Regional Playoff Predictions Boys Basketball Class 2A
Official Regional Brackets are released.
Class 2A
The 8 state teams will be seeded by RPI, avoiding regional and, if possible, districts match-ups.
East Region Qualifiers: Is seeded off RPI
District 2: Sedgwick County, Holyoke, Akron
District 4: Byers, Burlington, Limon
District 6: Crowley County, Fowler, John Mall
District 7: Highland, Dawson School, Dayspring Christian
District 8: Peyton, Simla, Ellicott
West Region Qualifier: Seeded by District Champions and Avoid District opponents:
District 1: Sanford, Del Norte, Center
District 3: Ignacio, Norwood, Telluride
District 5: Paonia, Meeker, Hotchkiss
East Region
Winners from each Pod advance to the state tournament, Seeded off RPI and Avoiding District Matchups
Pod A
#1 Sedgwick County
#10 Ellicott vs #15 Burlington
- The first round game between Ellicott and Burlington should be very good and both teams can challenge Sedgwick County. Ellicott is on a bit of a hot streak winning 4 straight including the District 8 championship. They have played better basketball as of late including upsetting Peyton on 2/10. Burlington also is riding high after winning the District 4 championship. They beat Byers and Limon to win the championship. I am not a huge fan of the way the East Region was seeded using RPI instead of giving the district champions the bye. Having three district champions in one pod is not really fair to any of the teams and only one will advance to state. I have Burlington upsetting Ellicott in the first round. Sedgwick County is riding high after winning the District 2 Championship and avenging their earlier season loss to Holyoke. Sedgwick County is on a 14 game winning streak and will be challenged by either winner from the first round. I think they will escape pod A and make it to the Final 8.
Pod B
#2 Holyoke
#9 Byers vs 14 John Mall
- Byers grabbed a playoff spot after winning the 3rd place game over Denver Christian by 13. They lost to Burlington by 1 in the first round of the District 4 tournament. Byers has a pair of good wins over Kiowa (1A) and Peyton. They will be the favorite in their first round match up. John Mall is somewhat of a surprise to get in. I predicted them to get in but they had to pull an upset in the 3rd place game. John Mall upset Hoehne in the 3rd place game to grab the regional spot. They beat Hoehne by 7. John Mall lost to Crowley County by 9 and are a really solid team. They will be looking to once again pull an upset and set up a match up against Holyoke. I have Byers grabbing the win over John Mall in a tightly contested game. Holyoke vs Byers will be a pretty tough game for both teams. Holyoke will be looking to bounce back after their loss to Sedgwick County in the District Championship. They did beat Akron by 20 the round before. I think Byers will give a good challenge but Holyoke I still think will grab a spot in the final 8.
Pod C
#3 Akron
#8 Crowley County vs 13 Simla
- Crowley County had a very solid year finishing second in the District 6 finals. They lost by 10 to Fowler. Crowley County will be looking to bounce back quickly against a pesky Simla team. Simla shocked everyone when they upset Peyton in the semifinals of the district 8 tournament. They gave Ellicott a run for their money in the championship but fell short losing by 9. Simla has been very up and down most of the year as their 12-10 record shows. They have solid wins against Ellicott but bad losses to Calhan twice and Dolores Huerta. Depending on which Simla team shows up this weekend Crowley County could be in a little trouble. I still expect Crowley County to get to the finals against Akron. Akron finished third in the tough District 2 tournament. They got by Merino for a fourth time which is no easy task then lost to Holyoke but got revenge by beating Haxtun and grabbing the final playoff spot. Akron will not have a cake walk in Pod C. If Crowley County wins they will be playing a tough defensive team and will be looking to pull the upset. I think Akron will be on upset alert but I think they will barely escape Pod C and Akron will advance to the Final 8.
Pod D
#4 Highland
#7 Peyton vs 12 Limon
- Limon finished second in the District 4 tournament and came up 12 points short of winning the crown. They will now have a very tough task against a good Peyton team. Limon like Simla in Pod C was not consistent going 9-12 but did enough to grab a regional spot. Peyton was upset in the semifinals by Simla and had to battle for their life against Evangelical Christian and they won by 10. Peyton was one of my early favorites to win the state title but after losses to Byers and Simla and being put in the Pod they did it will be tough for them to make the top 8. Peyton should beat Limon and set up a regional final against Highland. Highland won the District 7 championship getting past Alexander Dawson by 7. They have yet to lose a game and have not really been challenged except by Longmont Christian and Alexander Dawson. Highland is the clear favorite to win the regional and a top team to win state. They won’t have a road there as Peyton will challenge them. I still think Highland will get to the Final 8.
Pod E
#5 Alexander Dawson
#6 Fowler vs 11 Dayspring Christian
- Dayspring Christian had a very solid season this year and grabbed a playoff spot by beating Union Colony prep for the 3rd place game. Dayspring Christian is lacking the big win over a quality opponent. Fowler was your District 6 Champion beating Crowley County by 10. They had 2 solid losses to Crowley County before getting revenge in the championship. Fowler should beat Dayspring Christian and set themselves up to advance to state. Alexander Dawson vs Fowler should be one of the best game in the Regional Finals. They are one of the few teams to challenge Highland this year. Alexander Dawson will have their hand full with Fowler in the championship and this will be a great game. I am going to go with Alexander Dawson to hold on and escape by 3 or 4. Should be a great game.
West Region
Pod F
#1 Paonia
#6 Telluride vs 9 Center
- Center shocked everyone when they upset Sargent in the third place game beating them in overtime 65 to 60. They will now play against Telluride and be looking to upset another team. Center has been up and down all season and will be looking for one more upset when they play Telluride. Telluride finished second in the District 3 tournament losing to Ignacio by 1. Telluride plays in a very weak district but excelled in the district to finish 2nd. They will have their hand full against a tough Center team. I am going with Center in the upset. Paonia grabbed the district title with a 68 to 36 win over Meeker. They are on a 10 game winning streak and I think whoever they play in the regional final they will advance to state. Paonia will be a team to deal with at the State Tournament.
Pod G
#2 Ignacio
#5 Del Norte vs #8 Hotchkiss
- Hotchkiss grabbed the final playoff spot by beating Plateau Valley in the 3rd place game by 11. They were beat by 35 by Paonia in the semifinals. Early on I had Hotchkiss ranked but a loss to Plateau Valley and really looking through their schedule I was not impressed and they had a 28 point loss to Delta. They have the unfortunate draw of having to play Del Norte who was upset by the defending State Champions. Del Norte will look to quickly rebound following their one point loss to Sanford in the District Championship. Every time Del Norte and Sanford played it went down to the wire. It’s tough to beat a team four times and Del Norte was not able to pull it off. Del Norte is one of the better teams in the state and will be looking to prove that in this region. I am picking them to beat Hotchkiss. Ignacio vs Del Norte in the Regional final will be a good game and Ignacio is defiantly on upset alert. Ignacio won their district tournament but they are in possibly the weakest district in the entire state. They beat Telluride by 1 in the district finals and received a first round bye. They will have their hand completely full by a Del Norte team that is looking to get into the State Tournament. I am going to go with the upset and I have Del Norte advancing to the State Tournament.
Pod H
#3 Sanford
#4 Meeker vs 7 Norwood
- Norwood is coming off a 72 to 53 victory over Dolores in the third place game to grab a playoff spot. Norwood played a pretty weak schedule so it’s tough to tell how good this team is. Meeker is reeling after advancing to the District finals against Paonia but getting beat by 32 in the finals. Meeker beat Plateau Valley and West Grand to reach the district finals. Meeker should be able to get by Norwood and set up a very good matchup between them and Sanford. Sanford is feeling good after upsetting Del Norte in the district finals. They are on a 4 game winning streak and looking to advance to state and defend their three time state championship. They will have their hands full with Meeker but should be able to advance to the final 8. Sanford must not get complacent with beating Del Norte and if they can play with the same fire they did against Del Norte they will advance to the State tournament yet again.
State tournament
Just one quick thing to remember that the state tournament of the final 8 teams is seeded by RPI and you avoid Regional/District Match ups if possible.
#1 Sedgwick County vs #8 Sanford
#4 Highland vs #5 Del Norte
#3 Akron vs #6 Alexander Dawson
#2 Holyoke vs #7 Paonia
MileHigh Prep Report 