Columbine senior Taylor Speir’s 3-pointer in the waning seconds of overtime sent Columbine past Arvada West in what had been a battle of unbeatens that fit the bill Monday night.
The Class 6A No. 6 Rebels and No. 2 Broomfield remain as the only 6A teams without a loss.
Columbine (11-0) blew a 12-point halftime lead against Arvada West (10-1) but was rescued by Speir’s late 3 in a 66-65 victory.
Broomfield (10-0) avenged its lone loss from last season’s regular season with a 64-59 win over No. 8 Valor Christian on Saturday. Sophomore Reece Gilpatrick led the No. 2 Eagles with 21 points, nine rebounds, six assists and five steals. Tuesday, she had another 21 in a win over Frederick.
In 5A, No. 5 Montrose and No. 10 Golden still don’t have a blemish.
The Red Hawks (13-0) have yet to play a close game all season, boasting an average scoring margin of 58-19.
Golden hasn’t been tested much either, especially in the new year where they’ve beaten Aurora Central, Steamboat Springs and Pueblo South each by 20 or points.
Everyone in 4A, meanwhile, has at least one loss. No. 2 University was the last of its survivors before the Bulldogs ran into a 27-point loss at 4A No. 2 Lutheran.
Let’s take a look at a few intriguing games coming up.
Class 6A
No. 1 Cherokee Trail at No. 3 Arapahoe, Jan. 21 at 5:30 p.m.
What’s at stake: The Cougars’ No. 1 ranking will be in the balance as both teams aim to nab an impressive, early conference win in the 6A/5A Continental League.
What to know: Cherokee Trail hung on by its fingertips to win both of its first two games of the new year. It needed overtime to beat No. 10 Legend, then a fourth-quarter rally to edge No. 11 Erie.
Arapahoe, on the other hand, was a perfect 10-0 before it wilted late in a 61-49 loss to Denver East on Saturday.
Spotlight player: CT senior Aaliyah Broadus, a Wichita State commit, has the stuff to hang a crooked scoring line at any time. Against Legend, she had 27 points on 53% shooting. She’s averaging 15 PPG this season.
Class 5A
No. 1 Green Mountain at No. 10 Golden, Saturday at 1 p.m. at Ball Arena
What’s at stake: The Rams will likely need to win to keep the No. 1 spot in the 5A rankings. Maybe more importantly, they hope to keep up their dominance against the Demons. Going into Saturday, Green Mountain had won the last 11 meetings of the rivalry.
What to know: The Rams are winners of 10 straight since their loss to 6A No. 1 Cherokee Trail on Dec. 6. The best win during that span was against No. 2 Lutheran, 48-41 in overtime.
Golden is 11-0, but it hasn’t faced a schedule like Green Mountain’s. However, if the Demons can present problems for the Rams’ offense (they’re allowing less than 23 PPG) they could stay in reach and pull off an upset.
Spotlight player: GM senior Kantyn Pearson is 31 of 68 (46%) from behind the arc this season.
Class 4A
No. 15 Kent Denver at No. 10 Jefferson Academy, Thursday at 6 p.m.
What’s at stake: The 4A/3A Metro League is packed with talent, including 4A No. 5 Colorado Academy and 3A No. 1 Denver Christian. Any league loss figures to doom any chance for the Metro title. The last six winners of the league all went unbeaten against Metro teams. Last year, Denver Christian won it, following Colorado Academy’s back-to-back reign.
What to know: Jefferson Academy (8-1) hadn’t played for 25 days coming into its home matchup Tuesday against Pomona. No problems detected. The Jaguars won 46-10.
Kent Denver (6-6), meanwhile, snapped a two-game skid with a 46-point win over The Academy on Tuesday. The Sun Devils are just .500 but their resume has some intriguing results. Among them, they beat 6A Cherry Creek, lost to 4A No. 1 Timnath by one point and 6A No. 18 Overland by two.
Spotlight player: Kent Denver’s Austin Duncan, a Washburn commit, is averaging 15.8 points and nine boards per game this season. Last year, she finished with a line of 16.4 points and 12.8 rebounds.