Midway through the regular season, the focus of our girls basketball Sunday notebook will be on teams that are flying under the radar a bit. All are quality clubs that may not be getting enough attention from us and voters across the state.
Let’s get started on the 1A level where we have four teams on the list; Kiowa, Kim/Branson, Idalia and Sangre De Cristo. Probably one or two openings in the top 10 rankings come Monday and the newcomers should come from this list.
Kiowa could be the first choice as their unbeaten record of 6-0 will get some attention. The Indians also collected two important wins as they downed Elbert 62-57 last Thursday and then took out #9 Cheyenne Wells 38-25. The first win moves them very close to the Black Forest championship and the second will boost RPI numbers as well as Cheyenne Wells was fifth in those standings entering the weekend. Kiowa is also coached by Rick Carothers who has had quite a bit of success over the years and he returns most of the group that reached the regional tournament round a year ago including Kendra Byrd, Jordan Perrault and Hanna Brogger.
Despite a loss in their only game of the past week, there’s an argument to put Sangre De Cristo into the rankings as well. They pushed 2A #5 Sanford to overtime on Saturday in a quality 49-46 loss to the Indians. It was just their second loss of the season as they also fell to 2A Sargent in Christmas.
So that’s the first point in getting Sangre De Cristo ranked; they’re unbeaten against 1A clubs. The second item is they’re the only team to beat Dove Creek. The Bulldogs (11-1) are deserving of their spot in the top 10 but so is the team that beat them.
Sangre De Cristo is led by the veteran tandem of Ashley Mortensen and Peyton Metz. They lead the club on both ends and should easily push them to both the league and district championship. They will head to the Southeast for regional play where they will battle the likes of McClave, Cheyenne Wells, Kim/Branson, Springfield and possibly a few others.
Kim/Branson moved to 9-1 with a blowout of Manzanola on Friday (65-6). The Mustangs are likely behind Cheyenne Wells in the top ten pecking order since they lost to the Tigers head-to-head very early in the season. They’ve won six straight since that loss and have given up only 55 points in those wins. Scheduling hurts them a bit as the Cheyenne Wells game is the only opponent on the schedule so far that’s been in the top ten. They do face quality teams in Wiley, South Baca and Springfield in the final month.
Idalia’s record (8-5) will likely keep them from the rankings but their win over 2A ranked Wray last Tuesday sure grabbed attention across the state. Then the Wolves followed up with a strong showing against 1A #2 Fleming in a 53-48 loss. Idalia actually led that game 43-39 entering the fourth before the Wildcats won the final eight minutes 14-5.
Complete stats are not available on the Wolves this year but part of the reason for the late season push is health. They have virtually the entire roster back on the floor and should they remain in good health, the Wolves could push Lone Star for the District 5 title and a berth in the rugged Northeast regional. Lone Star won the regular season clash in December 51-31.
In Class 2A, let’s look at the seasons to date for Akron, Wiggins, Heritage Christian and Soroco. Soroco is probably a surprising pick as the Rams are ranked sixth in the state. But despite that high billing, you don’t hear much about them being a state championship contender. They’ve been close to reaching the final eight in the recent past and maybe this is the year they finally jump that hurdle.
They’re taking the proper steps in league play. Over the last two Saturdays, the Rams have beaten Cedaredge 42-41 at home and then Meeker on the road 60-47. North Park also came up short to Plateau Valley on Saturday so all those results leave Soroco alone atop the Western Slope standings with wins over their top two challengers. They have just six games remaining in the regular season and will be favored in each so they can use that time to prep for the district tournament. A title there and they get the chance to host a regional tournament in Oak Creek.
Akron (8-3) and Wiggins (6-3) both have winning records but it’s difficult to break through and get attention away from the top end of the Lower Platte. Sedgwick County, Holyoke, Wray, Yuma and Merino are all league members that are ranked and that take up most of the headlines from the conference.
But Akron has a win over Yuma (47-41) on their resume and also took a solid Highland club on Saturday (37-33). It was their fourth straight win entering a very difficult weekend ahead that includes dates with Fleming and Merino; both of which are ranked in Class 1A.
Sophomore Addi Kessinger carries the water and many other duties for the Rams. She’s averaging a double-double with 20.9 points and 12 rebounds. She went for 32 points and nine rebounds in the upset of Yuma and added 17 points in Saturday’s quality win over Highland.
Wiggins had a very good week. The Tigers opened by downing 3A Brush 48-41 and then played well in a loss to #3 Sedgwick County (55-46) three nights later. Those efforts should give the Tigers confidence that they can compete with any league opponent or other quality teams out there. They get two more chances for upsets this week as they host 1A #1 Briggsdale on Tuesday and then go to Yuma on Friday.
The Tigers rallied from behind to beat Brush as they outscored the Beetdiggers 17-9 in the fourth quarter. They also limited Sedgwick County to just 38 percent shooting as the Cougars connected on 19 of 50 shots.
Concerning the postseason, it’s conceivable that both Wiggins and Akron are beaten in the first round of the district tournament. It will depend on matchups but the first round opponent for both will be among the group of Sedgwick County, Holyoke, Wray, Yuma and Burlington. But this year, there are eight at-large berths available to the 32-club regional bracket and the Tigers and Rams are both high on that list of qualifiers. Akron is currently 8th in RPI and Wiggins 11th.
Heritage Christian was a top ten team in December but fell out of favor with back-to-back losses to Yuma and Limon. They’ve not returned to the rankings since but are in good position to land the Mile High conference championship after beating Highland and Dawson this month. They are tied for the league lead with Dayspring Christian and Denver Christian.
Guard play will be the difference on whether the Eagles make the state tournament. Kali Seimers (19.3) and Avery Hughes (14.8) average a combined 35 points and both have plenty of varsity experience as they’ve played since their freshman seasons.
Resurrection Christian tops our list of 3A teams that deserve some attention. And they easily made our list after watching them compete against #4 University. The Cougars fell behind early, but then led for most of the second, third and fourth quarters before falling 55-51. The game was actually tied with 10 seconds left but Taryn Kravig scored four points in the final six seconds to spark the Bulldogs.
The Cougars had a case to be in the rankings before the University loss. They had suffered only one of their three losses in-state and that came in another solid effort against #2 Eaton (60-44). The team is filled with talent and the players are very interchangeable. They’re all about the same size and all have enough athletic ability to play on the perimeter or score on the inside.
Probably the difference maker for Resurrection Christian is Olivia Klein. Just a freshman, she showed tremendous three-point range but also made several scoring plays on drives to the basket. She totaled 23 against University and hit three treys for the second consecutive game. Klein also added four assists and three steals.
Sophomore Mackenzie Flikkema tops the Cougars with 13 points per game and she finished with 10 points and five rebounds against University. Taylor Wright is another important contributor as the senior provides leadership along with eight points and six rebounds per game.
Moffat County was just 3-4 in December but following an opening January loss to 4A #10 Grand Junction Central, the Bulldogs have reeled off three straight wins. The last one is the most important as they opened league play by beating #9 Coal Ridge (44-31). Rylie Felton poured in 19 points and Halle Hamilton 10 in the win.
Despite the win, the Bulldogs have plenty of work remaining in league play as Grand Valley is ranked fifth and Delta ninth. Both are up on the schedule in the next weeks and both are on the road; at Delta on the 29th and at Parachute on February 1st. In between are games with 4As Grand Junction and Montrose.
Skyview Academy is the third team on our 3A under the radar list. We would not rank them as of yet as we still have questions about their overall schedule. But last week’s win over Prospect Ridge (38-33) make make the Hawks the favorite to finish second to powerful Lutheran in the Metro. They’re 9-1 on the season and enter a tough week with Colorado Academy and Jefferson Academy on the slate.
Let’s also keep an eye on Academy. The Wildcats were a preseason top 10 team but an early loss to University knocked them and voters have forgotten about them. Favored to again run the table and win the Frontier championship, their most important game is likely against Eaton on January 27th. Compete well there or spring the upset and the Wildcats will have a quick return to the rankings. Academy has also won their first three league games by a combined 131 points so they need the competition and a boost to RPI.
Canon City, Classical Academy and Durango are teams in the 4A grouping. None of the three have been in the top ten at any point this season but they’ve combined to win 34 of 43 games.
Of the three, Classical Academy probably should be first to enter the rankings. They have an early head-to-head win over Canon City and their win over Falcon (63-40) last Thursday was their sixth straight since a one point loss to Palmer Ridge (58-57). The outcome also pushed them to sole possession of the 4A CS Metro North lead.
Against Falcon, the Titans scored 26 first quarter points and held on from there. Brooka Jones had 18 points and Gracie Dorney 14. They also outrebounded the Falcons 37-30 including eight from Dorny and seven from Alaina Bonacquista.
Canon City (14-2) shares the CS Metro South lead with Mesa Ridge as both are unbeaten in conference. They meet on Friday. Other than the two point loss to Classical Academy back in week one, the Tigers only blemish is against 5A ThunderRidge. They’re 6-0 since the Christmas break which includes single digit wins over Montrose, Pueblo West and Rampart. In conference play, Canon City has beaten Widefield, Palmer and Coronado by a combined 94 points.
It’s a veteran bunch at Canon City as the top four scorers are seniors. Emily Till though is the key as she scores 12.7 points per game and also leads the Tigers with 10 rebounds per night. She has six double-doubles this season.
Durango (11-5) stays on our list despite having a tough weekend where they lost conference games to Grand Junction Central (43-40 in OT) and Fruita Monument (49-33). Those results could easily be reversed when the Demons host both clubs again on February 11-12th. Mason Rowland averages nearly 21 points on the season and went for 25 in the tough loss to Central. She was held to just seven against Fruita.
Some may ask or even laugh when we lead off the 5A group with Arapahoe. Hard to believe the Warriors are under the radar as they were ranked fifth last week. But in the big school ranks, all the state championship talk is focused on Valor Christian and Grandview and despite the high ranking, there has not been any discussion about the Warriors. We want to change that here.
Arapahoe is unbeaten against Colorado opponents including quality wins over Chaparral, Cherry Creek, Denver East and Fossil Ridge. They actually sit alone atop the Centennial league (3-0) with a one game edge on top ranked Mullen (4A) and #2 Grandview (5A). They face Mullen for the first time this Wednesday and tangle with Grandview on the 8th. Second meetings with the two are set for February 16th (Grandview) and 18th (Mullen).
Sam Crispe (15.0) leads Arapahoe in scoring and needs just 93 points the rest of the season to reach 1,000 for her career. The senior has scored double figures in every game with a season 25 in last week’s win over Cherokee Trail.
Sydney White (12.9) is a second double-digit scorer. Her season high is 24 in the quality win over Chaparral and has gone for 22 in two of her last three games including the 59-46 decision over Fossil Ridge on January 11th.
Doherty and Pine Creek both made our list as well. They are tied for the Pikes Peak lead (both 4-0) and have combined to win 22 of 29 outings. The two Colorado Springs schools collide on February 4th and that winner could easily end up with the conference championship. Liberty and Palmer Ridge are both just one game back.
Doherty is rolling with six straight wins overall so they should earn some top ten consideration. Two of the three losses are to out of state opponents with the lone in-state loss coming in their opener to powerful Regis (70-61).
Gabby Beauperthuy tops Doherty in points (16.3) and rebounds (9.4) She’s been in double figures in all but one game and totaled 13 points with 19 rebounds in the crucial league win over Palmer Ridge. Peyton Sterk is second in both categories with 15.9 points and 6.1 rebounds. She went for 19 and 7 against Palmer Ridge.
Pine Creek (11-4) has captured wins in their last seven games and they face Palmer Ridge on Tuesday. The Eagles may have played a stronger schedule than Doherty as they’ve split two matchups with Horizon and suffered losses to Mullen and Cherry Creek.
That schedule and a good postseason run could turn Pine Creek into a major threat next season. Junior Brynae Stewart leads the Eagles with 14 points a game and is second in rebounds with six. Younger sister Brooklyn is next in scoring (13.5) and first in rebounds (13.7). Brooklyn is only a freshman and so is
Brynae Stewart provides a team-best 14 points and adds six rebounds a game. Younger sister Brooklyn is second in scoring (13.5) and first in rebounds (13.7). She’s just a freshman and so is LeeKaya Burke-Perryman who is third in points (12.8) and adds 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game.
