Very busy night of girls’ basketball as we have 37 games on our list and all involve either a top 10 club or an important conference clash. Rankings wise, the best pairings are in 1A between #8 Kim/Branson and #10 Cotopaxi and up in 5A as #1 Grandview is challenged by #6 Arapahoe.
Final scores will also be posted to this page throughout the night and results can be sent via text to 970.380.7737 or by email to [email protected].
Feature photo provided by Jen Metz.
CLASS 1A
FINAL: #1 Briggsdale beat Arickaree/Woodlin 51-18
FINAL: #2 Kit Carson beat Granada 60-30
FINAL: #3 Sangre De Cristo beat Antonito 57-15
FINAL: #6 McClave beat Eads 50-19
FINAL: #8 Kim/Branson beat #10 Cotopaxi 45-42
FINAL: #9 Elbert beat Miami Yoder 42-22
FINAL: South Baca beat Springfield 44-38
FINAL: Rangely beat North Park 64-51
NOTES: The extreme Southeast corner of the state is where we go to find the best matchups in Class 1A. Both are non-conference games but both feature two teams very much involved in the state playoff chase. Rankings wise, the better of the pair pits #8 Kim/Branson at home against #10 Cotopaxi. It’s a non-conference game but valuable RPI points go to the winner as both are chasing a berth in the 24-team playoff bracket. Kim/Branson (5-0) has not allowed more than 24 points in any game this year and surrendered just eight in Friday’s win over Manzanola. The Mustangs have collected 67 steals in the five wins including 19 from Talara Nittler and 17 from Sidney Goode. AJ Winford (11.8) tops the offense and also grabs a team-best 9.6 boards. Cotopaxi opened with two wins then fell to Sangre De Cristo before downing Creede and South Park by a combined 62 points. Koylnn Guliford is the leader in points (14.8), rebounds (6.8) and blocks (2.6). Shaelee Coleman adds 8.2 points and nearly four assists. South Baca (2-1) battles Springfield (3-0) in the Ark Valley opener for both. It will be a good race as Kim/Branson and Wiley are also league members. South Baca is 1-1 against out of state teams including a nice 39-36 win over Stanton County KS on Thursday. In-state, they’ve handled Cheyenne Wells (57-34) and La Veta (62-16). Alissa Hebberd is a likely all-state player as she averages 19 points and 15 rebounds. Jamie Quick is next in both categories with 16.5 points and seven boards. Springfield is unbeaten; winning three games by a combined 132 points. They return a good nucleus from last year’s Final Four club including Brinlynn Dukes, Payton Arbuthnot and Melanie Woller. Way too early to predict the North division of the Western Slope. Rangely looks for a 2-0 start while North Park (1-1) wants a win to stay close to the top spot. Rangely is tied with Vail Christian and Soroco at 1-0 and those two clubs were also scheduled to play tonight but it has been postponed. Briggsdale, Kit Carson, McClave and Elbert are expecting wins this evening. Sangre De Cristo is also favored against Antonito but the Trojans are 2-1 and played well in a 52-39 loss to Sierra Grande. They should contend for a top three league finish.
CLASS 2A
FINAL: #1 Rye beat Hoehne 63-10
FINAL: #2 Sanford beat Holly 65-6 (Fowler Tournament)
FINAL: #3 Holyoke beat Akron 52-39
#4 Wray vs Chase County NE (PPD)
FINAL: #5 Cedaredge beat Hotchkiss 54-20
FINAL: #7 Limon beat Byers 48-25
FINAL: #10 Lotus School beat Strive Prep 53-28
FINAL: Sedgwick County beat Burlington 56-50
FINAL: Fowler beat Peyton 57-32 (Fowler Tournament)
NOTES: Quick turnaround for Wray and Sedgwick County after their two-point thriller on Thursday. The Cougars grabbed the win 65-63 to stay atop the Lower Platte with Holyoke. The Dragons look to keep their share of first by beating Akron today. It was Wray’s first loss of the season and their job tonight is to avoid a two-game losing skid. They face an opponent that has already played 20 games (15-5) including a 542-6 win over Yuma earlier this month. Sedgwick County cannot suffer a letdown as Burlington (4-1) is a very solid team that played well in their lone loss to Limon (52-41). They balanced their Union Pacific record at 1-1 by beating Stratton/Liberty 56-15 on Tuesday. Cedaredge has a first-place battle with unbeaten Paonia tomorrow but first looks to take care of business against Hotchkiss this evening. The Bruins (6-0) are favored. The Bulldogs have won three straight following a 41-25 loss to Paonia. Vianny Mendoza has had a solid start; leading the Bulldogs with 10 points per game. She’s also tied for the top spot in rebounds at 6.7. Lotus (7-0) is playing their third game of the week as they’ve already beaten Windsor Charter and Campion Academy. Strive Prep (3-3) could be one of their top challengers in the Confluence race and they’ve won their last two. Rye and Sanford should post rather easy wins tonight. Hoehne has a loss to Del Norte (46-26) and the Thunderbolts topped the Tigers by 31. Holly is in rebuild mode with their lone win coming against Las Animas.
CLASS 3A
FINAL: #1 Lutheran beat Skyview Academy 49-26
FINAL: #6 Pagosa Springs beat Montezuma Cortez 73-20
FINAL: #9 Delta beat Fruita Monument 56-37
NOTES: Good cross class pairing out west between #9 Delta and Fruita Monument who entered the week #11 in Class 5A. Combined records are 8-1 and both will use the game as more prep for a league championship run. Delta scored their second straight easy win on Wednesday downing Gunnison 70-11 to follow up on the 58-19 victory at Alamosa over the weekend. The defense had 13 steals vs Alamosa and a whopping 32 against Gunnison. Ellie Ames, Marcy Schaal and Keely Porter each five against the Cowboys and five others had at least three. Fruita has plenty of momentum from last night’s 41-32 key SWL win over #9 Grand Junction Central (4A). That was an emotional game so they’ll seek to avoid a letdown against the Panthers. The winner of Middle Park and Arrupe Jesuit (both 2-0) keeps pace with Frontier favorite Academy. The defending champs moved to 3-0 with a harder than expected win over Bennett (55-44) on Thursday. For Middle Park, this will mark their second game in as many days as they downed Lake County 48-31 on the road last night. Their first conference win came last week against DSST-Montview as Bella Svoboda worked for 26 points and 10 rebounds. Arrupe Jesuit also played Thursday but didn’t break much of a sweat in a 81-8 rout of KIPP Collegiate. Lutheran and Pagosa Springs should keep rolling inside their respective conference. The Pirates have a huge game with Centauri on Saturday and hope to make quick work of the Panthers.
CLASS 4A
FINAL: #1 Mullen beat Eaglecrest 58-20
FINAL: #2 Holy Family beat Skyline 70-20
FINAL: #3 Green Mountain beat Wheat Ridge 80-24
FINAL: #5 Falcon beat Mitchell 80-29
FINAL: #6 Windsor beat Centaurus 68-28
FINAL: #7 Erie beat Greeley Central 67-48
FINAL: #8 Classical Academy beat Sierra 66-39
FINAL: #10 D’Evelyn beat Golden 64-31
FINAL: Evergreen beat Littleton 45-33
NOTES: Mullen will watch with great interest, the result between Grandview and Arapahoe. Should the Mustangs beat Eaglecrest this evening, they will be tied for second with the loser from that game. And with Arapahoe coming up on Wednesday and Grandview a week from tonight, it’s a very critical stretch for the Mustangs. They blitzed Cherokee Trail 64-23 Wednesday night; outscoring the Cougars 36-6 in the first half. Still a four-way battle for the Northern lead between Holy Family, Windsor, Erie and Mead. All are 2-0 entering play and of the four only Windsor faces an opponent with a winning record overall as Centaurus checks in at 3-2. The Warriors were taken out by Holy Family (62-15) in their league opener but responded with a win at Longmont (42-35) on Wednesday. Laura Gensert tallied 18 in the win. Windsor averages 91.5 points per game in league play. Individually, Olivia Reed (26) and Kylie Sanger (22) combined for 48 in the win over Greeley West and Sanger rolled up 30 against Skyline. In both games, the Wizards scored 32 points in a single quarter. The best game in the Jeffco has Littleton on the road to Evergreen where the Lions (4-0) need a win to stay up with Green Mountain and D’Evelyn who are expecting easy wins. Littleton has had just one tight game in conference; beating Standley Lake 43-40. Other wins are by a total of 165 points. Freshman Penny Urquhart has been a nice addition and she leads the Lions with nine points a game. Evergreen has plenty to play for. Despite a 59-26 loss to Green Mountain earlier this week, they sit just one game back in fourth (3-1). Falcon (4-0) and Classical Academy (3-1) are one-two in the Colorado Springs Metro south. They’re a combined 12-1 overall with four remaining league members totaling just nine wins. Game two between the Falcons and Titans is next Thursday. Falcon took game one 50-47.
CLASS 5A
FINAL: #1 Grandview beat #6 Arapahoe 70-42
FINAL: #2 Valor Christian beat Pomona 75-26
FINAL: #3 Highlands Ranch beat Douglas County 60-25
FINAL: #4 Regis beat Legend 67-24
FINAL: #5 Ralston Valley beat Bear Creek 80-21
FINAL: #7 Fossil Ridge beat Broomfield 62-60
FINAL: #8 Chaparral beat Rock Canyon 56-25
FINAL: Chatfield beat Arvada West 58-45
FINAL: Monarch beat Rocky Mountain 54-40
FINAL: Grand Junction beat Durango 38-35
NOTES: Let’s start right at the top with the battle for first place inside the Centennial where Grandview and Arapahoe have won their first five conference games. Grandview will be favored but the teams have fared very similar through the same level of schedule. The Wolves have given up 182 points compared to 185 for Arapahoe. We should also see a good matchup on the inside between Grandview’s Lauren Betts and Arapahoe’s Sam Crispe. Betts averages 21 points and 13 rebounds and will also have a five-inch height advantage. Crispe though picks up 20 points and nearly nine boards a game. Grandview gets support offensively from Addison O’Grady (17.3) and Marya Hudgins (14.5). Option two for the Warriors is Katy Edwards at 14 points per game. Valor Christian (4-0) and Ralston Valley (4-1) continue to lead the Jeffco standings. Chatfield (3-1) can keep pace by beating Arvada West (5-2). The Chargers have Valor Christian coming up next Wednesday and already have a loss to Ralston Valley (69-49). Fossil Ridge and Rocky Mountain seek wins to maintain their hold on the Front Range lead. Both teams are 3-0 and both will get challenged by opponents who sit one game off the pace. Broomfield and Monarch are two of four clubs at 4-1 so they create a possible six-way tie for the top spot with wins this evening. Maddie Kohler (11.2), Samantha Koeberer (11.0) and Kate Davis (9.0) combine for 31 points in the Fossil Ridge offense. Rocky Mountain is 5-1 overall but has actually been outscored on the season (240-247) due to a lopsided non-league loss to Fossil Ridge (60-21). The Lobos beat Fort Collins 38-24 with four other wins by a total of 18 points. Regis took a huge step in winning the Continental by edging Highlands Ranch 58-53 on Tuesday. That win left the Raiders alone in first; one game up on five other clubs. Two of the chasers are Highlands Ranch and Douglas County and they square off this evening to create a bit more separation.
