is at Columbine on Wednesday and that game should determine third. Ralston shares third with Chatfield and A-West.
CONTINENTAL: Highlands Ranch (8-0) has a one game lead on Chaparral (6-1). The two teams did not meet in conference play this year and won’t in the final week so the Falcons must still beat Castle View on Tuesday to secure the championship. Chaparral lost to third place Regis (5-2) so the Wolverines must win their final two games to remain second. They go to Heritage on Tuesday and then host Ponderosa on Friday. Regis meantime meets Douglas County and Heritage on the same two days.
DENVER PREP: George Washington and Denver East are both unbeaten in conference play so their face-to-face matchup on Saturday will decide the top two spots.