(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

Pueblo West does not like falling out of the top spot of the Class 4A CHSAANow.com boys basketball rankings.

For the second time in three weeks, the Cyclones have regained the No. 1 spot after falling out (without a loss) of it.

Valor Christian jumped a couple of spots to land at No. 2. But that’s where most of the consistency in the 4A poll ends.

Holy Family made a five-spot jump to break into the top five and the bottom half of the poll saw three new teams. Northridge is in at No. 6, Lewis-Palmer is back in the poll at No. 8 and Sierra also makes its return at No. 9.

ThunderRidge has shown no desire to drop out of the top spot of the 5A, despite the solid play of the rest of the teams in the top-five, each of whom also held onto their spots.

Doherty re-enters the rankings at No. 7 this week, the only new team to enter the poll.

Resurrection Christian remains the No. 1 team in 3A, but Colorado Springs Christian jumps up to No. 2 thanks to a last-second with over this week’s No. 4, Manitou Springs. 

At No. 10, Machebeuf is the lone newcomer in the 3A rankings.

(Katie Pickrell/CHSAANOW.com)

Highland and Sedgwick Country remain the top two teams in the 2A rankings, but the No. 3 spot has a new look in the form of Del Norte.

The 2A poll had no new teams this week.

The poll in 1A overall looks very similar to what it was last week. Holly and Cheyenne Wells remain at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. 

Sierra Grande jumped one spot to No. 3 and Rocky Mountain Lutheran also jumped a spot to come in at No. 8.

Like 2A, there were no new teams in the 1A rankings.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.

Complete rankings are below.

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CHSAANow.com Boys Basketball Polls

Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.

First-place votes are in parentheses.

Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.

Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A

(Jeff Tucker/jefferywtucker.zenfolio.com)

George Washington is getting some well-deserved recognition in the Class 4A girls basketball rankings.

The Patriots have broken into the poll, landing at No. 10 this week. They are winners of nine of their last 10 games and sit at 14-2 this season.

Pueblo South (No. 1) and Evergreen (No. 2) remain in their spots from last week, but Pueblo West made a three-spot jump to No. 3 after beating No. 7 Pueblo East in overtime.

Grandview stays put at No. 1 in the 5A, along with the overall top six teams from last week.

No new teams broke into the 5A poll.

St. Mary’s is still firmly entrenched in the No. 1 spot in 3A. Sterling (No. 2), Liberty Common (No. 3) and Lamar (No. 4) also hold on to their positions from a week ago.

Olathe was the lone newcomer to the 3A rankings at No. 8.

Paonia is still No. 1 in 2A, but Yuma made a two-spot jump to come into the week as the new No. 2 team.

Simla breaks in this week, coming in at No. 8.

Jim Elliot is the only new team to make the 1A poll this week, coming in at No. 10. Kit Carson is still the top-ranked team and the top seven spots overall are unchanged from a week ago.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.

Complete rankings are below.

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CHSAANow.com Girls Basketball Polls

Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.

First-place votes are in parentheses.

Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.

(Josh Watt/CHSAANow.com)

A week after dropping three-straight games, Ralston Valley hockey rebounded by winning three tough games. As a result, the Mustangs shot back up the CHSAANow.com rankings, and now sit at No. 3.

Ralston Valley was No. 7 last week following close losses to Dakota Ridge, Regis Jesuit and Mountain Vista. But the Mustangs got wins over Denver East, then-No. 9 Dakota Ridge and then-No. 2 Cherry Creek last week. They are now 9-5-0.

Elsewhere, Regis Jesuit maintained its stranglehold atop the poll. The Raiders, 12-0-0, received all 11 first-place votes following a 3-0-0 week that included a furious rally to beat Cherry Creek.

Monarch moved up one spot to No. 2, Cherry Creek dropped to No. 4, and Fort Collins rounds out the top-5.

There were no newcomers to this week’s ranking.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, the poll will release each Monday.

Complete rankings are below.

[divider]

CHSAANow.com Hockey Poll

Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.

First-place votes are in parentheses.

Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.

CENTENNIAL — Jason Ruszka scored the lone goal in the first period as No. 7 Ralston Valley hockey upset No. 2 Cherry Creek 1-0 on Saturday.

The Mustangs’ Jay Gleeson notched the shutout, his first of the season, with 28 saves.

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LITTLETON — Chatfield hosted the second-ever wrestling tournament for girls-only competition on Saturday.

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(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

PUEBLO — Pueblo West had a two-point lead in the final minute of overtime when Shanae Lontine got the ball right underneath the basket. No one was near her and at first, she looked like she was going to get her easiest two points of the night.

But she pull the ball out of the lane, opting to have her team hang on to it and run more clock. While confusion filled the Pueblo East gym, the tactic worked. The East was forced to foul and it was the Cyclones who came away with a 39-34 win Friday night.

“At that point, I wanted to bring the ball out and I didn’t want them to go back on offense,” Lontine said. “Once I realized I was wide open, the defense was even waiting for me to shoot it. But I guess it worked because I got fouled and made a free throw.”

She sank one of two and Hannah Simental found her way to the line shortly after to put the game out of reach for the CHSAANow.com No. 3-ranked Eagles (13-3 overall, 3-1 South Central).

But East had plenty of chances to take that game.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

The No. 6 Cyclones (13-3, 3-1) jumped out to an early 9-3 lead after the first quarter. Olivia Lough scored five of her game-high 15 points in that stretch and it looked like East was going to be outmatched all night.

They battled back to cut the West lead to three points at halftime and worked to refocus their efforts in the second half.

“I don’t think in the first half we ran any type of offense,” East coach Angelina Gorham said. “We came out after halftime and made some adjustments. We settled down and ran an offense and got good looks out of it.”

The Eagles were scrappy through the remainder of the game, never letting the Cyclones completely take control of the contest. But they could have snatched a fairly comfortable lead if they had better production from the free throw line.

East went 7-20 from the line, which proved to be a devastating stat as the clock ticked away in the fourth quarter.

Lough had gotten into foul trouble in the first half, dramatically cutting her production from what it was in the first quarter. But she scored the first basket of the fourth, even drawing a foul in the process. It looked like she was regaining her rhythm after being forced to the bench earlier.

“That is totally my fault,” Lough said. “That disrupted our rhythm because once I get in rhythm and once I started going and it gets broken up by fouls, sometimes we go through a cold streak and I’m not out there to help my team out.”

She was out there in the fourth, but ironically it was East who started finding its scoring rhythm. Kayla Also scored six straight points for the Eagles to cut the West lead to one. Salik Winston then scored to give East its first lead since it was 1-0.

Albo added another bucket to make it a 30-27 game. Lough was able to sink a free throw and Lontine scored under the rim to push it overtime.

“I thought if we had a chance to put it away, it should’ve been early in the game,” Cyclones coach Gil Lucero said. “We had a lot of momentum, we were getting some looks and I think we just got too excited and rushed too many things at the end.”

Albo got the lead right back for East, but the Cyclones went on a 9-2 run to end the game, sneaking out with a win.

“We also knew East was going to be scrappy, that’s what they do,” Lucero said. “We just feel lucky to get a win and get out of here.”

(Alex Clough/CHSAANow.com)

FORT COLLINS — Liberty Common girls basketball had three players score in double figures to secure a top-10 win on Friday.

The Eagles beat No. 10 Eaton 58-34.

“I am not usually a shooter, but today I was,” said Chloe Kohl, who had 14 points, including three 3-pointers for Liberty Common. “That was really exciting.”

Halley Miklos and Hannah Kohl were also huge contributors for the Eagles. Miklos was the leading scorer with 18 total points, and Hannah Kohl had 14 total points and two 3-pointers.

Addie Randel and Bailie Duncan each added five points for Liberty Common.

The key for Liberty Common was to play well on defense. After the first quarter they were up 14-7.

“I feel really good about tonight,” Liberty Common coach Troy Ukasick said. “It is a really good quality opponent and we were nervous about them. I am really proud of how we did tonight.”

During the third quarter, Eaton had 11 of their 13 points that quarter come from free throws. The Reds hit 71.4 percent of their free throws.

“I give credit to Liberty, Troy does a really good job with the girls,” said Eaton coach Todd Hernandez. “They have a lot of experience and their length gave us a little bit of difficulty. I think sometimes it shows we don’t have a lot of varsity experience.

“It really starts with Liberty’s defense. They really put it on us.”

Liberty hosts Akron on Saturday, while Eaton will face Resurrection Christian on Tuesday.

Ralston Valley senior Ashley Van Sickle drives to the hoop on her way to leading the No. 3 Mustangs to a 46-42 win over Lakewood. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

ARVADA — At times the Class 5A Jeffco League girls basketball showdown between Lakewood and Ralston Valley looked more like a script from The Twilight Zone.

“It was strange,” Ralston Valley coach Jeff Gomer said after the No. 3-ranked Mustangs in the CHSAANow.com Class 5A girls hoops poll hung on for a 46-42 home victory over No. 10 Lakewood.

The Mustangs (15-1, 8-0 in 5A Jeffco) were masterful defensively in the first half limiting the Tigers to just 10 points. Coming out of halftime with a 12-point lead, things started to get bizarre.

Lakewood junior Camilla Emsbo played like she was possessed scoring 10 points for the Tigers (11-5, 6-2) in the third quarter. Lakewood went on an 11-0 run to cut Ralston Valley’s lead to 24-23 with a little more than two minutes left in the third quarter.

Lakewood junior Jessica Woodhead, middle, tries to get a shot up. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

“We needed to light a fire,” Lakewood coach Chris Poisson said. “We have a play called ‘punch’ where we get it to her (Emsbo) down low. We were in punch city. She was playing great. She was determined. I could see it in her eyes.”

Ralston Valley went scoreless for more than six minutes during its 4-point third quarter.

“I don’t know. It was sloppy on both ends of the floor,” Ralston Valley senior Ashley Van Sickle said describing the third quarter. “We had a 22-10 lead and just blew it.”

The tide turned again in the final minutes of the third quarter. Emsbo was whistled for a trio of fouls over the span of 62 seconds in the final moments of the third quarter to foul out. Emsbo finished with 14 points before picking up five fouls.

Van Sickle even said she though that a couple of the fouls on Emsbo were “ticky-tack”.

Lakewood is still shorthanded with Camilla’s twin sister Kira still not medically cleared to play after an elbow injury she suffered in early December. Kira Emsbo, the second part of the Tigers’ 6-foot-4 twins, has missed seven weeks because of the injury.

Despite the long odds, the Tigers kept things close in the fourth quarter. Freshman Nadia Trevizo hit a pair of 3-pointers and juniors Jessica Woodhead and Hannah Renstrom had a solid final eight minutes to keep thing interesting.

“They played like they had nothing to lose even after she (Embso) fouled out,” Gomer said. “Chris’s kids a great job responding after she fouled out.”

However, Ralston Valley’s savvy seniors delivered enough in the final minutes to hang on. Van Sickle (14 points) and Chloe Gillach (10 points) each seven points in the fourth quarter. Sarah Bevington made a pair of key free throws late and Michaela Shaklee finished with 11 points.

“We were missing bunnies. I think we were just shooting really fast, not finding our rhythm and not playing who we are,” Van Sickle said. “We found our groove eventually. We won. That’s really all that matters.”

The win gives Ralston Valley a two-game lead over Lakewood and Bear Creek (11-5, 5-2) with six league games remaining for the Mustangs.

Ralston Valley senior Ashley Van Sickle (5) dumps off a pass. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

“They are a great team. They are awesome,” Poisson said of Ralston Valley. “I love Jeff (Gomer) and all of those kids. They are fun to compete against. Chances are they are the champs of the league this year and it’s very deserving.”

Ralston Valley completed the two-game sweep against Lakewood. The Mustangs defeated Lakewood 48-35 on the Tigers’ home court Jan. 5.

Ralston Valley hits the road to face Bear Creek at 7 p.m. next Wednesday. The Mustangs had a difficult time the first go-around against the Bears. Ralston Valley held on for a 53-50 win against Bear Creek on Jan. 7.

“Since Bear Creek — that was a scare — we’ve just been battling out and trying really hard in practice,” Van Sickle said. “We just have to take care of the rest of league and take care of business in the playoffs.”

Lakewood will host Chatfield at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1.

The focus for Poisson is to hopefully get Kira Emsbo back before the playoffs begin.

“We are going to have to remember how to play with each other again,” Poisson said of getting his full team on the court. “Hopefully we have a game or two where we can do that before the playoffs.”

Lakewood junior Camilla Emsbo (2) goes up strong on Ralston Valley seniors Michaela Shaklee (11) and Chloe Gillach (14). (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

BOULDER — No. 8 Fairview girls basketball beat Boulder 77-33 on Friday at CU’s Coors Events Center.

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ARVADA — Ralston Valley girls basketball turned a 22-10 halftime lead into a 46-39 win over Lakewood in a top-10 matchup in Class 5A.

Ashley van Sickle led the No. 3 Mustangs with 15 points, Michaela Shaklee added 11, and Chloe Gillach scored 10.

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