Playoff Predictions First and Second Round Boys Basketball Class 3A
These are the official Playoff Brackets for Class 3A Boys.
Class 3A
Now that the bracket is official for Classes 3A thru 1A for both boys and girls I will give a more in depth prediction for each Class starting with the 3A boys. The bracket will run straight through and their will not be a re bracket but there is still games for 3rd, 5th, and 7th place in the state tournament. I won’t predict the final 8 till after we have are final 8.
League Champions/Automatic Qualifiers
Confluence League/Colorado 7: DSST-Green Valley
Frontier: DST-Stapleton
Intermountain: Bayfield
Metro: Kent Denver
Patriot: Resurrection Christian
Tri Peaks: Colorado Springs Christian
Western Slope: Coal Ridge
First Highest RPI: Manitou Springs
Automatic Qualifier
Academy, Alamosa, Manitou Springs, Sterling, Manual, Ridgeview Academy, Basalt
At Large Teams
La Junta, Jefferson Academy, Pinnacle, University, Delta, Rye, Pagosa Springs, Faith Christian, Montezuma-Cortez, Roaring Fork, Frontier Academy, Buena Vista, Colorado Academy, Strasburg, Machebeuf, Grand Valley, Lutheran, Vanguard
3A State Tournament Bracket:
#1 Kent Denver vs #32 Ridgeview Academy
16 La Junta vs 17 Jefferson Academy
- This features one game that should be really close and probably a blow out in the other. Kent Denver should have no problem with Ridgeview Academy in the first round. The really good game will feature La Junta vs Jefferson Academy. La Junta in the district tournament played a close game against Colorado Springs Christian only losing by 8 and holding them to just 31 points. They followed that game with another loss to Buena Vista and now they are reeling and are going to be looking to rebound from those losses. Jefferson Academy is in a similar boat they are reeling after losing to Colorado Academy by 10. The winner of this game will probably give Kent Denver a game. Jefferson Academy beat Kent Denver on 2/10 and they beat them by 16 points so we could get a rematch there. I am picking Kent Denver to get to the final 8.
8 DSST-Green Valley Ranch vs 27 Pinnacle
9 Basalt vs 24 University
- This is probably the most interesting regional of them all. DSST-Green Valley did not play in a tough district and have a pair of losses in the month of February that tell you a lot. They lost to Basalt by 15 and to Ridgeview Academy by 6. DSST-Green Valley open up against Pinnacle and I am not really sure how good Pinnacle actually is. They had a 4 & 1 point loss to Academy but also have a 21 point loss to Kent Denver and within the past month. Pinnacle could scare if not upset DSST-Green Valley Ranch in the first round. The other game features a Basalt team that can’t get past a tough Coal Ridge team as 2 of their 3 losses come against them. Basalt already beat DSST-Green Valley earlier on in the season so I think they are the favorite right now to advance. University is reeling suffering back to back losses to Resurrection Christian by 40 and Strasburg by 17. They could be on the wrong side of a losing streak and I don’t think they will be able to beat a very good Basalt team. I have Basalt advancing to the final 8.
5 Bayfield vs 28 Delta
12 Alamosa vs 21 Rye
- We have a very interesting regional here and it is almost a little unfair too two of the teams in this region. Bayfield and Alamosa are both from the IML and both have played each other to close and very good games and a 4th rematch is on the horizon. Bayfield should not have a problem with Delta. Bayfield is playing very good basketball right now and I don’t think this will be a close game. Alamosa also should not have any problems with Rye. They beat Rye by 19 at the end of January. The only problem I see here is Alamosa is really struggling on offense and are realying heavily on 1 player so they must get their offensive problems figured out if they plan on winning. The rematch between Alamosa and Bayfield should be a very good game. Bayfield is winning the series at 2-1 and the past two games were decided by 3 points or less. Once again this game will be in Bayfield were Alamosa is 0-2. It is always tough to beat a team three times in a row so I am going with Alamosa to upset Bayfield and get to the final 8.
4 Resurrection Christian vs 29 Pagosa Springs
13 Faith Christian vs 20 Academy
- Resurrection Christian should cruise past Pagosa and set themselves up with a tough game against either Faith Christian or Academy. Faith Christian lost a 4 point game to Manual in the Semifinals of the Metro tournament but then beat Lutheran by 13 in the 3rd place game. Faith Christian has played a tough schedule and most of their losses are by 10 points or less. Academy had a very suprising season this year and finished second in the Frontier league. They were beat by 32 in the Frontier championship so that makes me wonder how good Academy actually is. They played a pretty weak schedule so now that we are in the state tournament they will be tasked every game with a tough one. I have Faith Christian winning against Academy and setting up against Resurrection Christian. I expect Faith Christian to give Resurrection Christian all they can handle but I still expect Resurrection to come out victorious. Resurrection Christian beat Faith Christian by 19 in December. I have Resurrection Christian advancing to the final 8.
2 Manitou Springs vs 31 Montezuma-Cortez
15 Manual vs 18 Roaring Fork
- Manitou Springs should not have to many problems in their first round game and I expect them to get past Montezuma Cortez with some ease. Montezuma Cortez didn’t make it past the Pig Tail game in the IML and think they are somewhat fading going into the tournament. Manual vs Roaring Fork should be a better game but I think Manual is starting to peak at the right time. They finished second in the Metro league and lost by 3 to Kent Denver. Manual should win this game and set up a very good match up in the second round. Manitou Springs lost a OT game against Colorado Springs Christian in the Tri Peaks finals and are playing very good basketball. They will be faced with another team who is playing very good basketball as well. I am picking Manitou Springs to advance to the final 8 because they played a tougher schedule and have been dominate most of the year except against CSC.
7 Coal Ridge vs 26 Frontier Academy
10 Sterling vs 23 Buena Vista
- This region should set up another possible upset. Coal Ridge and Sterling should both win easily against their first round games setting up a monster second round game. Coal Ridge won the Western Slope title with a 2 point win over Basalt. Coal Ridge is on 11 game winning streak their last loss was to Eagle Valley (4A) and they played Resurrection Christian to a 3 point loss on 1/7. Coal Ridge has one bad loss to Moffat County and that is why most of the attention has been off of them till they beat Basalt in February. Sterling finished second in the tough Patriot league losing by 3 to Resurrection Christian in the finals. Sterling has 3 losses in the month of February to Resurrection Christian twice and Lutheran. Sterling played tough against Resurrection Christian and I expect this game against Coal Ridge to be one of the best games in the second round. I am going with Sterling pull of the upset here against Coal Ridge and advance to the final 8.
6 DST-Stapleton vs 27 Colorado Academy
11 Strasburg vs 22 Machebeuf
- DST-Stapleton has not lost a game since December and are rolling right now. They have a somewhat tough match up against a Colorado Academy squad who has not put together the season they expected. I still have DST-Stapleton winning against Colorado Academy but this will be tougher than expected. Strasburg vs Machebeuf will be a very good game. Strasburg lost to Sterling by 25 in the Patriot semifinals but beat University in the 3rd place game by 17. Strasburg will have its hands full against a very tough Machebeuf team. Machebeuf didn’t perform well in the Metro district tournament and is on a 3 game losing streak. They will have to quickly bounce back or see their season end. They have a pretty good chance to upset Strasburg here but must figure out what happened to close out the season. Machebeuf has played tough against tougher opponents this year taking Faith Christian to OT and losing to Lutheran by 3. I am going with the upset here and have Machebeuf taking on DST-Stapleton. I don’t see DST-Stapleton being challenged by either team in the second round and have them advancing to the final 8.
3 Colorado Springs Christian vs 30 Grand Valley
14 Lutheran vs 19 Vanguard
- Colorado Springs Christian might be playing the best basketball in the entire state right now. They also have played against top team in the state and pushed 4A Pueblo West to a 7 point loss. They will have no problems against a tough Grand Valley team. Lutheran has awoken toward the back half of this season. They beat Machebeuf in the Metro tournament before falling to Kent Denver and Faith Christian. They must quickly rebound and will have a very good chance against Vanguard. Vanguard was beat in the First round of the Tri Peaks tournament losing to Buena Vista by 2. They beat Salida next then lost to Rye by 10 points. They are somewhat struggling to end out this year losing 4 of 6 games. They will not have it easy in the first round and I don’t expect them to beat Lutheran. Colorado Springs Christian vs Lutheran will be the second round match up and I just don’t think Lutheran has the guns to keep up with Colorado Springs Christian and I have Colorado Springs Christian advancing to the final 8.
State Tournament Final 8
#1 Kent Denver vs #9 Basalt
#4 Resurrection Christian vs #12 Alamosa
#2 Manitou Springs vs #10 Sterling
#3 Colorado Springs Christian vs #6 DST-Stapleton
MileHigh Prep Report 