Just one winner-take-all conference championship game on the boys’ basketball schedule for Saturday and it takes place in the Southeast between Walsh and Kim/Branson. Another highly anticipated battle between Alamosa and Centauri will also decide the 3A Intermountain crown.
Walsh at Kim/Branson: Quite a bit on the line as the two state powers battle for the Ark Valley title, the top district seed and better positioning in RPI. Walsh is #3 in those standings with Kim/Branson checking in at #5. The combined records is 27-4 with only one in-state loss between them as Walsh fell to Kit Carson in the Lamar Holiday Tournament championship game in December. Stamina could play a role in this one. Walsh almost has an ironman starting five and maybe more size while the Mustangs will play 10-12 kids and deploy full-court pressure the entire game. Both clubs average 64 points a game.
Peyton at Evangelical Christian: A good matchup of former conference rivals in the Colorado Springs region. The Panthers look to rebound from a tough 49-46 loss to Dolores Huerta Prep on Friday as it cost them a share of the 2A Black Forest lead. They face a red-hot ECA club that has won six straight since a surprising stumble against Edison. The Eagles have won their last three by a combined 130 points. Jason Holt leads ECA in scoring (21.4) and is third in rebound (5.3). Sam Mote adds 11.5 points a game while Jonah Aragon and Judah Alexander each pull down over six rebounds each night. Brennen Myers scored 13 and Gibson Gellerman 11 in Peyton’s loss to DH Prep.
Center at Crested Butte: It’s the final hurdle for the Titans in their quest to land the 2A Southern Peaks championship. They took the conference lead by beating Sanford last Saturday and now try to clinch the championship with a second win over the Vikings this year. Crested Butte took the first meeting 48-43 as they jumped to an eight point first quarter lead and made it stand up from there. Erik Wasinger dropped in 16 points for the winners and Carlos Franco chipped in a dozen. Devin Porres and Habran DeLaCruz both netted 10 for the Vikings.
DSST-Byers at Northfield: Since the teams are in different classes, the outcome will have no bearing on conference races or post-season bracketing but it’s an interesting battle of two young programs trying to develop tradition. Both clubs are ranked in the top 10 and each remains in the chase for their respective league championship as DSST-Byers leads the 3A Confluence and Northfield is tied with powerful Denver East for the DPL lead. The Falcons are led by the high scoring duo Kyrie Thomas (24.1) and Elijah Thatch (17.8) while Nahsyah Bolar (18.0) leads four Northfield players averaging in double figures.
Alamosa at Centauri: The outcome decides whether Alamosa picks up the 3A Intermountain championship outright or if the two clubs will share the crown. The Moose (9-0) sit in first place by one game over the Falcons (7-1) with their first matchup creating the gap in the standings. The final in the first meeting was 59-43 as the Moose pulled away in the fourth quarter (22-8). Brendan Crowther went for 23 points and Ian Jackson added 15 including a pair of threes. Jackson was the only Alamosa player to hit a three as the team combined for just 2-16 behind the arc. Both clubs are coming off wins on Friday. Alamosa won at Pagosa Springs 57-49 but Centauri must recover from a 71-65 double-overtime win at Montezuma Cortez.
Glenwood Springs at Steamboat Springs: The Demons (9-0) have rolled through the 4A Western Slope schedule and can officially clinch the championship with a win over the second-place Sailors (7-2). All other league teams have at least four league losses. Should the Demons come up short today, they will need to beat both Battle Mountain and Palisade next week to land the outright championship. Glenwood used 38 second half points to beat Steamboat Springs 58-44 in their first meeting; getting the win despite seven three-pointers from the Sailors. Patrick Young and Mitchell Burk each scored 15 points and John Iuele 11 to lead Glenwood while Conner Hansen (15) and Dawson Lindquist (11) combined for 26 for Steamboat. The game was very even in other categories as well with Glenwood winning the rebounding battle 28-24 but coming up short in turnovers (19-16).
Classical Academy at Widefield: The winner takes over second place behind Harrison in what’s been a wild ride through the 4A Colorado Springs Metro chase. Both teams have had a share of the top spot but each suffered a key loss earlier this week to fall back a game of the Panthers. Widefield has beaten Harrison twice but dropped the first match with Classical Academy 71-58. It was a two-point game before the Titans finished the game on a 21-10 run. Tyler Trogstad poured in 28 for the Titans while Kade Walker added 18 points and six rebounds. The defense also forced 17 turnovers. Widefield collected 19 points and 10 rebounds from Randall Days. Anthony Roberts added 14 and both players netted two three-pointers.
Longmont at Niwot: Longmont has a one game lead on Silver Creek in the 4A Northern conference but since they split two games with the Raptors, they need to keep winning to grab the crown outright. Of the three games left on the Trojans schedule, Niwot may be the most difficult as the Cougars share third place with Centaurus. Longmont easily took game one 67-30; outscoring the Cougars by double digits in three of the four quarters. Eddie Kurjak dropped in 20 points for the winners and Dallas Dye added 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Niwot had just nine field goals overall and hit 25 percent of their shots. They were led by Kyle Reeves with nine.
Eaglecrest at Cherry Creek: Coming off a big win over Grandview on Wednesday, Eaglecrest looks to take down another conference leader today. Wednesday’s result left Cherry Creek alone in first (10-1) with a one game lead on Grandview with Eaglecrest sharing fourth place with Overland (both 6-5). Eaglecrest jumped on Grandview quickly; leading 25-12 at halftime and then 39-21 at intermission before scoring just ten points for the entire second half. Cherry Creek took the first meeting with Eaglecrest by three points (60-57) behind 26 points from Julian Hammond. He hit 11 of 16 field goal attempts while the teammates connected on just 12 of 34. Eaglecrest picked up 16 points from both Ty Robinson and Zion Ruckard.
