Girls Basketball Class 3A Top Ten Breakdown
Ranking Notes: Lots of movement after two huge tournaments. Centauri beat Lamar to stay at #1. St. Mary’s had a good week beating Lutheran, Pagosa, and Colorado Academy so moving them up to #2 was no problem. CSCS stays at #3. Lamar after losing to Centauri by double digits drops to #4 and Pagosa follows losing to St. Mary’s by double digits. Resurrection Christian moves to #6 with their lone lose to Falcon by 6. Manitou Springs despite losing their past two games moves up to #7 they lost to 4A schools and moving them up due to showing good progress makes sense. Kent Denver rejoins the rankings after beating University and Eaton in the same week. Eaton follows Kent Denver and Delta joins the rankings after blowing out their first two opponents.
#1 Centauri (6-0)
Centauri is off to a hot start and a perfect 6-0 start. Centauri this past week played in the La Junta Holiday Shootout and won the tournament. On the way to the championship Centauri beat Fowler 50 to 27, #3 2A Del Norte 50 to 39, and beat #4 Lamar in the championship 33 to 16. Centauri is being led by Caroline Van Berkum 12.3 ppg and Melissa Wilson 11.3 ppg. Centauri has two final games in December one this week and one next week. This week they play Buena Vista (0-3) on 12/15 and next week they play Sanford. Centauri snagged a huge win last week to keep a very good St. Mary’s from jumping them in the rankings. After break Centauri faces Trinidad and then start league play.
#2 St. Mary’s (4-0)
St. Mary’s like Centauri is off to a very hot start and are off to a 4-0 start. St. Mary’s has already faced 3 ranked teams this year and faced all of them last year. St. Mary’s beat then ranked #10 Lutheran 73 to 34, then beat #5 Pagosa Springs 49 to 32, and beat then ranked Colorado Academy 60 to 41. St. Mary’s through 4 games has been led by Josephine Howery 19.3 ppg and Makenna Bodette 14.0 ppg. St. Mary’s has 2 final games left in December and they face Faith Christian (3-4) tonight 12/12 and then face Salida (3-3) on 12/16. St. Mary’s after break opens with league play but have a few non-league games left. The Tri Peaks league will be a fun battle to watch with 3 Top 5 teams in their league.
#3 Colorado Springs Christian (3-0)
Colorado Springs Christian is also off to a hot 3-0 start. CSCS has yet to be challenged by a team winning all 3 games by 25+ points. CSCS had just one game last week and they played 4A Pueblo Centennial and they won easily 72 to 28. CSCS is being led by Megan Engesser 27.7 ppg and Rachel Ingram 19.7 ppg. The biggest thing I see if not much scoring behind these two players with the next player scoring 6.7 ppg. CSCS has 1 game left in December against 4A Canon City (2-3). After break though CSCS plays 3 4A/5A opponents most of which are very good they include Pueblo West, Rampart, and Fruita Monument.
#4 Lamar (3-1)
Lamar is off to a solid 3-1 start and played in a very tough tournament to open the season. Lamar played in the La Junta Holiday shootout this past weekend and went 2-1 in the tournament. Lamar beat Sanford 56 to 23 and #2 2A Swink 50 to 43. Swink was tied with Lamar to enter the fourth quarter but Lamar was able to pull away and win. Lamar then faced #1 Centauri in the championship and fell only scoring 5 points in the entire second half. Lamar last 33 to 16 to Centauri. Lamar will have a rematch with Rye to end December and a good game to bounce back with. Lamar after break hits the meat grinder that the Tri-Peaks is, and they face #2 St. Mary’s on 1/5.
#5 Pagosa Springs (3-1)
Pagosa Springs played their first games of the season last weekend. They played a single game against Salida and won 47 to 23. Pagosa Springs then participated in the Buena Vista Invitational. They faced #2 St. Mary’s and lost 49 to 32 and then faced a then ranked Sterling team and won 30 to 23. Pagosa through three games is being led by Morgan Lewis 14.0 ppg and Taylor Lewis 9.0 ppg. Pagosa Springs still has some question marks on how good they are and some of those questions will be answered in December. Pagosa Springs is taking place in the Lutheran Invitational which is a four-team tournament. They face Olathe (2-2) on 12/15 in the first round. Pagosa then will face either Lutheran or Manitou Springs on 12/16. Then Pagosa Springs will play two more games next week against Durango and then #3 Colorado Springs Christian but well talk about those more next week.
#6 Resurrection Christian (5-1)
Resurrection Christian has finished their December schedule and played their final game yesterday 12/11 against 1A Heritage Christian. Resurrection Christian took care of business beating Heritage Christian 60 to 41. That win moves Resurrection to 5-1 on the season and plenty of momentum heading into break. After break Resurrection Christian plays Coal Ridge, a non-league opponent and then open their league schedule. Resurrection Christian is being led by JuJu Hemeyer 13.7 ppg and Elisabeth Perl 7.8 ppg.
#7 Manitou Springs
Manitou Springs has opened the year with a brutal schedule. Their first game was against #8 Kent Denver and won 54 to 41. Then Manitou Springs faced 4A Discovery Canyon (4-1) and lost 40 to 29 and in their final game last week they faced undefeated 4A Classical Academy (5-0) and lost 43 to 40. Manitou Springs will be battle tested for the Tri-Peaks league. Manitou Springs is being led by Maren Mildestredt 16.0 ppg and Calleen Sienknecht 6.7 ppg. Manitou Springs now will partake in the Lutheran Invitational and will face Lutheran (2-2) on 12/15. Manitou Springs will then face either Pagosa Springs or Olathe in the next round. Manitou Springs after break will then open Tri-Peaks play.
#8 Kent Denver
Kent Denver played 3 games last week going 3-0. Kent Denver faced and beat University 45 to 41, DSST-Stapleton 49 to 27, and #9 Eaton 44 to 40. Kent Denver had a very impressive last week and look to keep improving. Kent Denver is being led by Julia Doyle 15.2 ppg and Emma Boatman 8.4 ppg. Kent Denver this week will partake in the St. Mary’s Academy Invite which is an 8-team tournament. Kent Denver plays 4A Denver West (2-3) in the first round on 12/14. Kent Denver will then face either Academy or Cornerstone Christian Academy in the second round. This is an important tournament for Kent Denver to win and grab some huge momentum heading into break. Kent Denver after break will open league play.
#9 Eaton
Eaton opened the season 3-0 and played two games last week trying to move to 5-0. Eaton faced 2A Highland and snuck by them 44 to 41. Eaton then faced #8 Kent Denver and fell 44 to 40. Eaton moved to 4-1 on the season heading into their final 3 games of the December. Eaton through 5 games is being led Bailie Duncan 10.0 ppg and Micheala Hill 7.6 ppg. Kent Denver has two games this week. Kent Denver faces Prospect Ridge (2-3) tonight 12/12 and Machebeuf (3-1) on 12/16. Eaton has one final game in December against Colorado Academy but well mention that game more next week.
#10 Delta
Delta moved into the ranking for the first time this year with a solid 2-0 start. Delta had two games last week blowing past 2A Hotchkiss 64 to 38 and Basalt 62 to 25. Delta is being led early on by Sara Geddes 17 ppg and Melissa Webb 13.0 ppg. Delta schedules now picks up with a game tonight 12/12 against Olathe (2-2). Delta then will host the Delta County Tournament and they face 2A Paonia (2-1) on 12/15. Delta will then face either undefeated Cedaredge or Hotchkiss (4-1). These games are of huge importance to Delta and trying to get momentum heading into break is key. Delta will open league play right after break.
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