A limited schedule as always on Wednesday night in girls but there are a few games that will help determine league championships and or second place finishes. We look at those four games and also run through a couple of important schedule changes.
Photo is by Lance Wendt.
Academy at Middle Park: Academy has twice as many wins overall as Middle Park (14 to 7) but both teams are unbeaten in league play so the winner likely ends up with the 3A Frontier crown. Based on overall record, the Wildcats are heavily favored. Each of their six conference wins are by at least 19 points. Middle Park has won five of six by double figures and is coming off a crucial 40-32 win over third place Arrupe Jesuit last week. Katie Trail had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds and she also added four assists and four steals. Brianna Renteria (14) and Briana Baker (13) also combined for 27 rebounds. Academy is led by the backcourt duo of Aryanna Perez (18.4) and Mikylah Espinoza (15.6) who combine for 34 of the teams’ 63 point per game average. Janaya Steffy has a team best 5.4 rebounds.
Classical Academy at Sierra: Sierra sits second place and is one game back of Canon City in the 4A CS Metro chase while TCA is third with two league losses. The Titans were slated to play Canon City in another important game this past Monday but it was pushed back to February 21st due to weather. So this game will determine if Sierra stays alone in second or if the two end up sharing the spot. Canon City is favored at Harrison tonight. Sierra took a 51-38 road win in the first meeting as they pulled away with a 13-4 run to end the game. D’Nae Wilson, with 19 points, led the Stallions while Azaria Lacour added 15. TCA hit just 14 of 44 field goal attempts with Kaelen Boyles leading the scoresheet with 8. The teams combined to hit just 2 of 20 three-point attempts with Sierra gaining an advantage the foul line as they hit 15 of 20 compared to just 10 of 23 for the Titans. The rebounding advantage went to TCA 42-28.
Chatfield at Lakewood/Columbine at Ralston Valley: Valor Christian’s win over Ralston Valley last week should eventually give the Eagles the 5A Jeffco crown but these two games will help sort out second and third. All four teams have one league loss and are tied with Arvada West in second place. The Wildcats have a non-league date with Prairie View so they’ll remain tied in the runner-up spot with the two winners. Sydney Bevington, with 15.7 points and 10.1 rebounds, leads Ralston Valley. Columbine, which lost a league game to Ralston Valley 68-32, is led by Jessica Bollwahn with team highs of 15 points and seven rebounds. Chatfield came up short to Columbine (62-36) in league action but has won their last two. Grace Talbot (20.9) represents 40 percent of the Chargers offense. Lakewood looks to rebound from last week’s 65-40 loss to Valor. Nadia Trevizo-Medina (14.5) is their leading scorer.
Schedule changes: Big conference games between St Mary’s-Manitou Springs (3A Tri Peaks) and Pueblo West-Pueblo East (4A South Central) slated for Tuesday night were postponed. The Pirates and Mustangs are set for Thursday night and then West and East will now do battle on Monday.
