When the Highland Huskies girls basketball team takes to the court this weekend for the first round of the Class 3A state tournament, they’ll be looking to repeat what they did a year ago as the No. 7 seed in the 32-team bracket — holding serve at home and advancing to the Great 8 play at the University of Denver.

It’s not going to be a cakewalk.

The other three teams in the regional that begins Friday include Buena Vista, North Fork and Wiggins — all of which own some really good wins this season. Those teams have a combined 36 wins and are all hungry to keep their respective seasons alive.

It’s a given that the eight regional hosts want to protect their home floor, but there’s bound to be an upset or two somewhere in Saturday’s regional championships between the 3A, 2A and 1A classifications.

Here’s a look at some tough regionals, on paper, as teams get ready for the second season.

Class 3A

Region 7: Highland (16-7) has lost twice since Valentine’s Day, but those came against No. 1 seed Resurrection Christian and 4A University (a two-point loss to a 23-0 squad). Senior Briza Flores is just 25 points shy of 1,500 giving her added motivation to lead her team this weekend, starting with Friday’s matchup with Buena Vista. Buena Vista is looking to shed a four-game losing streak, but the Demons have played good defense over that stretch nonetheless. Wiggins, the 10 seed, owns wins against No. 12 Brush and No. 13 Yuma in its past two games. Should the Tigers get past No. 23 North Fork (11-11), a Wiggins-Highland matchup should be closer than the first time the teams played this year, a 61-49 HHS victory.

Region 4: Cedaredge (23-0) must be feeling a little disrespect for its seed as an undefeated team, but the Bruins have blown out their opponents all season long (by an average margin of 28.8 points). A nice run for CHS could result in senior Carley Malinowski reaching 1,000 points for her career. Standing in the way are Ignacio, Yuma and Monte Vista. Ignacio has four seniors averaging better than 6.0 points a game and don’t want to see their last season of play end right now. Yuma defeated No. 8 Strasburg by 10 just about a week ago, and the Outlaws also lost to Resurrection Christian by just eight points back on Feb. 20. Senior Allessah Archuleta has helped keep MVHS afloat with her near 10-point scoring average.

Class 2A

Region 4: Like Cedaradge, Rangely’s 23-0 record didn’t result in any favors with seeding and the Panthers will be tested on the defensive end, especially if they meet up with Akron. Of the Rams’ 10 losses, only two of them were by double digits, and freshman Molly O’Neil (14.7 ppg) has not slowed down at all. Props to South Park (15-8), who hadn’t had a winning campaign since 2016-17 and earned a respectable 20 seed with wins over teams like 15 seed Gilpin County and 3A playoff qualifier Conifer. Seniors Maddie Miller (9.9 ppg) and Elle Borsari (8.7 ppg) lead Ridgway into the regional, where the Demons will be tasked with slowing Rangely’s trio of Miah Wren, Aubriana Tapia and Ashlynn Ducey.

Region 5: Burlington’s tough schedule has the Cougars battle-tested, and senior Kiyarra Williams continues to assault the school’s scoring records as she approaches 1,700 career points. Still, a potential Saturday matchup with No. 12 West Grand appears intriguing. The Mustangs, blessed with the leadership of five seniors averaging between 12.1 and 5.1 points per game, are 20-3 having only lost to Gilpin County and Rangely in-state. In the mix here, too, are Swink and Las Animas who will come in with a nothing-to-lose attitude as fairly young squads.

Class 1A

Region 8: Hi-Plains earned the host nod by going 10-4 since Jan. 17, and the Patriots are in somewhat uncharted waters as a host. They do have a mix of talent and experience that could help get them into the Great 8, as three freshmen and two seniors account for the majority of their scoring. No. 25 seed Kim/Branson has some close losses to some other playoff teams that make it appear the Mustangs can hang with anyone, while No. 24 Lone Star also finished above .500 behind the efforts of juniors Jade Kuntz (13.5 ppg) and Aimee Trejo (11.2). The ‘Triple-A’ threat of Avery Rigsby (14.0 ppg), Ava Vines (12.5) and Allyson Sandidge (11.1) have No. 9 De Beque knocking on the door of the Great 8, and the Dragons are 5-2 over their past seven games.

Region 3: Make no mistake, No. 3 Eads is playing extremely well right now with 14 straight wins. But at 19-4, Nucla is a pretty strong 14 seed and the Mustangs have done a lot of winning in January and February with five players averaging between 11.7 and 7.0 points a game. They lost to No. 9 De Beque by just one point back on Jan. 23 and otherwise lost to 2A No. 16 seed Plateau Valley, by seven points, a little more than a week ago. Genoa-Hugo, the 19 seed, has won seven of eight games entering regional play.