The cream is rising to the top.

Some of the state’s top girls basketball players in the small-school ranks are playing their best ball of the season, as their teams are making the final push toward the postseason.

Case in point, Resurrection Christian’s Olivia Klein, a senior for the 16-1 Cougars who has scored at least 20 points in four of her past five games but also has 29 steals over that stretch. Another senior, Burlington’s Kiyarra Williams, has two 20-plus rebound games since Jan. 31 to go along with eight straight outings of at least 18 points.

As the season dwindles down, here are just a couple players from each of the small-school classifications who seem to be ramping up their play at precisely the right time.

Class 3A

Carley Malinowski, Cedaredge: Since Jan. 17, the senior is averaging 17.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, significantly better than her 15.2 points and 4.8 rebounds the first nine games of the year. The Bruins are 17-0 with just one game ahead this week, Friday against Meeker.

Sara Christensen, Thomas MacLaren: A 55% shooter overall on the season, she’s found even better touch over the past month of play. Since Jan. 13, she has been hitting at a 61% clip (68 for 108) and was credited with a triple-double on Feb. 1 against Calhan (15 points, 10 rebounds, 12 steals). Riding a 14-game win streak, the Highlanders have a slow stretch with just one game (Tuesday against Banning Lewis) on their schedule over the next week.

Class 2A

Abigail Dille, Sedgwick County: Having struggled a bit to find her shot early, Dille has been red-hot the past five games with better than 50% shooting in all of them. Included in a nine-game win streak was a revenge victory against Merino last Friday, and Dille had 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting to aid in the win. She’s upped her scoring average to 17.8 points over those five games and now sits at 14.9 ppg for the season. SCHS (12-3) has a big week with three games, ending against Burlington on Saturday.

Miah Wren, Rangely: The Rangers remain undefeated and while Wren continues to produce scoring numbers (23 ppg over the past seven games), she is also taking care of the ball and distributing better than she has all season over that same time frame (31 assists to 14 turnovers). Rangely plays two good teams this weekend, De Beque and West Grand, looking to get to 20-0.

Class 1A

Anna Wollert, Eads: Having had two double-doubles over the first 10 games of the season, the sophomore Wollert is riding a stretch of five double-doubles over her past six contests. Mixed in that string are two 20-point, 15-rebound outings. Eads (13-3) faces South Baca and Cheyenne Wells this weekend.

Sophia Isenbart, Stratton: After a couple of disappointing games against Sedgwick County and Eads in mid-January, Isenbart has stormed back with three double-doubles (and nearly a fourth) the past five games as the Eagles have surged up to No. 2 in the CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index. She had just one double-double to her name up to that point. Stratton has a challenging three-game week ahead, including back-to-back games against Burlington and Merino on Thursday and Friday.