How about a pre-Super Bowl meeting of number one teams in girls’ basketball? That’s what we have on Saturday as Rye and Centauri clash. The Thunderbolts are the top ranked club in Class 2A with the Falcons holding down the number one spot in Class 3A. It headlines a solid schedule that also includes two top 10 battles in Class 1A.
Below is the entire top 10 slate for Saturday with several other important games joining the list. Colorado Preps will update scores throughout the day. Results can be sent in by email to [email protected] or by text to 970.380.7737.
Photo provided by John Contreras.
CLASS 1A
FINAL: #2 Kit Carson beat Hi Plains 57-24
FINAL: #3 Sangre De Cristo beat Centennial 57-18
FINAL: #7 Rocky Ford (2A) beat #4 McClave 56-48
FINAL: #6 Fleming beat Genoa Hugo 39-36
FINAL: #7 Flatirons Academy beat #10 Shining Mountain 53-42
FINAL: #8 Haxtun beat Prairie 58-21
FINAL: #9 Cotopaxi beat Creede 56-18
FINAL: Wiley beat Eads 48-26
FINAL: Sierra Grande beat Antonito 52-39
NOTES: A second strong test for 2A Rocky Ford against a highly ranked 1A club this week. The Meloneers paced the first exam on Thursday; holding off Flatirons Academy 39-37 and now they look for the 1A sweep today. Abby Snyder had three treys among her team-best 14 points in the wins. Lily Hancock and Teagan Mendoza-Werner added eight in the win. McClave is likely ready for a test. They outscored their first two opponents 144-40. Anna Beckett (23.5) is among the top scorers in any classification and junior classmate Maggie Chase is producing seven points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Freshman McKayla Kiniston has added a nice boost with 19 points and 17 rebounds in her first two contests. Could be the league championship game in the 5280 as Flatirons Academy and Shining Mountain were the preseason favorites. Both teams have played well early. The Lions downed Lyons and Dawson in non-league action before starting conference action with a 53-16 win over Beth Eden. Frances Hilliard led the Lions with 17 points; Sophia Matarrese added 14 and Kalea Zeender 10. Flatirons, as mentioned, is coming off the Rocky Ford road loss but that game will only help a young team get ready for big games down the road. Kenlee Durrill had 15 points and Emma Cox 12 rebounds in the loss. Fleming is beat up as they make the trek to Genoa Hugo. The Wildcats will likely be without Kally Kirkwood and Whitney Chintala may be less than 100 percent. They’re also missing last year’s starter Jenna Vandenbark for the season with an injury. Genoa Hugo was down 13 points in the third quarter to Wiley on Thursday but their rally fell short in a 40-37 loss that dropped them to 0-3 on the season. Wiley looks for another win against a solid Eads club. It’s a non-league game but both teams are candidates for a state tournament berth. The winner between Antonito and Sierra Grande could finish second to Sangre De Cristo in the Southern Peaks. The Panthers have some momentum after coming from double-digits down to beat Mountain Valley last night.
CLASS 2A
FINAL: #1 Centauri (3A) beat #1 Rye 59-57
FINAL: #2 Sanford beat Monte Vista 51-15
FINAL: #3 Holyoke beat Merino 51-16
FINAL: #4 Limon beat Burlington 52-41
FINAL: #5 Wray beat Idalia 46-29
FINAL: #6 Cedaredge beat Caprock Academy 74-17
FINAL: #9 Soroco beat North Park 65-38
#10 Del Norte at South Park
FINAL: Sedgwick County beat Yuma 66-48
NOTES: Today marks the conclusion of a very difficult week for Centauri and so far, the Falcons have gotten through it unscathed. It started on Tuesday with a hard fought 52-49 road win at 4A Durango on Tuesday and continued at home last night by beating #7 Delta 66-55. Rye, on the other hand, could use a tight game to help prep them for what should be a strong run to the state finals. They moved past Manitou Springs 48-30 in the opener but have since blown past Del Norte, John Mall and Holly by a combined 153 points. The Rye trio of Sophie Adamson (17.0), Jolee Ortiz (16.3) and Sydney Adamson (11.3) is clicking well offensively. The defense is also picking off nearly 20 steals per game including 9.5 from the Adamson twins. Brenna McDaniel (24) and Brynli Sowards (20) combined for 44 points in Centauri’s win over Delta. McDaniel also had five steals and Sowards three as the defense forced 29 turnovers. Regardless of outcome, both teams will remain very strong in the discussion for top overall seed come playoff time. Limon and Burlington seem to be the two best teams in the Union Pacific so today’s game likely decides that champion. It could be a more tightly contested game than in the recent past as the Badgers are working several new players into the lineup and Burlington is 3-0. The Cougars got their latest win on Thursday at Akron; forcing 32 turnovers in a 52-37 win. Limon lost at Kit Carson on Tuesday but rebounded with a dominating win at Stratton/Liberty last night. Trista Marx is their top returnee and has started this year as the top scorer (15.0) and rebounder (7.7). Highly ranked Holyoke and Wray were preseason favorites in the Lower Platte but the winner between Yuma-Sedgwick County could easily end up third. And the Cougars, with their 4-0 start, may have thoughts of breaking into the top two. Three underclassmen average double figures; Alison Woodhams (17.0), Jensen Renquist (13.0) and Kierra Ehnes (10.5). Seniors Ashley Rahe (8.0) and Whitney Walter (5.5) add plenty of support.
CLASS 3A
FINAL: #5 Academy beat DSST-Montview 69-31
FINAL: #7 Delta beat Alamosa 58-19
FINAL: Basalt beat Grand Valley 52-41
FINAL: Brush beat Weld Central 56-39
FINAL: Grand Junction Central beat Moffat County 57-53 (OT)
NOTES: Academy dominated the Frontier league last year; winning 11 games by a combined 508 points and last Monday continued that dominance by blasting Platte Canyon 72-23 in their season opener. Aryanna Perez began her junior campaign with 25 points and classmate Mikylah Espinoza added 18 in leading the Wildcats to a 44-9 halftime advantage. They’ll be heavily favored again today. Delta looks to bounce back from a hard fought six-point loss to top ranked Centauri on Friday. It was their first loss after beating 4A rivals Durango and Montrose. Erika Kuta (17), Keely Porter (13) and Alexa Huff (12) led a balanced attack in the loss. The difference may have been turnovers where the Panthers committed eight more than they forced (29-21). Alamosa (2-3) is already nearing the midway point of their season. They’ve won two of three including a 59-25 win at Gunnison on Friday. Basalt (4-0) and Grand Valley (3-1) are two teams trying to sneak past Delta and Moffat County in the Western Slope. Defense has pushed the Longhorns to their hot start as they’ve not allowed more than 33 points in any game. League wins are against Gunnison (67-33) and Roaring Fork (35-26). Gracie Reardon averages 14 per game overall and 16 in conference play. Grand Valley’s lone loss came against 4A Grand Junction Central on Tuesday but they responded with a nice win at Meeker two days later. This is their conference opener. Abbey Rose Parker tops the Cardinals on offense (15.7) and scored a season high 21 in the win over Eagle Valley. Central (3-0) will get tested at Moffat County today but a win will move them closer to the 4A Top 10. Leah Redding leads the Wildcats with 18 points per game and they’ve been getting solid contribution from freshman Brynn Wagner with seven points, three rebounds and three steals each time out. Moffat County last played on Thursday in a 46-35 loss at Cedaredge. The Tigers made just 13 of 50 field goal attempts but Emaleigh Papierski still finished with 15. The Weld Central-Brush contest won’t get much attention but it’s a good matchup of clubs playing good basketball. Both have a win over #3 University this week. Brush (2-1) used 17 points from Kashlynn Tadolini, 11 from Braelynn Rule and 10 from Emma Stone in their win on Tuesday. Weld Central (4-1) picked up a combined 34 points and 19 rebounds from Sydnie Pevler and Kaydee Sims on Thursday.
CLASS 4A
FINAL: #4 Holy Family beat Centaurus 64-15
#5 Windsor vs Greeley West
FINAL: #6 Erie beat Skyline 86-30
NOTES: League play gets started in the Norther conference this afternoon with Holy Family, Windsor and Erie all eyeing the league championship. Of the three, Windsor (3-0) is the only one to get through non-league action without a loss as they swept past Ralston Valley, Loveland and Frederick while averaging 70 points a game. Olivia Reed, with 16 points and 10 rebounds, averages a double-double with Jolie Jiricek the top scorer at 19 points a game. Greeley West is 0-3. Erie (2-1) also meets a winless opponent today in Skyline (0-2). The Tigers opened with an impressive win over Broomfield (65-58) and this week rolled Fort Morgan 77-18. In between was a 53-51 loss to Fossil Ridge from Class 5A. Holy Family (2-1) may get pushed the most today as Centaurus enters the game with an identical 2-1 mark. The Warriors lone loss is against a talented Roosevelt bunch. Through the first three games, sophomore Laura Gensert has led Centaurus with 14 points a game; followed closely by senior Julia Mischke at 12. Alyssa Wells (16), Makenna Bertsch (14) and Tyler Whitlock (13) combined for 43 points in Holy Family’s easy win over Riverdale Ridge earlier this week. The Tigers hit eight three-pointers with seven different players each getting at least one.
CLASS 5A
FINAL: #3 Highlands Ranch beat Legend 72-25
FINAL: #4 Regis beat ThunderRidge 58-24
FINAL: #9 Rangeview beat Brighton 63-25
NOTES: Highlands Ranch is favored and Mountain Vista could play a role this year but results from the Regis-ThunderRidge battle always help decide the top three spots in the Continental. The Grizzlies, because of their 61-26 loss to Highlands Ranch earlier this week, need to spring an upset to stay in the title chase as if not, they’re already two games off the pace. Very young this year, ThunderRidge features three freshmen among their top four scorers. Regis has not been pushed in moving past Ponderosa and Castle View in league play. They may need to avoid looking past this one to Tuesday’s showdown with Highlands Ranch. Samantha Jones leads the Raiders in scoring (17.3) and freshman Hana Belibi tops in rebounds (8.0). Legend (3-2) must play better than in Thursday’s loss to Ponderosa (40-28) to compete with Highlands Ranch today. They made just 24 percent of their shots but got 10 points apiece from Hailey Houlberg and Kinzie Whitehead. Rangeview vs Brighton represents the league opener for both clubs. The Raiders have momentum off quality wins over Fairview and Broomfield and enter league play as one of three EMAC teams without a loss; joining Vista Peak and Westminster (both 2-0). NyEra West scored a dozen against Fairview and led the way with 19 in the win over Broomfield. Brighton (1-3) has stumbled out of the gate with a lone win over Legacy. They also played well in a loss to Fairview (53-4) their last time out.
