Like boys basketball a couple days ago, this hoops notebook will feature some of the teams (this time, girls’ teams) that are streaking headed into the holiday break.
Class 6A No. 1 Monarch tops our list.
Of course, the Coyotes (6-1) placement here starts with a contradiction. They lost Wednesday night, which would seem to eliminate them from contention.
But in this case, recency bias doesn’t apply. Not when they were so head-turning good leading up to their loss at No. 5 Regis Jesuit Wednesday night.
The Louisville team reached the state round of 16 a season ago, all while their community was stricken by the Marshall Fire. And now in the early weeks this winter, they have already asserted themselves as a bonafide championship contender.
It starts with an inside-out game that rivals any in the state.
At point guard stands the only returning 5A all-state player in Natalie Guanella, who has quickly made an early petition for the 6A player of the year award.
She is averaging 16 points and 2.9 assists through seven games.
In the paint, Guanella often goes to talented forward Amelia Rosin, who is back after she suffered a season-ending injury last winter.
Rosin is shooting a team-best 46% from the field and is averaging eight boards. Helping her on the glass, Arezo Safi and Caroline Walley are also pulling in north of eight rebounds a game.
The Coyotes’ early resume has wins over 5A 2021-22 playoff teams Legend and Columbine. Their most impressive came last week when they shut down last week’s No. 1 team Cherry Creek in a 47-37 win.
Guanella scored 19 on 7 of 10 shooting against the Bruins.
Here are a few others.
Class 6A
No. 9 Doherty (6-1): The recent turnover in coaches hasn’t hampered the Spartans.
The Colorado Springs program is playing well under new coach Mark Jones — its fourth coach in as many years.
Following tight wins at home against No. 5 Regis Jesuit and on the road at Fossil Ridge last week, they traveled to the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, Arizona this past week and won their first three games.
Eyeing a sixth straight win overall, they conclude their 2022 schedule against California-school Alemany Thursday.
Individually, Brooke Mansanares was filling up the stat sheet early for the Spartans, averaging 10.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and two steals through their first four games.
Doherty’s only loss this season is at home against ThunderRidge on Dec. 9, a game in which the Spartans allowed 24 points in the fourth quarter in a 54-47 loss.
They’ve also beaten No. 10 Arapahoe this month.
No. 4 Cherokee Trail (8-1): Damara Allen scored in double figures in six of her first seven games and the Cougars had impressive wins over No. 8 Highlands Ranch and No. 5 Regis Jesuit to start the winter.
They’d won a 6A-best eight in a row before falling to Nevada-school Coronado at the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas Wednesday night.
Class 5A
No. 3 Centaurus (7-0): Senior guard Laura Gensert is the cusp of reaching the 1,000-point career milestone in high school. She is currently at 966.
Even better, the lights-out shooter has helped the Warriors win seven straight to open the winter.
She is averaging 16.1 PPG and has a supporting cast led by talented forwards Alexa Lorton (10.8 PPG on 61% shooting) and Sam Sterritt (8.0 PPG on 47% shooting).
Centaurus won the Boulder Valley Invitational earlier in the month and concluded its 2022 slate with a dominant 53-39 win over Skyview Saturday.
No. 5 Durango (8-1): The Demons are allowing just 26.8 PPG to their opponents on their current eight-game winning streak.
For perspective, their combo-guard Mason Rowland (13.1 PPG) is averaging nearly half of that herself.
Durango opened the season with a 53-30 loss to New Mexico-school Farmington, where it had 25 turnovers.
Since, the Demons are averaging less than nine turnovers per game and are winning by a margin of 19 points.
Class 4A
No. 1 Holy Family (6-0): The Tigers are rolling through the first month of the season.
Their latest, a dominant 50-28 win Tuesday over last week’s 6A No. 10 team, Broomfield.
Julia Hodell and Fiona Snashall each had 18 points and the Tigers held the Eagles to single digits in three of the four quarters.
Holy Family has now allowed less than 30 points in four of six games and has outscored teams a combined 328-182.
No. 2 D’Evelyn (10-0): The Jaguars are beating teams by an average of 23 points per game.
Their closest came in a 52-47 win over 6A Rock Canyon earlier in the month. The Highlands Ranch school (8-1) has won seven straight since then.
Peyton Marvel leads D’Evelyn with 18.3 PPG and 13.4 boards. She has eight double-doubles this season and had a triple-double in its season opener against Denver East (12 points, 10 rebounds, 10 steals).
Macy Scheer is averaging 15.9 PPG.
