Our top games list for boys’ basketball on Wednesday night is limited to three conferences; the 4A Jeffco, the 4A Pikes Peak and the 5A Centennial. All have important games as teams continue to shuffle up and down in the league standings.
4A – Golden at Wheat Ridge: The Farmers (3-0) are alone atop the Jeffco but they face both second place teams this week starting tonight with Golden. The Demons are tied with D’Evelyn in the number two spot and both are just one game off the pace. Wheat Ridge and D’Evelyn also collide on Friday so the Farmers have a chance to take complete control. The Farmers have won six straight and started the conference run with an impressive 66-45 decision over Green Mountain. Alex Morales went for 20 in that win with Dominic Bronk adding 17. They also limited the Rams to just 33 percent shooting from the field (19-58). Golden is coming off a 57-53 loss to Green Mountain last week. The Rams shot 45 percent in that win (17-38) including nine three-pointers. The Demons collected 16 points from freshman Alan Acevado and 13 from senior Kevin Mulligan.
4A – Lewis Palmer at Palmer Ridge: Cheyenne Mountain (4-0) leads the Pikes Peak chase but the Rangers and Bears are tied with Vista Ridge in second place. All are just one game back of the highly ranked Indians. The Rangers appear headed back in the right direction as they’ve won three of four following a very rare four game losing streak. They exploded for 35 points in last week’s win over Sand Creek with Colin Westfall and Eddie Speller both scoring 22 points. Brady Jones (16) and Cameron Lowe (14) also reached double figures. Palmer Ridge scored 75 points against Cheyenne Mountain in their last outing but gave up 93 in an 18-point loss. West McEvoy had 16, Seth Allton 15 and Brian McCarthy 14 for the Bears.
4A – Sand Creek at Vista Ridge: As mentioned, Vista Ridge needs a win to keep pace with the Lewis Palmer-Palmer Ridge winner for second in the Pikes Peak chase. It’s a tough challenge as the Scorpions are one game back in the league standings but have four more wins overall. Sand Creek also looks to bounce back from a frustrating 84-49 loss to Lewis Palmer last Friday. Vista Ridge’s offense is led by the senior duo of Trey Fowler and Jabez Hasberry who each average nearly 13 points per game.
5A – Cherry Creek at Eaglecrest: Four and sometimes five teams from the Centennial are included in the 5A Top 10 each week so anytime the league gets together there are some big games involved. Through the first two weeks of play, Cherry Creek (4-0) sits alone in first with Eaglecrest joining Grandview and Smoky Hill one game back at 3-1. But this game starts a brutal stretch for the Bruins as they also have Grandview on Friday and then Smoky Hill next Wednesday. Eaglecrest opened league play with wins over Overland, Mullen and Arapahoe but the perfect start was ended with a 46-36 loss to Grandview last Friday.
5A – Grandview at Overland: Grandview continued their momentum last week as the win over Eaglecrest was their third straight in the conference following a double-overtime loss to Smoky Hill to open the league slate. Lian Romero (23) and Caleb McGill (18) were responsible for all but five of the Wolves points in the win. Overland is only 5-8 on the season but has been a tough out in the Centennial with losses to Smoky Hill by five and Cherry Creek by 11. They also pushed Chaparral to a two point game in non-league play. The Blazers are coming off a nice 29 point win over Cherokee Trail as Joseph Editon scored 15 points and both Trevon Deden and Tariq Adams added a dozen.
