Wednesday also brings a shorter schedule to girls’ basketball but there are several important games on the slate. Included on the list is the rematch between Grandview and Cherry Creek in the 5A Centennial while Vanguard and Manitou Springs battle for second place in the 3A Tri Peaks. The semifinals of the 4A Colorado 8 league tournament will also be conducted.
Centennial at La Veta: Both teams have four league losses and sit tied with Antonito and La Veta in fourth place in the 1A Southern Peaks. Sierra Grande also visits La Veta on Thursday so this is the first of two games this week that will decide which team ends up fourth. Antonito has one advantage as they’ve basically improved to 6-4 already with a forfeit win over Aguilar later this week. The Trojans also have wins over La Veta and Centennial give them head-to-head tiebreakers. Centennial has won two straight including a nice league win over Sierra Grande as Randi Espinoza scored 1 and Jayden DeLeon and Xiomara Maestas 12 apiece. La Veta looks to end a two-game slide following a 39-23 loss to Moffat last Saturday. Mary Goins paces La Veta with 11.8 points per game.
Weld Central junior Kadee Sims reached the 1,000 point career mark as a junior in the Rebels win over Alameda on Tuesday. PHOTO BY WELD CENTRAL SCHOOLS
Riverdale Ridge at Weld Central / Skyview at Conifer: The top four clubs during regular season play in the 4A Colorado 8 all won first round games in the league tournament last night and now they collide in the semifinals. Skyview won the regular season crown but the tournament winner is the team that gets the automatic bid to the 4A state tournament. Riverdale Ridge also drops into 3A for the post-season. During the regular season, Skyview rolled Conifer 48-20 as they scored the first 13 points of the game and led 28-3 at halftime. The Wolverines gave up just eight field goals overall and picked up 18 points from Thalia Guardiola. Weld Central edged Riverdale Ridge 47-46 in their conference matchup. The Rebels outscored the Ravens 15-8 in the fourth quarter as they rallied from five points down after three. Kaydee Sims, who went over the 1,000 career point mark in last night’s win, led the Rebels with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Overall, the Rebels outrebounded the Ravens 68-39.
Vanguard at Manitou Springs: Top ranked and two-time state champion St Mary’s has clinched the 3A Tri Peaks championship but this game determines second and third. Each team has just one league loss and both came against the league champion Pirates. Statistically, the teams are very even. Vanguard has scored 456 points in league play; Manitou Springs 454. And they’re separated by just 22 points allowed with Vanguard (344) holding the slight edge on the Mustangs (366). Alexis Garcia (15.6), Juliana Garcia (12.5) and Hailey Blanchard (12.5) provide most of the offensive punch for Vanguard. Manitou Springs counters with their trio of Aniah Olson (12.0), Alexia Vigil (9.3) and Grace Allen (9.2).
Falcon at Cheyenne Mountain / Lewis Palmer at Air Academy: Falcon and Air Academy (both 8-3) share second place in the 4A Pikes Peak and can stay tied if both win tonight. Each has two more games left in league play so there are multiple chances to break the tie. Head-to-head won’t do it as the Falcons and Kadets split their two conference contests. Air Academy has the more difficult challenge this evening as they lost to Lewis Palmer 52-45 in their first meeting while Falcon knocked off Cheyenne Mountain 82-58 the first time around.
D’Evelyn at Golden: Green Mountain (11-0) and Evergreen (8-2) have secured the top two spots in the 4A Jeffco but this winner will get third. D’Evelyn leads Golden by one game in the league standings but since the Demons won the first meeting (41-40), they have the tiebreaker with a win. Golden led by nine after three but held off a strong Jaguars rally where they won the fourth quarter 15-8. Elli Garnett dropped in 23 points and had nine rebounds for the winners while Peyton Balbin finished with 15 points and 10 boards for D’Evelyn.
Cherry Creek at Grandview: A major game in the 5A Centennial of course but the outcome will also impact the state tournament bracket set for release this Sunday. Cherry Creek trails Grandview by one game in the conference standings and must win to earn a share of the title but the Bruins have a two-spot edge in RPI. The Bruins are #2 with Grandview #4. One would think the Wolves will get the higher seed in the bracket with a win, even if they don’t pass the Bruins in RPI. Grandview used a 20-7 run in the second quarter to take control in a 65-40 win in game one. Addison O’Grady (19) and Lauren Betts (18) combined for 37 points on the inside and combined to hit 18 of 26 field goal attempts. They also totaled 26 rebounds including 17 from Betts as they won the board battle 44-27. Cherry Creek connected on just 25 percent of their attempts (14-56) with Jana Van Gytenbeek (20) leading the offense.
Thornton at Brighton: Maybe the last chance for one of the three leaders in the 5A East Metro to suffer a loss. Thornton (8-1) sits tied with Rangeview and Vista Peak (both 7-1) atop the standings but Brighton is above 500 overall (11-10) and battling Westminster (both 6-3) for fourth. The Bulldogs though haven’t fared well against the top teams; falling by 24 points to Rangeview and 32 to Vista Peak. Despite a 17-4 mark overall, Thornton is only 26th in RPI so they can use more wins to climb that ladder and earn a better post-season placement.
