Class 1A Boys Basketball State Breakdown
#1 Creede vs #8 Cornerstone Christian on 3/8 @ 1:15pm
Class 1A had plenty of surprise teams make it to the State tournament. The first matchup features #1 Creede vs #8 Cornerstone Christian. Cornerstone Christian had to just win a one game playoff with De Beque. Cornerstone Christian pulled a nice upset beating De Beque 74-60. Cornerstone Christian had a solid year this year going 15-7 and went 2-3 against regional/state teams. Cornerstone Christian is averaging 56.5 ppg and is giving up 39.0 ppg. Cornerstone Christian is led on offense by junior Brandt Vos 17.6 ppg 8.0 rpg and junior Christian Lambertson 12.7 ppg 2.4 rpg. Cornerstone Christian will be looking for another huge upset in the first round of the tournament. Creede punched their ticket to regionals by holding off a very tough Kit Carson team. Creede gave up a 10-point lead in the 4th quarter and made a couple key baskets to avoid the upset. Creede beat Kit Carson 58-56. Creede now must quickly refocus for a tough game. Creede 20-3 during the regular season and went 4-3 against regional/state teams. Creede is averaging 68.0 ppg and giving up 49.7 ppg. Creede is led on offense by senior Isaac Borchers 20.1 ppg 9.5 rpg and junior Casper Freedle 14.0 ppg 6.7 rpg. Creede has 6 players averaging 5 ppg. Creede will be looking to improve on their state tournament run last year where they finished 6th. They will have a good shot at advancing but must play good basketball. I am going with Creede over Cornerstone Christian by 7.
#4 Sangre De Cristo vs #5 Peetz on 3/8 @ 8:30pm
Peetz punched their ticket to State by beating Otis 62-50. Peetz had to bounce back on the fly after suffering their first lose of the season to Heritage Christian. Peetz now will have a tough game again and will need to quickly regain focus. Peetz went 22-1 on the season and went 3-1 against playoff teams. Peetz is averaging 69.5 ppg and giving up 40.5 ppg. Peetz is led by senior Logan Sircy 18.3 ppg 4.0 rpg and junior Bryson Long 10.5 ppg 3.0 rpg. Peetz has 6 players scoring over 5 ppg. Peetz is looking to show why they are one of the favorites to win a state championship. Sangre De Cristo had to play two games at their regional. Sangre De Cristo beat Cheraw 54-35 and then pulled the upset over Sierra Grande 43-39. Sangre De Cristo has plenty of momentum now after the upset but face one heck of a challenge against Peetz. Sangre De Cristo went 20-4 during the regular season and went 5-3 against playoff teams. Sangre De Cristo is averaging 54.4 ppg and giving up 40.8 ppg. Sangre De Cristo is led by sophomore Cole Christensen 14.3 ppg and Manuel Lopez 13.3 ppg. Sangre De Cristo has 4 players averaging over 5 ppg. Sangre De Cristo will have to play their best game of the season to pull the upset. Sangre De Cristo is also extremely young with 0 seniors on the team. Peetz and Sangre De Cristo have 0 common opponents and neither made the state tournament last year. I do think this will be a close game, but I am going with Peetz to beat Sangre De Cristo by 8.
#3 Heritage Christian vs #6 South Baca on 3/8 @ 10:15am
South Baca probably pulled the biggest upset of the entire regional tournament. South Baca to start beat a tough McClave team 67-51. South Baca then faced Holly for the 3rd time this season and pulled off the huge upset. South Baca beat Holly 80-67 to eliminate the defending state champions. South Baca now is hoping to use the momentum gained in the state tournament. South Baca went 19-4 during the season and went 5-2 against playoff teams. South Baca is averaging 64.3 ppg and giving up 48.5 ppg. South Baca is led on offense by senior Thomas Manual 22.5 ppg 15.7 rpg and Micah Crane 21.4 ppg 4.2 apg. South Baca has 4 players scoring over 4 ppg but all four are in double figures. South Baca was my preseason #1 and are looking to make a solid run towards a state title. They face a very tough opponent right away. Heritage Christian punched their ticket to state by beating Arickaree/Woodlin 70-40. Heritage Christian may be playing the best basketball in 1A. Heritage Christian pulled a huge upset in the District final beating Peetz and are on fire right now. Heritage Christian went 19-4 during the regular season and went 7-2 against playoff teams with two of their losses coming against non-playoff teams. Heritage Christian is averaging 62.7 ppg and giving up 48.7 ppg. Heritage Christian is led on offense by junior Josiah Bowsher 14.6 ppg 4.4 rpg and senior Josh Samuelson 11.6 ppg 5.3 rpg. Heritage Christian has 6 players scoring over 5 ppg. Heritage Christian has a very tough opponent right away and will hope to use their momentum gained to hold off a very hot South Baca team. South Baca and Heritage Christian do not have a common opponent and both teams have plenty of momentum. Neither team made it to state last year with South Baca making it to Regionals but Heritage Christian only making it to Districts. I am going to go with South Baca over Heritage Christian by 4.
#2 Front Range Baptist vs #7 Genoa-Hugo on 3/8 @ 5:30pm
Genoa-Hugo pulled the second biggest upset of the regional tournament. Genoa-Hugo had to get past a tough Stratton/Liberty team beating them 60-53 and then Genoa-Hugo upset Longmont Christian 51-49 in OT. Genoa-Hugo always seems to pull at least one big upset of the year but now will need a second huge upset to advance. Genoa-Hugo went 16-8 during the season and went 3-6 against playoff teams. Genoa-Hugo is averaging 53.0 ppg and giving up 45.1 ppg. Genoa-Hugo is led on offense by Caid Smith 16.5 ppg and Ben Miller 12.5 ppg. Genoa-Hugo has 4 players averaging more then 5 ppg. Genoa-Hugo will hope to capture magic one last time. Front Range Baptist cruised into the state tournament blasting North Park 54-32. Front Range Baptist is on a hot streak winning 6 straight games and playing good basketball. Front Range Baptist went 19-4 on the season and went 5-2 against playoff teams. Front Range Baptist is averaging 57.0 ppg and giving up 44.6 ppg. Front Range Baptist is led by senior Ada Poole 14.5 ppg 4.0 rpg and junior Deric Woods 13.7 ppg and 8.3 rpg. Front Range Baptist has 5 players scoring 5 ppg or more. Front Range Baptist is hoping their late season tournament run will continue and hope to continue playing consistent basketball. Genoa-Hugo and Front Range Baptist have 1 common opponent and that is Longmont Christian. Front Range Baptist lost by 7 and Genoa-Hugo won by 2. I think this game will have Front Range Baptist on upset alert, but I think they will prevail. I am going with Front Range Baptist over Genoa-Hugo by 5.
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