Not nearly a complete boys basketball schedule statewide tonight, but we still have nine games of note on the slate. Eight games impact league championship races with the ninth being a very important top five battle in Class 3A between #2 Lutheran and #3 Sterling.
Denver Waldorf at Flatirons Academy: The winner takes the outright lead in the 1A 5280 chase as both teams enter the game 4-0 in conference play. Numbers in league play are very close as Flatirons has scored 225 points in their wins compared to 223 for Waldorf. Defensively, the Bison had a bigger advantage as they’ve given up 31 points per game in league play compared to 47 for Waldorf. Jonah Cox (12.6) and Trenton Rowan (10.5) pace the Flatirons offense with Cox also grabbing a team-best seven rebounds a game. Waldorf is led by three double figure scorers in Aly Sakho (16.5), Dylan Quinn (14.9) and Will McHenry (11.5).
Dolores Huerta at Thomas MacLaren: An important one inside the 2A Black Forest as DH Prep is tied with Peyton in first but Thomas MacLaren is only one game back. It’s a must win though for the Highlanders to stay in the title chase as their league loss came against Peyton (46-40) in mid-January. Thomas MacLaren is 4-1 since that loss including an important conference win over Simla (65-50) last week. Joel Shorey netted 15 in the win; Nedas Gailus 13, Kieran McGuire 12 and Tomas Baltzer 11. Today’s game starts a difficult stretch for DH Prep. The Scorpions meet 3A ranked DSST-Byers on Saturday, then visit 4A Pueblo Centennial on Monday before the big matchup at Peyton on the 14th. They’ve won nine straight since starting the season 0-2. Xavier Gomez leads the offense with 17.1 points per game. He’s joined by Isaiah Trujillo (16.3) and Charles Winston (15.6) in double figures.
Faith Christian at Jefferson Academy: The teams enter the game locked in a second-place tie behind Lutheran in the 3A Metro. The Eagles have already played and lost to Lutheran so a win moves them very close to the runner-up spot. Jefferson Academy has a loss to Manual and has yet to face Lutheran so even with a win, the Jags have some work to do before sewing up second place. Faith Christian has won three straight including single digit wins over Colorado Academy and Manual. Leading scorer Caleb Ruter (13.8) dropped in a season best 26 in the key win over the Thunderbolts. Caleb Clark (12.5) tallied 21 against Colorado Academy and 20 vs Prospect Ridge. Elian Soto (22.0) makes up more than a third of the Jaguars offense as no other player averages more than seven. He has scored a season high 32 points in five games including four of his last five.
Lutheran at Sterling: The outcome of course has no bearing on any conference race but it should have a major impact on the state tournament bracket. Lutheran is ranked #2 in 3A with Sterling checking in at #3. RPI has the Tigers at #5 with the Lions at #7. Both teams average the low 70’s in points but they get there in different fashions. The Tigers have 172 three-pointers on the season (11.4) so most of their attack comes from the perimeter. Dylan Anderson has 36 treys, Axel Henry 34, and Brock Shalla and Jared Keil both have 30. Lutheran will have a major size advantage as 6-11 freshman Baye Fall averages 21.2 points and 10.8 rebounds per game and 6-7 junior Mamadou Sow provides nearly 12 points and six rebounds a night. They’ve hit 70 three-pointers overall.
Pueblo Central at Pueblo East: Coming off a nice upset of Pueblo West in overtime (54-49) last week, Pueblo Central now looks to take down the 4A South Central leader. The Wildcats are 3-1 and tied with West in second place. Pueblo East (4-0) is alone in first. A strong second half carried Central past West as they outscored the Cyclones 26-16 over the third and fourth quarters. Kyle Bigley topped the Wildcats with 17 points. Steven Hemphill added 13 and Brandon Martin 12. This game starts a critical five day stretch for the Eagles as they also have a makeup game with Pueblo West on Monday. Wins in both give them a two-game cushion on the conference going into round two of the league slate. Darnell Kindred (17.2), Jaxon Herring (12.8) and Kyle Miller (11.0) all average double figures for the Eagles.
Fort Lupton at Weld Central: Originally slated for Friday, this game was pushed up a day but it remains very important to the Colorado 8 chase. Both clubs are 4-0 and tied with Conifer atop the standings. Each team also faces Conifer next week so the champion could be crowned by next Thursday. League numbers are almost identical as each club has allowed 170 points in four games with Fort Lupton scoring 252 and Weld Central 242. The Blue Devils have two single digit wins as they outlasted Riverdale Ridge 76-73 in overtime and then won at Skyview 47-40 last week. Weld Central handled Skyview by 36 points and downed Riverdale Ridge 61-51. But they also have a narrow 65-57 win over Englewood as they handed the Pirates their first loss of the season. Stat wise, Kevin Shaffer is the top scorer for Weld Central (16.0) while Bryce Andrews chips in 15 points and a team best eight rebounds. Noah Sena (13.3) is a third double figure scorer. Elijah Mullet leads Fort Lupton in scoring (15.9) and is second in rebounds (5.3). Antonio Marquez is the leading rebounder (5.8) and second in points (11.4). Five others average at least five points per game.
Legend at Regis: The Titans (5-0) are the lone unbeaten in the 5A Continental so they need a win to remain alone in first. Getting to the top has not been easy as the Titans have three league wins by six points or less and the widest margin of victory is just 12. That victory came on Tuesday at Heritage (70-58). Regis is also accustomed to tight games. They have just six wins in 18 games but they’ve been outscored on the season by just 13 points. The Raiders are 3-2 in league play and need a win to remain in contention for a top four finish.
Rock Canyon vs Chaparral: The Jaguars and Wolverines are both 4-1 and part of a three-way tie for second with ThunderRidge in the Continental. All three are one back of first place Legend so the winner remains in title contention. A win puts Rock Canyon in great shape for a top two finish as they’ve already posted a win over ThunderRidge (45-39). They remained in second with a hard fought 66-64 overtime win against Castle View last week. Jalen Ashley went for 24 points in the win and tops the team in scoring overall (15.1). Chaparral has not faced either Legend or ThunderRidge so they remain in control of their own championship hopes. Kobe Sanders, with 19 points and 4 assists per game, continues to lead the Wolverines attack.
Northfield at Lincoln: Northfield has already beaten George Washington and Thomas Jefferson so a win here leaves only Denver East as the last league team to conquer. The Nighthawks are 6-0 in league play and share the lead with the tradition rich Angels. Denver East closes the season with games against Northfield and third place George Washington (6-1). Lincoln was involved in the title mix before last week’s 76-69 loss to Denver East that knocked them two games out of first.
