Early in the season, our daily prep sheet on boys’ basketball will focus on the Top 10 schedule but as we work through the schedule, our focus will turn to league races as champions earn automatic bids to the state tournament in each class.
One benefit of the shortened regular season is the request by CHSAA for teams to schedule opponents closer to home. And that will give us some cross classification games that we may not normally see. One of those is tonight as #7 Peyton (2A) heads to #4 Manitou Springs (3A). It’s the lone matchup of ranked teams on the schedule this evening.
Both teams won 19 games a year ago with Peyton taking one more step as they fell to Limon in the 2A state quarterfinals. Manitou Springs fell one game short of the Great 8 in their 68-53 regional finals loss to Centauri a year ago. Both clubs return a pair of double-digit scorers. Peyton gets back Brennen Meyers (11.0) and Gavin Miller (10.2) while Manitou Springs returns Joan Armour (14.0) and Isaiah Thomas (12.2).
Another excellent matchup is found in Class 3A with Faith Christian hosting University. The Eagles are ranked second to open the season while the Bulldogs just missed a top 10 berth as they’re ranked 11th by coaches. The Bulldogs (17-7) will score some points as they return Tayt Chacon (20.2) and Alex Martinez (10.5) to their up-tempo offense. But they will have to replace two other players who combined for 25 points a game.
Faith Christian is coming off another Final Four appearance last year and they must replacements for the graduated Caleb Ruter who led the Eagles in scoring (15.3) and rebounding (7.6) as a senior. Look for Caleb Clark (11.0) and Graham Kroll (5.2) to improve their offensive numbers.
Sedgwick County (2A) is ranked 10th and has a strong challenge in their season opener. They face a Nebraska opponent (Potter Dix) who has already played 13 games with 10 wins. It will be interesting to see how well game one rust plays against a team with plenty of game experience. Sedgwick County (19-4) had a solid 2019-20 campaign and gets back their top two scorers in Jared Ehmke (12.9) and Tate Dille (10.9).
Colorado Preps is tracking results across the state this year so we ask coaches and fans to text us final scores to 970.380.7737.
Below is the Tuesday Top 10 schedule for all classifications. Some games to the South may be changed due to weather and school closures. The scheduled contest between #2 Lewis Palmer (4A) and Widefield has already been pushed back to Wednesday and is not on the schedule below.
CLASS 1A
FINAL: #8 Belleview Christian beat Longmont Christian 75-60
CLASS 2A
#7 Peyton at #4 Manitou Springs (3A) – PPD
FINAL: #10 Sedgwick County beat Potter Dix NE 53-40
CLASS 3A
#1 Lutheran vs Atlas Prep
FINAL: #2 Faith Christian beat University 80-43
CLASS 4A
#10 Pueblo Central vs Mesa Ridge
CLASS 5A
FINAL: #4 Denver East beat Highlands Ranch 67-65
#6 Valor Christian vs Air Academy (PPD to Wednesday)
FINAL: #9 George Washington beat Rock Canyon 70-63
