CLASS 1A BOYS BASKETBALL REGIONAL REPORT – FRIDAY by Kerry Sherman

CLASS 1A BOYS BASKETBALL REGIONAL REPORT – FRIDAY

BY: KERRY SHERMAN

One ticket to the Great Eight will be punched today as North Central rivals Prairie and Peetz meet for the Region Six title. Another 14 teams will be in the running to grab the remaining seven, as the other seven regions begin play today. Those spots will be earned tomorrow.

REGION ONE AT MCCLAVE HS

#1 MCCLAVE (21-2) VS #32 ARICKAREE/WOODLIN (10-13)  2PM

McClave passed two challenges last weekend, beating Wiley (81-38) and Holly (69-46), running its winning streak to an even dozen. Five Cardinals scored double figures against Wiley, led by Tuff Kelley with 21 points. He also pulled down 11 rebounds. Ryan Steinbrunn, Mason Barr, and Cope Meston all had 11 points, and Myles Northrup added 10. Kelley added another double-double against Holly, posting 19 points and 11 rebounds. Arickaree/Woodlin took a four-game losing streak into the final day of last week’s NCL/YWKC crossover, including defeats by Peetz (65-29) and Fleming (53-27) in the first two days of the event. The Bison broke the skid with a 63-35 win over Bethune. Austin Wright finished with 17 points, and Jaxson Cordell added 16. Daniel Goff had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

#16 GRANADA (16-6) VS #17 EVANGEL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (12-10)  3:30PM

Granada went 2-1 in the final week of the regular season, earning a 62-29 win over Springfield, dropping a 56-38 contest to Stratton, and then beating Primero 58-33. Angelo Martinez and Sebastian Pizarro both had double-doubles against Springfield, with Martinez posting 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Pizarro going for 14 and 11. Martinez had another one against Primero (21/19), while Edgurr Morales had a team-leading 22 points, hitting six three-pointers. ECA dropped the opener of its tournament to Flagler last Friday, 52-32, its fourth straight loss, but the Eagles rebounded with a 42-37 win over Cotopaxi to close out the regular season. Jax Castro led the way in the victory with 14 points, and Levi DeJong added 13.

REGION EIGHT AT ELBERT HS

#8 ELBERT (16-7) VS #25 CHERAW (13-10)  4PM

After stringing together six straight wins, Elbert could not win consecutive games down the stretch, as the Bulldogs closed the regular season 2-3. The Bulldogs dropped a 49-39 showdown with Cheyenne Wells in their last outing, with Ethan Tesman scoring a team-high 14 points. Grant Smith added 10. Cheraw got wins in three of its last four, including a 46-41 decision against Walsh in the finale. That was tied at 28 entering the fourth. The Wolverines lost a night earlier, 45-43 to Genoa-Hugo/Karval.

#9 OTIS (17-6) VS #24 ROCKY MOUNTAIN LUTHERAN (12-11)  5:30PM

Otis pushed its winning streak to five with victories over Fleming (79-55) and Peetz (57-47) in the first two rounds of the NCL/YWKC crossover, but had the streak snapped in the finals by Prairie, 47-37. Mitchell Stivers, Grady Bechtle, and Gavin Price all had 15 against Fleming, and Cambric Klinzmann added a dozen. Rocky Mountain Lutheran got a couple wins in the 5280 league tournament last week, with the Eagles beating Mile High Academy 65-60 and Front Range Baptist 60-55. Between the two victories, RML lost to Denver Waldorf 61-43. Blake Harris (28) and Abraham Rivas (19) combined for 47 against Mile High Academy. Gavin Borchardt put up 17 points and 22 rebounds against Front Range Baptist.

REGION FOUR AT FLATIRONS ACADEMY

#4 FLATIRONS ACADEMY (19-4) VS #29 FLAGLER (11-12)  5:30PM

Flatirons Academy took a 10-game winning streak into last week’s Mile High League tournament, but that was snapped in the opening round, when the Bison lost to SkyView Academy 70-57. They bounced back to beat Front Range Christian 71-41, but then fell to Heritage Christian by a 60-52 count. Gunnar Ast double-doubled in the first two games, recording 13 points and 14 rebounds, and 17 points and 16 rebounds. Jackson Schultz went for 21 and 10 against Heritage Christian. After losing 11 of 14, Flagler got hot late and won its final four games to get into the bracket. The last two of those were at the ECA tournament, the first against the hosts (52-32), and then over Rangely (62-55) in the championship game.

#13 DENVER JEWISH DAY (13-9) VS #20 HOLLY (13-10)  2PM

The Tigers had their four-game winning streak snapped by Denver Waldorf in the finals of the 5280 tournament last week, 45-35. Solly Bielsky put up 23 points and 10 rebounds in that loss. He had gone for 28 and nine in the Tigers’ earlier 58-56 win over Front Range Baptist. In a busy final week of the regular season, Holly collected wins over Kit Carson (53-41) and Eads (55-46), but could not make a sweep of the week as the Wildcats were handed a 69-46 loss by McClave. Drayden Williams double-doubled in each of the two wins, 17 and 10 against Kit Carson, and 12 and 11 against Eads.

REGION FIVE AT STRATTON HS

#5 STRATTON (20-3) VS #28 FRONT RANGE BAPTIST (8-14)  5:30PM

After having its 17-game winning streak snapped in a 60-59 loss to Limon, Stratton closed out the regular season with wins over Granada and Springfield. Von Isenbart hit for 22 points in a 56-38 win over Granada, pushing him past 1500 points for his career. The Eagles rolled past Springfield 69-40 in the finale. Front Range Baptist lost both games in the 5280 tourney last week, by a total of seven points. The Falcons got 22 points and 12 rebounds from Nathan Jacques in a 58-56 loss to Denver Jewish Day, and he went for 16 and 15 against Rocky Mountain Lutheran. Henry Yeary scored 20 in that loss.

#12 SANGRE DE CRISTO (20-3) VS #21 KIM/BRANSON (11-10)  2:30PM

Sangre de Cristo won five of its final seven games, with both losses coming against Sierra Grande. The second of those losses ended a four-game winning streak last week in the Southern Peaks league tournament. The Thunderbirds defeated Trinidad 61-30 to open the tourney, but then fell to Sierra Grande 56-46 in the semifinals. They responded with a 53-45 win over Custer County to close out the regular season. Kim/Branson saw its three-game winning run snapped last Thursday by Springfield, 45-40. Cooper Winter had 14 points for the Mustangs, and Will Doherty recorded eight steals.

REGION TWO AT NUCLA HS

#2 NUCLA (23-0) VS #31 KIT CARSON (10-13)  6PM

Nucla remained unbeaten on the season with two more wins last week. The Mustangs downed Plateau Valley 67-56 and Dolores by a 60-41 count. Holten McCluer led four Mustangs in double figures with 16 points in the first of those two wins. Austin Garvey (15), Brycen Rummel (12), and Daniel Zunich (10) also hit the mark. Rummel nearly had a quadruple-double against Dolores, finishing with 17 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists, and eight steals. Kit Carson had a short three-game winning streak snapped by Holly 53-41 early last week, but the Wildcats came back with a 51-23 victory over South Baca. The Wildcats finished with a 48-33 loss to Hanover. Mason Marriott led with 17 points against Holly, and he had 11 against South Baca. O’Shea Farmer led with 11 against Hanover.

#15 DE BEQUE (14-8) VS #18 OURAY (14-8)  2PM

It was a rough closing stretch for the Dragons, who lost their final three regular season games. The only game last week was a 74-29 defeat by Meeker. Jace Graham just missed a double-double, finishing with nine points and 12 rebounds. Ouray finished the season in the opposite fashion, as the Trojans won their final three games. Cavan Pasek had 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 56-52 win over Telluride on Saturday. De Beque took a 66-48 win over the Trojans early in the season, with Graham posting 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Burke Largent adding 23 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Pasek had 18 points for Ouray, and Conner Hill tallied 14.

REGION SEVEN AT DENVER WALDORF HS

#7 DENVER WALDORF (17-4) VS #26 IDALIA (12-11)  6:30PM

Denver Waldorf backed up a regular season title in the 5280 by winning the league tournament last weekend, pushing its winning streak to 10 games in the process. Henry Lottridge went for 22 points and 21 rebounds in a 61-43 win over Rocky Mountain Lutheran, and Cayden Quinn added 15 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds, and six steals. Quinn tallied 16 points and seven steals in the Spartans’ 45-35 victory over Denver Jewish Day. Lottridge tacked on 14 points and 11 rebounds. Idalia lost two of three in the NCL/YWKC crossover last week, falling to Caliche 43-39, and Fleming 48-40. In between, the Wolves beat Bethune 53-18. Broderick Kite recorded games of 14 points and six rebounds, 16 points and six rebounds, and 12 points and seven boards.

#10 SIERRA GRANDE (18-5) VS #23 CALICHE (11-12) 4:30PM

Sierra Grande pushed its winning streak to 15 by beating Sangre de Cristo 56-46 in the semifinals of the Southern Peaks league tournament last week, with Rolando Najera putting up 23 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, and five steals. The streak was snapped in the finals by 2A #1 Sanford 44-41. The Panthers led by four entering the fourth in that one. Jadyn Martinez tallied 20 points and seven steals in the losing effort. Caliche got a 43-39 quarterfinal victory over Idalia in the NCL/YWKC crossover last week, but then lost to Prairie (49-27) and Peetz (52-28). Mason Hernandez hit for double figures in all three games, going for 11, 15, and 13 points.

REGION THREE AT CHEYENNE WELLS HS

#3 CHEYENNE WELLS (21-2) VS #30 SPRINGFIELD (10-13)  4PM

The Tigers closed out the regular season with a top-10 showdown against Elbert last Friday, and they got 16 points and 20 rebounds from Corey Hill in a 49-39 win over the Bulldogs. Trey Scheler added 10 points and eight rebounds. Springfield went 1-2 in the final week, falling to Granada (62-29), beating Kim/Branson (45-40), and losing to Stratton (69-40). Cheyenne Wells took a 59-22 victory over Springfield in early January, with Scheler and Caden Muth both scoring 14 points. Hill had nine points and 13 boards. Coltin Woodhouse and Darrin Anderson scored six points apiece to lead the Longhorns.

#14 WILEY (18-5) VS #19 PIKES PEAK CHRISTIAN (16-7)  5:30PM

Wiley had won four straight prior to an 81-36 loss to McClave last Thursday. Kendale Mauch scored 10 points in that loss, and Grant Mauch added eight points and eight assists. The Panthers bounced back to close the regular season on a high note by beating La Veta 69-17. The Mauchs scored 16 points apiece, and Carver Cross went for 10. Pikes Peak Christian finished the regular slate on a five-game winning streak, beating Monument Academy (64-25) and Liberty Tree Academy (76-44) last week. Matthew Crocfer paced the Eagles with 17 points in the first of those victories, and Kaden Whittmore had 18 in the latter.

REGION SIX AT PRAIRIE HS

#7 PRAIRIE (20-4) VS #10 PEETZ (18-6)  6:30PM

Prairie jumped on Mile High Academy 18-0 to start their regional semifinal, and then began the second half with a 15-0 spurt. The host Mustangs rolled to the 60-11 victory, behind 19 points from Tyler Troudt. Connor Schumacher put up 25 points to pace Peetz past Denver Academy of Torah, 61-37. Prairie and Peetz met twice during the regular season, with the Mustangs winning 46-42 and 53-44. Mason Holloway had 20 for the Mustangs in the first meeting, and Derek Dollerschell led with 13 in the second. Parker Reker led Peetz with 13 the first time around, and Schumacher tallied 19 in the second game.