The regular season for girls basketball concludes Saturday, with first-round games in the Class 6A-4A set for Feb. 20-21.
Each 6A, 5A and 4A will have a 32-team postseason field, seeded using the CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index.
Heading into the final stretch of games, here is a look at a few teams on the postseason bubble with just days remaining to make their last push.
Class 6A
No. 32 Liberty, No. 33 Rampart and No. 34 Vista Ridge: Three teams from the Colorado Springs Metro League come into the final week hoping to do enough to sneak into the postseason.
The Wolves (13-9) dropped consecutive games after a three-game winning streak, falling to No. 5 Pine Creek Friday and No. 20 Doherty Tuesday. The Lancers (11-10) came into the week with four losses in their past five games.
Now, the playoff hopes for the Wolves and Lancers may rest on their regular-season finale meetup at Liberty Thursday night. Vista Ridge beat Liberty by seven at home late last month behind 19 points from leading scorer Brooklyn Kaiser (16.9 PPG). Samira Gannt (8.4 PPG) had 17 in the loss.
Rampart (10-12) lost to Pine Creek Tuesday, its third straight loss. The Rams, who’ve been led by senior Emily Huxtable (15.9 PPG), will likely need to beat the No. 37 Fountain-Fort Carson at home Thursday to give themselves a shot at getting in.
Class 5A
No. 32 Dakota Ridge and No. 34 Golden: The Jeffco League teams may also have a winner-gets-in matchup Thursday, when the Demons (9-13) visit the Eagles (10-12).
On Jan. 10, senior Hannah Galbreath had 16 points and eight rebounds, leading Dakota Ridge past Golden 43-41. When Galbreath gets going, the Eagles have been really good this year, winning five of six when she has scored 15 or more points in a game.
Maryn Talyat, meanwhile, leads the Eagles at 11.8 PPG, scoring a season-high 24 in a loss to Standley Lake Jan. 31.
Golden’s Allie Neal has double-digit points in four straight games coming into the week. She scored 15 on 6-of-9 shooting in a win over 4A No. 44 Conifer Friday, then was 6 of 11 with 13 points in a loss to 4A No. 1 D’Evelyn Saturday.
No. 30 George Washington: The Patriots (9-13) bounced back from a two-game slide with a 42-31 win over No. 21 Denver North Tuesday. That should mean that a win over 4A No. 23 Kennedy Friday will be enough to get them into the playoffs.
The up-and-down season for GW follows five straight winning campaigns, including recent back-to-back 20-win seasons.
They reached the 5A quarterfinals a season ago before losing three of its top four scorers to graduation.
As of Feb. 2, the last time the team entered stats, sophomore Brittany Booker (14.9 PPG) had scored 10 or more points in 18 straight games.
Class 4A
No. 32 Arrupe Jesuit and No. 34 Arvada: Ending two-game skids, Arvada (11-9) beat 3A No. 48 Bruce Randolph Thursday, and Arrupe Jesuit (9-11) got past 3A No. 29 Platte Canyon Saturday.
The wins kept both in postseason contention. For now.
The two teams will meet Thursday at Arvada in the host Bulldogs’ season finale. For the Generals, it’ll be part of three games in three nights, as they’re at 3A No. 41 Manual Wednesday, then at home against 4A No. 21 Middle Park Friday.
No. 31 Weld Central: The Rebels (7-15) are making a late push towards a playoff berth thanks to consecutive wins out of a five-game losing streak.
The best of which came at No. 27 Valley Saturday, where they held the Vikings to 21% shooting.
Their season closes at No. 6 University Friday. The Bulldogs beat Weld Central 49-12 in their first meeting of the season Jan. 25. Even with a loss, however, the high seeding of University bodes well for Weld Central’s playoffs hopes.