Entering the final 10 days of the regular season, conference races continue to shake out. Some teams look to clinch league titles tonight but most of the action on our top games list involves teams battling for second and third.
Photo is provided by Van Hollis.
Flatirons Academy at Denver Jewish Day: This one helps decide league positioning behind first place Denver Waldorf in the Class 1A 5280. Denver Jewish Day sits tied with Mile High Academy in second place with both teams one game off the pace. Flatirons is fourth with two league losses. Both teams have dropped league games to Waldorf with Denver Jewish Day falling 45-42 and Flatirons Academy 67-53. Denver Jewish Day has won four straight but three of the wins are by four points or less including a 69-65 overtime win against Belleview Christian. Brothers Jon and Eitan Kochavi combine for 30 points and 21 rebounds a game for the Tigers. Flatirons snapped a two-game slide by beating Shining Mountain 61-48 on the road two nights ago. Cody Koehn dropped in 25 and finished with seven three-pointers. He averages 10 per game for the season and now has a team best 36 treys.
Fowler at Hoehne: We’ve looked at the overall standings in the 2A Santa Fe for the season but the league is actually divided into two different divisions. And these are the top two clubs on the Western Side but they’re separated by four games. Fowler is unbeaten in league play with Hoehne checking in with four setbacks. They’ve played once this season with the Grizzlies getting a 67-56 win to close January. Val Leone led Fowler with 17 points while Johnathon Mobbley added 14 points and 13 rebounds. Gabe Proctor also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Hoehne knocked in eight three-pointers including from four Nic Navarette and three from KJ Rael. They combined for 37 points overall.
Conifer at Weld Central: A very important game inside the 4A/3A Colorado 8 as the outcome will determine the order for the top three clubs. Conifer enters the game unbeaten and alone atop the standings so they clinch the outright championship with a win. Weld Central sits one game and tied for second with Fort Lupton. If Weld Central wins and Fort Lupton also gets the victory at Englewood, then the Lobos, Rebels and Bluedevils will share the top spot. Wins by Weld Central and Englewood give the league championship to Weld Central with Conifer second, Englewood third and Fort Lupton dropping to fourth. Conifer jumped into the lead by beating Fort Lupton 54-43 on Tuesday night. They outscored the Bluedevils 31-15 over the second and third quarters on their way to the victory. Ocean Hageman and Elijah Cook each scored 17 points and Tucker Lack added 11. Hageman also finished with 18 rebounds and Landon Wallace dished out 12 assists and picked off three steals. Weld Central lost to Fort Lupton last week (60-48) but bounced back by blasting Alameda 82-35 on Tuesday. Noah Sena (20), Bryce Andrews (16) and Wayde Thyfault (10) all reached double figures. Sena knocked in four treys and Andrews chipped in five steals and four assists.
Silver Creek at Niwot: A very good rivalry in the Longmont area will help determine the pecking order inside the 4A Northern. Longmont (9-1) leads the conference but Silver Creek (7-2) and Niwot (7-3) are the next two on the list. A win by Silver Creek gives the Raptors a two-game cushion in the race for second but a Niwot victory leaves the two teams tied for second and that scenario also brings Centaurus (7-4) back into the second-place mix. Silver Creek stayed in the title discussion by beating Longmont (66-52) last week. A 27-point second quarter led the way. Andrew Scott totaled 14 points and Andrew Duquette netted three treys and 13 points. Tanner Call also reached double figures with 10. Niwot has won their last four in league play but this game starts a critical stretch where they play Longmont on Saturday and Centaurus next Tuesday. The latest victory came against Greeley Central (44-39) behind 16 points from Cooper Sheldon and 15 from Kyle Reeves. Silver Creek won the first meeting by just eight points (64-56) but they led by 20 through three quarters.
Fossil Ridge at Broomfield: Fairview (8-0) and Boulder (9-0) will square off next week for the title and second place within the 5A Front Range but the winner of this one should end up third. Both teams have two league losses and currently share the position. Fossil Ridge has won their last four since an upset loss to Legacy. The offense has been running at full speed of late as the Sabercats have totaled at least 95 points in two of those wins. Tyce Baldwin (21), Mike Cover (16), Brock Mishak (15) and Braiden Dishman (13) led the way in a 96-69 win over Mountain Range and the same four combined for 62 in last week’s win over Greeley West (97-65). Luke Yoder added another dozen. Broomfield’s winning streak is at five including three single digit wins over Greeley West (79-73), Holy Family (68-59) and Legacy (53-50). The Eagles average 62 points a game for the season so they may try to slow tempo a bit. Ryan Collins is close to averaging a double-double with 15.4 points and 9.6 rebounds.
