Void of many surprises thus far, the boys’ basketball postseason arrives at the Denver Coliseum this week.
Throughout Class 6A, 5A and 4A, only two teams outside the top eight in their respective bracket reached the quarterfinals.
Dakota Ridge, the 12 seed in 5A, and the only double-digit seed still alive through the three classes, beat No. 5 Silver Creek in the second round.
No. 9 DSST: Green Valley Ranch beat No. 8 Severance in 4A.
Quarterfinals begin Thursday with the No. 1-8 teams remaining in 6A. 5A goes Friday, followed by 4A Saturday.
Class 6A
The top-eight teams remain in the bracket, four of them from the state’s most dominant league this winter — the 6A Continental League.
No. 3 Chaparral vs. No. 6 Valor Christian and No. 4 ThunderRidge vs. No. 5 Rock Canyon are rematches from earlier in the season.
Chaparral (20-5), the Continental champs, have one of the best players in the state in Gavin Carter, who should be in line for top individual honors following a star-powered senior season.
Averaging 22.4 points on 52% shooting, he, however, had one of his statistically-worst performances of the season — 6 of 16 for 17 points — in a 64-47 loss to the Eagles (23-2) Dec. 8.
ThunderRidge (20-5) had a 12-game winning streak snapped when it lost 48-44 at home to Rock Canyon (20-5) Jan. 26. It was the only in-state game this season where the Grizzlies were held under 50 points.
Charlie Spann (19.9 PPG) had 25 points and 11 rebounds in ThunderRidge’s win over No. 13 Cherry Creek in the second round. Macoy Terry (14.9 PPG) scored 19 and 18 points in rounds one and two for the Jags, going 13 of 19 from the field.
Elsewhere, No. 1 Fruita Monument is 25-0, facing No. 8 Eaglecrest (18-7).
No. 2 Mountain Vista (21-4) vs. No. 7 Smoky Hill (19-6) features a pair of teams on five-game win streaks. Cal Baskin (18.7 PPG) is averaging 25.7 PPG over his last three games for the Golden Eagles, shooting 55% during it.
Class 5A
No. 4 Mesa Ridge’s repeat hopes are intact, but to keep it and a class-best 19-game winning streak going, the Grizzlies (23-2) will need to cool down No. 12 Dakota Ridge, especially from deep.
The Eagles (18-7) were 10 of 19 from 3-point range in a win over No. 5 Silver Creek in the second round.
The 5A/4A Jeffco champs’ leading scorer, Ethan Berninger (22.7 PPG) was 3 of 5 from 3 against the Raptors, finishing with 18 points. Andrew Schnieder (12.3) is 8 of 13 from long distance in this postseason, putting up 20 points in each of the first two rounds.
Meanwhile, Northfield (23-2), winners of 17 in a row and undefeated against 5A teams this winter, get No. 8 Mead. The Mavericks (19-6) are fresh off one of their most impressive wins of the year, beating No. 9 Palmer 78-61 Saturday.
No. 3 Windsor (21-4) faces No. 6 Lewis Palmer (19-6). The Wizards have won 16 straight, 15 of them by double figures. They’ll have their hands full with L-P’s Cohen Edmondson (18.8 PPG), who scored 30 and 20 in the first two rounds.
No. 2 Vista PEAK Prep (21-4) faces No. 7 Ponderosa (17-8) after beating its first two postseason opponents by a combined 64 points.
In the Bisons’ 57-34 win over No. 15 Discovery Canyon in Round 2, Kyree Polk had 10 points and matched the Thunder’s entire team in rebounding with 15 boards.
Class 4A
No. 4 Pagosa Springs upped its state-best win streak to 23, beating defending champ Holy Family 51-45 in Round 2.
Colt Lewis (13 PPG) had 19 points in each of the first two rounds for the Pirates (24-1), who now get No. 5 Colorado Academy (20-5).
George Buyers (16.7 PPG) has averaged 21.5 points over his last four games for the Mustangs, going 18 of 34 from deep.
No. 2 Resurrection Christian (23-2) beat No. 15 Fort Lupton by 30 ahead of facing No. 7 DSST: Montview (23-2). Jacob Barker (12.8 PPG, 7.0 RPG) had his first double-double in over a month in the win, finishing with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
No. 3 Lutheran (22-3) outscored its first two postseason opponents 50-16 in the third quarter and now gets No. 6 Riverdale Ridge (22-3). The Ravens got 18 and 20 points from junior Dylan Nieto in the opening rounds.
No. 1 Kent Denver (23-2) faces No. 9 DSST: Green Valley Ranch (19-5) in a rematch from Jan. 25 when the Sun Devils won 72-69. Sophomore Caleb Fat (21.1 PPG) scored 23 in that win and opened this postseason with a career-high 34 against No. 32 D’Evelyn.