A good list of games to highlight the final Friday of regular season action in boys’ basketball. Three teams on our list can secure league championships with win while the runner-up spot in many conferences are up for grabs elsewhere.
Photo by Vibrant Valley Photography in Alamosa.
Cheyenne Wells at Eads: The Tigers need a win to officially secure second place behind Kit Carson in the 1A High Plains chase. They sit at 3-1 but a loss could drop them into a three-way tie with Eads and Cheraw (both 2-2). Cheraw meets Granada tonight and a win leaves them in third if Cheyenne Wells beats Eads. Cheraw also has the edge over Eads. Cheyenne Wells has won eight in a row since the league loss to Kit Carson. That includes an eight-point win over Cheraw, a 16-point decision over McClave and 12-point victory over Granada in league play. Eads dropped their sixth straight game last night; falling to Genoa Hugo. T hey have league wins over McClave (52-30) and Granada (52-45). Alex Schmidt (13.7) and Damien Barnes (13.5) pace the Eagles offensively.
Briggsdale at Prairie: The Falcons stand alone in first in the 1A North Central but must win tonight to secure the outright championship. A loss drops them into a tie with Fleming for the top spot. To get the win, the Falcons will need a better performance than Thursday where they were blown out by Merino 77-37. Briggsdale struggled on both ends; allowing 20 points in the second and 25 in the third quarter, while shooting just 26 percent from the field. Wyatt Patton scored 24 points and hit 6 of 16 shots. His teammates totaled 13 points and made just five of 27 shots. The Falcons though have two wins over Prairie; beating them 50-43 in a December tournament and again 71-65 in conference play. In the conference matchup, Patton exploded for 35 points including four three-pointers.
Sargent at Sanford: This outcome will help determine the order of the top three teams in the 2A Southern Peaks. Crested Butte currently leads the standings and clinches the title if Sanford wins this one. If Sargent upsets the Indians, then the Farmers challenge Crested Butte for title on Saturday. Sanford easily won the first meeting 73-31 as they jumped to a 21-5 advantage through the first eight minutes. They also outscored the Farmers 23-8 in the fourth. Sargent made just two of 13 three-point attempts and finished the game at 29 percent from the field overall (10-34). Sanford has won 10 of 11 with the lone loss to Crested Butte on February 8th.
Vail Christian at Soroco: The Saints head into their regular season finale needing a win to win the 2A/1A Western Slope championship outright. They lead 1A DeBeque by one game but since they lost to the Dragons in conference play, a loss drops them to second if DeBeque wins at Rangely this evening. Other than the loss to DeBeque, Vail Christian has not been pushed in the conference; winning all remaining games by at least 15 points. Their latest win came at North Park last Saturday behind 21 points from Jamison Lee and 19 from Alec Moritz. Soroco (5-6) is battling Rangely and West Grand for seventh in the conference. Liam Yaconiello is the Rams top scorer (12.0) and rebounder (8.1).
Las Animas at Rye: A pigtail game in District 6 where the winner advances to the Monday quarterfinals against Holly. Rye placed fourth in the Santa Fe Western division and Las Animas fifth in the East. Rye won the conference pairing 65-27 on January 25th. The Thunderbolts scored at least 13 points in every game but didn’t allow more than nine. Camden Godinez had 16 points and Michael Valdez 14. Justin Miller was the only double-digit scorer for Las Animas and he finished with 12.
3A Patriot Quarterfinals: The post-season continues in the Patriot where four quarterfinals will be played tonight. Resurrection Christian is the top seed and they host #8 Brush with #4 University also hosting #5 Strasburg in the top half of the bracket. Sterling and Eaton and are the 2-3 seeds and will host Platte Valley and Estes Park in the lower side of the pairings. The top four seeds won each matchup during the regular season and are expected to reach the semifinals on Tuesday.
Wheat Ridge at Golden: The matchup involves the top two teams in the 4A Jeffco but regardless of the result, the top of the standings won’t change. Golden (10-1) has clinched title as they lead the Farmers (8-3) by two games. Wheat Ridge though needs a win to stay ahead of Green Mountain in the race for second. They lead the Rams by just one game and lost the conference matchup. Green Mountain is at Evergreen this evening. The rivals have played once this season with Golden scoring a 68-61 decision. Ben McLaughlin led the offense with 15 points and got support from Jack Anderson and Carter Thompson with 11 points apiece. Alex Morales topped the Farmers with 19. Greyson Van Tuyl (13) and Dominic Bronk (11) combined for 24.
Cherry Creek at Smoky Hill: The top five matchup in Class 5A is highly anticipated but the outcome won’t impact the Centennial league standings. The Bruins locked up the title by beating Grandview on Wednesday. Smoky Hill is locked into third unless they upset the Bruins and Grandview falls to last place Mullen. Creek topped the Buffs 76-65 in game one. Julian Hammond, who went over 1,000 points for his career against Grandview, and Myles Purchase each scored 20 in the win and Gunnar Helm added a dozen. Smoky Hill put four in double figures; Jordan Whitaker had 15, DeAngelo Horn 14, Quinten Rock 10 and Anthony Latham 10.
Fairview at Broomfield: Fairview has clinched the 5A Front Range championship but Broomfield must get a win to remain in third. The Eagles lead Horizon by one game in the standings but lost to the Hawks early in the conference slate. Horizon has finished the regular season so they bump to third if Fairview gets the win. The Knights took control of the standings with their 72-55 win over Boulder last Monday. They won the second half 39-21. Broomfield has won eight straight games.
Legend at Chaparral/ThunderRidge at Mountain Vista: Two games on the final Friday of the season that will decide the 5A Continental league championship. Chaparral starts the night one game up on ThunderRidge and Mountain Vista so they’re the champions by beating Legend. If that happens, then the winner of ThunderRidge-Mountain Vista will earn second. Chaparral also lands the championship with a loss if ThunderRidge beats Mountain Vista. That scenario leaves the Wolverines and Grizzlies tied for the conference lead and Chaparral won the head-to-head. Mountain Vista gets the championship with a win and Legend loss since they beat the Titans head-to-head.
