Class 3A Boys Basketball League Breakdown
Ranking Notes: Some movement in the Class 3A rankings after Kent Denver beat Manual. Alamosa jumps up to #2 and Kent Denver moves up to #4. Manual slides to #5 in the rankings. Grand Valley also lost to Roaring Fork and Grand Valley falls to #10 that is just their first lose of the season. Arrupe Jesuit, Platte Valley, and Colorado Academy all move up a spot in the rankings. Roaring Fork joins the rankings after their upset win over Grand Valley. Faith Christian drops out of the rankings after losing to 4A D’Evelyn. Vanguard and Faith Christian are both just outside the rankings and could be back into the rankings. When it comes to league breakdowns it’s always tough with the Confluence League being a combination of two different league.
Confluence League
The Confluence league has zero ranked teams and every team is outside the Top 30 in the RPI. 5 teams have rose to the top of the League. Lotus School, DSST-Green Valley Ranch, Ridge View Academy, William Smith, and Weld Central all have established themselves as the Top teams. The Confluence League is a combination of the Confluence League and the Colorado 7 League and most of these teams will not face each other till the League Tournaments. This league will probably only get their two automatic qualifiers into the State Tournament. Confluence League will have plenty of shifting around as the league season goes.
RPI Rankings for the Confluence League:
#38 DSST-Green Valley Ranch, #40 Ridge View Academy, #45 Weld Central, #56 Lotus School, #69 William Smith, #61 Fort Lupton
Frontier League
The Frontier League has one 2A team into their league and has been a solid team in their league sitting at 9-3 and 4-1 (Clear Creek). The Frontier League has 5 teams that seem to have risen up the league standings two of which are ranked in the Top 10. DSST-Stapleton is #3 in Class 3A and are 6-0 in League. DSST-Stapleton still has to play the #2 team Arrupe Jesuit who is 5-0 in league. At #3 is Pinnacle at 5-1 and chasing the top two teams. #4 is Jefferson and #5 is The Academy. The Frontier league currently would be getting 4 teams into the State Tournament with Pinnacle just missing the cut. Pinnacle will have a chance to increase their RPI and of course challenge for 1 of the two automatic spots. Jefferson and The Academy are very much on the bubble and will look to avoid any bad losses.
RPI Rankings for the Frontier League
#13 DSST-Stapleton, #15 Arrupe Jesuit, #24 The Academy, #29 Jefferson, #33 Pinnacle, #52 Sheridan
Intermountain League
The Intermountain League is nearly done with their first time around the schedule. Alamosa currently holds the #1 spot after beating Bayfield this past weekend. Alamosa now controls their own destiny in terms of seeding in the league tournament. Alamosa still has to play Monte Vista, and they meet this Friday but will be favored in that game. Bayfield is #2 in the league standings and still have to meet up with Montezuma-Cortez who is 1 game back in the lose column. Bayfield did pick up an important win over Pagosa Springs to give them an edge at the #2 spot. #3 is Pagosa Springs who has the head to head over Montezuma-Cortez. Pagosa Springs beat Montezuma-Cortez in their first meeting and Pagosa Springs still has to play Centauri who is 1 game back of them. This will be a very good game when Pagosa Springs and Centauri meet up. Montezuma-Cortez is #4 in league with the head to head over Centauri but chasing the Top 3. They can make a slight dent if they can upset Bayfield. Centauri beat Monte Vista late in the 4th quarter to grab the #5 spot. Centauri play Pagosa Springs this week and a win moves them closer to a Top 3 spots. Monte Vista is last and will be looking to improve play going into the next round of games. Currently the Intermountain is getting 5 of their 6 teams into the State Tournament.
RPI Rankings for the Intermountain League
#1 Alamosa, #12 Bayfield, #19 Centauri, #23 Pagosa Springs, #30 Montezuma-Cortez, #37 Monte Vista
Metro League
The Metro League is in full gear with 3 undefeated teams. Kent Denver is currently the #1 team. Kent Denver grabbed a very important win over Manual last week and has a good win over Faith Christian. Kent Denver plays Colorado Academy this week and a very important Non-League game against Pinnacle. #2 is Colorado Academy. CA has yet to play most of the top teams in the Metro league and have a very tough slate ahead of them. Colorado Academy did pick up important wins over Faith Christian and Machebeuf. CA plays Manual and Kent Denver this week and they are both huge games. At #3 is Lutheran. Lutheran has not faced any top teams besides Machebeuf who is in 6th place. Lutheran will get their first real test in the Metro league this week when they face Faith Christian tonight 1/23. A Lutheran win is very important especially with games against Manual, Kent Denver, and Colorado Academy still ahead. #4 is Manual who fell in a closely contested game against Kent Denver. Manual is still ranked in the Top 5 in Class 3A picking up just their second lose to a 3A team. Manual has a monster game against Colorado Academy tonight 1/23. This is a huge test to see if Manual can start climbing back up the league standings. Finally, at #5 is Faith Christian. Faith Christian has dropped out of the rankings for the first time this season after losing 3 of their past 4 games. Faith Christian granted lost to 2 ranked 3A teams and to a tough D’Evelyn team. Faith Christian has a monster game tonight against Lutheran and could get them going in the right direction. Currently 5 teams for the Metro league would get into the State Tournament.
RPI Rankings for the Metro League
#5 Kent Denver, #7 Manual, #11 Faith Christian, #17 Colorado Academy, #21 Lutheran, #36 Jefferson Academy, #51 Machebeuf
Patriot League
The Patriot League has been quite a surprise with a few teams rising towards the top that I didn’t expect. Platte Valley has been a good surprise all year and joining Platte Valley as being a surprise is Estes Park who is 8-4. The Patriot league has 6 teams with 8 wins and a solid 7th team in Valley. The #1 team in the Patriot League and Class 3A is Sterling. Sterling has been nearly unstoppable this season. So far in league they have wins over Strasburg, University, Frontier Academy, and Valley. Sterling still has games against Platte Valley, Resurrection Christian, Brush, and Estes Park. Sterling must keep the focus up to avoid any upsets. #2 is Platte Valley. Platte Valley picked up an early season lose to Arrupe Jesuit but have won every game since that lose. Platte Valley picked up a huge win over Resurrection Christian and Estes Park. Platte Valley still has Sterling, Valley, and Strasburg to play but have a solid start to the League season. #3 is Resurrection Christian. Resurrection Christian lost a ton of talent from last years team but are still very solid this year. Resurrection Christian does have 1 league lose to Platte Valley but have wins against Valley, Brush, and Liberty Common. Res Christian still has some tough games ahead against Estes Park, Sterling, and Strasburg. #4 is Estes Park. Estes Park has surprised me this season with an 8-4 record. Estes Park has picked up solid wins against Frontier Academy, Valley, and Brush. Estes Park did lose to Platte Valley this weekend and still have to play Strasburg, Sterling, and Resurrection Christian. #5 is Strasburg. Strasburg lost early in league play to Sterling but have since beat University and Clear Creek to help gain some confidence. Strasburg still has the meat of their schedule ahead of them. They still have to face Valley, Brush, Platte Valley, Resurrection Christian, and Estes Park. We will learn a lot more about Strasburg heading forward.
RPI Standings for the Patriot League
#2 Sterling, #4 Platte Valley, #10 Strasburg, #16 Resurrection Christian, #25 Estes Park, #35 Brush, #39 Eaton, # 41 Liberty Common, #42 University, #53 Valley
Tri-Peaks League
The Tri Peaks League looks to be one of the better races to watch in all of Class 3A. Currently the #1 team is Vanguard who is 5-0 in league. Vanguard had a great week last week picking up huge wins over Colorado Springs Christian and La Junta. Vanguard still has to play upstart St. Mary’s and Manitou Springs to try and secure the #1 seed in the League Tournament. #2 is Colorado Springs Christian who is 4-1 in league. CSCS started league at 3-0 before picking up their first lose to Vanguard. CSCS also beat Salida this past weekend. CSCS still has to play Manitou Springs, La Junta, and St. Mary’s before they can secure the #2 seed. Sitting at #3 is Manitou Springs who is 3-1 in league. Manitou Springs is on a 5-game winning streak. Manitou Springs lost to Kent Denver before break and have not lost a game in 2018. Manitou Springs picked up a big-league win over La Junta and Rye. Manitou Springs still has some huge game upcoming against CSCS, Salida, Lamar, Buena Vista, and Vanguard. #4 is St. Mary’s who has come out of nowhere and is 4-1 in league. St. Mary’s played a very tough non-league schedule and has made them tough in league. St. Mary’s lost to Lamar in league but picked up important wins over Salida and Buena Vista. St. Mary’s still has some of the tougher teams in league and seeing if they can stay at #4 is key. The #5 team is Lamar who is 3-2 in league. Lamar had early success against St. Mary’s and Trinidad but then picked up losses to Buena Vista and Vanguard and now are just ahead of Salida and Buena Vista. Lamar has two big games against CSCS and Manitou Springs at the end of the week and we will see if they can hold onto their #5 spot. Currently the Tri-Peaks is getting 5 teams into the State Tournament.
RPI Standings for the Tri-Peaks League
#3 Vanguard, #9 La Junta, #22 Colorado Springs Christian, #27 Manitou Springs, #31 St. Mary’s, #34 Brush, #43 Lamar
Western Slope League
The Western Slope league also looks to be a very competitive race and has 6 teams fighting for a top spot. Currently the #1 team is Roaring Fork who is 2-0 in league and only has 1 lose on the season to 4A Steamboat Springs. Roaring Fork has solid wins against Delta, Aspen, and a monster win over Grand Valley. Roaring Fork still has to face Coal Ridge, Moffat County, Delta, and Cedaredge. #2 is Coal Ridge who is 1-0 in league. Coal Ridge started the season as a Top 10 team but after a lose to Resurrection Christian they have fallen out. Coal Ridge has responded well to that lose picking up 3 straight wins and a very important win over Cedaredge. Coal Ridge still has the top teams in their league to face and a huge game against Roaring Fork tonight 1/23. #3 is Olathe who is 1-0 in league. Olathe is 3-1 in the new year with their lone lose to Grand Valley, but it was a non-league game. Olathe picked up a win over Gunnison for their first league win but have a tough road ahead of them with Delta and Cedaredge coming up. Olathe, I believe won’t be able to hold onto the #3 spot, but they will have their shot. At #4 is Delta who is 2-1 in league. Delta in the new year has losses to Roaring Fork, Montrose, and Cedaredge but only 1 of those losses was a league lose. Delta did get their league wins over Gunnison and Basalt but with Grand Valley, Roaring Fork, Cedaredge, and Coal Ridge all still to play Delta will have their hands full to keep the #4 spot. At #5 is Grand Valley who is 1-1 in league. I fully believe that Grand Valley will not finish at the #5 spot but since most of their games in January have not been league games their league record is only 1-1. Their first league win was over Moffat County and first league lose was to Roaring Fork. Grand Valley will look to bounce back after them lose and with tough games Paonia and Cedaredge. The Western Slope League looks to 5 teams into the State Tournament.
RPI Standings for Western Slope League
#6 Coal Ridge, #14 Cedaredge, #18 Roaring Fork, #20 Delta, #28 Olathe, #57 Basalt
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