The Northeastern Junior College Holiday girls basketball tournament brought together some of the top Class 2A programs in the state for a few early-season tests.

Four teams ranked in the current CHSAA Coaches Poll competed in Sterling, but it was Merino that stood tall in the end. The Rams capped an impressive run with a 46-36 victory over Akron on Tuesday night to capture the tourney title and improve to 4-1 on the season.

Merino, which competed in 1A before this season, upended Holyoke, No. 3 Wiggins and fifth-ranked Akron over six days. Akron (4-2) had knocked off No. 2 Sedgwick County on Monday, with Wiggins then handing the Cougars a second consecutive loss the next night.

Teams in the 3A-1A classifications finished off the 2022 portion of play Thursday night, with play resuming the first week of January. Unbeaten Colorado Springs Christian and Peyton are holding down the top two spots in the 3A poll, with Burlington overtaking Sedgwick County for the No. 1 position in 2A.

In 1A, Flatirons Academy is No. 1, with four more undefeated teams behind them in the rankings.
With the new year a short 10 days away, here is a quick look at the 3A-1A classifications:

Class 3A

After five victories in which the closest margin of victory was 15 points, top-ranked Colorado Springs Christian had its toughest test of the young season Wednesday night. The Lions (6-0) held off 5A Pueblo West 46-44. The team doesn’t play again until Jan. 12, when CSCS hosts No. 5 St. Mary’s.

The Vanguard School (3-1) followed up its victory over Centauri with another top-10 triumph, topping No. 7 Ellicott 57-53 last Saturday. Hailey Blanchard paced the Coursers with 23 points and Elysia Bottcher added 18 points. Ellicott’s Alyssa Lagasse led all scorers with 27 points.

No. 4 Centauri (6-2) closed out December with three victories over the past week, downing La Junta, Summit and Sanford.

Peyton closed out an impressive December with a 59-47 victory over 2A Simla last Tuesday to improve to 6-0. Junior Abbie Nickell led the Panthers with 23 points and five steals, and AJ Mannering added 15 points, six steals and four assists.

Class 2A

While Merino emerged as the top teams in the NJC tourney, Wiggins (4-2) still put together an impressive showing. The Tigers pulled out a 32-31 victory over Sedgwick County to cap off their tournament. Sophomores Riley Hunt and Kennedy Kerr – each of whom gained valuable experience as freshmen a year ago during the team’s run to the state tournament – combined for 20 points. Wiggins’ only other loss this season came to Peyton.

Ninth-ranked Mancos (4-1) notched its biggest victory of the season Dec. 15, taking down 3A No. 8 Ignacio 49-42. Freshman Claire Goodwin scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds to lead the Bluejays, who have won four in a row.

No. 10 Hoehne improved to 6-1 after a 76-4 victory over John Mall on Tuesday. Sophomore Alessa Cantoria scored 19 points and Janae Ramos added 16 points and nine rebounds.

Coming out of the break there will be some good games early. Merino will host No. 4 Wray on Jan. 6, with Akron hosting Sedgwick County.

Class 1A

Top-ranked Flatirons Academy (7-0) added three more victories to close out December, including a 72-39 rout of 2A No. 8 Sanford and a 51-38 victory over Denver Christian in the DC Invitational. Kenlee Durrill and Emma Cox combined for 31 points in that victory. The Bison come out of the break against 4A No. 7 Resurrection Christian on Jan. 6.

Jenna Krise’s 23 points helped guide No. 2 Briggsdale past No. 10 Idalia 49-38 last Saturday. The Falcons (4-0) return to action next month with Stratton.

No. 4 McClave (4-0) swept its way to a tournament title last weekend. The Cardinals downed Granada 54-31 in the title game, and before that topped No. 7 Kit Carson 43-34. Freshman Abrielle Gomez scored 25 points in the victory over Granada.

Kit Carson bounced back from the loss to McClave with a 42-22 victory over No. 9 Springfield the next night. Senior Kenzie Waggoner had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats (4-1).

No. 6 Dove Creek took home three tournament victories last weekend to improve to 6-2. Rylee Hickman averaged just more than 12 points over the three games.