DENVER — The CHSAA Board of Directors voted to tweak the percentage used in the RPI formula for all sports on Wednesday.
It means that the formula will be weighted as follows:
30 percent on a team’s own winning percentage
40 percent on the winning percentage of a team’s opponents
30 percent on the winning percentage on the opponents of a team’s opponents.
This marks a change from the standard 25/50/25 formula, and will be in place for the 2018-19 season. It creates a standard formula across all sports, something that had started to change in recent seasons. Football and baseball currently use formulas that differ from other sports.
Football will continue to use a classification modifier — a 15 percent difference from class-to-class, with one exemption — but no other sport will have a modifier.
The Technology Committee met several times since last August, including an in-person meeting, and several video conferences, in exploring the future of the RPI.
The Committee also commissioned a survey of CHSAA member schools asking for their input on the RPI. More than 220 schools responded. That survey showed that:
Accuracy is the most important factor in a formula.
Schools want more weight on their own winning percentage.
Schools believe that RPI should be used to set postseason fields, but not to seed them.
Using this feedback as a guide, the Technology Committee then examined all the RPI data CHSAA has ever captured — including from seasons prior to its implementation in 2016.
Based upon everything it explored and feedback it received, the Technology Committee made the recommendation to move to 30/40/30 because it put more weight on a team’s winning percentage, was more accurate than other weights considered, and worked across the spectrum of sports CHSAA offers.
DENVER — Boys volleyball, girls wrestling and unified bowling were all approved to begin pilot seasons by the Board of Directors on Wednesday.
It means each have taken an initial step towards official sanctioning by CHSAA.
“We’re really excited about the possibility of these sports offering new opportunities for students across the state,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bethany Brookens, who oversees the equity committee and the sanctioning of new sports. “We are really trying to reach new populations of students who aren’t already participating, with a focus on inclusion.”
The three sports were the first to present pilot programs for consideration under a new bylaw which was passed in January. It is the first big hurdle for any new sports or activities to clear along the way to sanctioning. The Classification and League Organizing Committee, the Sports Medicine Committee, the Equity Committee, and the Legislative Council must also support a new sport or activity.
The first boys volleyball pilot season will be this upcoming spring. Girls wrestling will begin its pilot in the winter season of 2018-19. Unified bowling, which will be co-ed, will present its timeline at the April meeting of the Board of Directors.
Though that bylaw only requires one pilot season, both boys volleyball and girls wrestling would have two pilot seasons. If the Legislative Council approves the sports in 2019, boys volleyball would begin play in spring 2020, and girls wrestling would begin in winter 2020-21.
23 states already sanction boys volleyball. Another seven, including Colorado, are considering it.
In Colorado, there have typically been between 35-40 teams participating in boys volleyball over the past 20 years. In 2017, there were 50 teams and more than 650 athletes in the Colorado Boys High School Volleyball Association.
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Participation in girls wrestling has also grown in recent years. In 2016-17, the first-ever girls-only tournament was held, and that continued in 2017-18. Last season, there were 235 female wrestlers who participated with boys, and even more who participated in girls-only tournaments.
Currently, only six states nationwide sanction girls wrestling. In the past month, both Georgia and Oregon indicated their intention to do so, as well.
His previous stints include Lincoln High School in Denver, Sunrise Mountain (Ariz.), and Ironwood High School (Ariz.).
“Coach Hanna will bring a high level of expectations for the classroom and football field, outstanding football instruction and knowledge, and high level of energy,” athletic director Kevin Bendjy said. “We are excited and welcome him to Denver North as the Head Varsity Football Coach.”
Outside of coaching, Hanna serves as the Dean and Restorative Practice Coordinator at Bruce Randolph High School.
“Our vision for North High School Football is to foster a program that excels on the field, achieves in the classroom, and positively impacts our school and community. Our goal is for students to graduate from our program as well-rounded scholars, athletes, and citizens of Northwest Denver,” Hanna said in a statement.
Down 28-21 late in the third quarter, a 3-pointer at the buzzer seemed to give Sand Creek, the No. 34 seed, some momentum against No. 31 Montrose.
With 1:30 to play, Sand Creek tied the game. Then, two free throws gave them the lead — and the win.
“On an occasion their press bothered us,” said Montrose sophomore Kennadie Minerich. “We have some areas we need to work on. We played our hearts out and we will miss the seniors. We played our best and gave it our all.”
LAKEWOOD — Green Mountain announced Tuesday afternoon that it has hired Jesse German as its new head football coach.
German spent the past two seasons at the defensive coordinator under Rams’ former head coach Matt Pees. German is also a physical education teacher at Green Mountain.
“Working alongside Matt Pees, a solid foundation was established for our program,” German stated in a press release by Green Mountain. “My expectation is that the program will only build upon that foundation in pursuit of excellence. We will continue to build a culture around high expectations in all we do; discipline, toughness, family and competition.”
German takes over for Pees, who left on Jan. 29 to take a quality control coaching position with NFL’s Tennessee Titans. Pees will coach with his father Dean Pees, Titans’ defensive coordinator. Green Mountain had a 9-11 record in two years under Pees.
“Our goal was to obtain the best possible candidate that shares the values and philosophy of our school, district, and state organization,” Green Mountain’s Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Autumn Sereno stated in the press release. “We believe in education-based athletics with the focus being the student first, as a person, with an emphasis on character development, integrity, good sportsmanship, empathy, and teaching lessons through sport. We believe Coach German fits this mold well as he has a clear vision on building character and culture with a thoughtful plan to implement it.”
German was formerly the head football coach at Northfield High School, assistant coach at Bear Creek High School and St. Thomas High School (Texas).
Another fun and exciting season is in the books, hoops fans. Our final two weeks were full of overtime excitement, individual “monsta” performances, and leagues that came down to the wire, final games.
Let’s hope its a sign of whats to come over the next few weeks!
Our 5A final RPI standings were a bit controversial as many felt the great performances of George Washington beating Denver East for the DPL “city” title and ThunderRidge defeating Rock Canyon, becoming the unbeaten Continental league champion, were not rewarded in the final seeding. The Fever Crew sees GW as “slighted” the most in the scenario, as they were very deserving a top 4 seed.
The 4A RPI played out a little bit more as expected. Many down south are hopeful of an early season rematch of Pueblo South and Lewis-Palmer but other top 4A squads Golden and Longmont look poised to perhaps disrupt that plan!
Those who follow Ball Fever also know we don’t think this is a rare time for Colorado hoops, but a result of numerous factors leading to good basketball being played on our high school courts.
We saw numerous teams hold the No. 1 spot in 5A and 4A this season which speaks to the parity and high level ball being played.
The buzz about Colorado hoops is legit and we can thank a growing basketball community for that from our peewee rec leagues to competitive club ball, increasing individual personal training opportunities, and truly dedicated high school staffs.
The basketball product hitting the Colorado hardwood is improving and colleges of all levels are taking notice!
We have even started a little tracking of the college players with our Ball Fever “College Watch” on Twitter at @BallFever_CO_Tr.
Great time to be a part of Colorado hoops … let’s get to the madness!
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Class 5A
Chuck Williams Region
(Marcus Gipson/Jmariahimages.com)
We traditionally start in the region of the top overall seed and that is Rock Canyon! The Jags made a tremendous early run holding the state’s No. 1 spot for many weeks and they hope they didn’t peak early as they want to repeat some of last year’s magical run but finish with the title this year.
We called their senior leadership of Gilbert, Masten, and Williams, “The Firm.” They were a large part of last season’s run and are poised to play a big role again. The Jags thrive when Sam Masten and Tyson Gilbert are slashing/play-making and Williams does all the dirty work down low.
Favorites:
Rock Canyon is the top seed here for a reason. Will be tough for anyone else to emerge but the Jags will likely see a “Centennial Tough,” battle-tested Eaglecrest squad early if the Raptors can advance past winner of Rangeview/Arap.
Watch out for:
Ken Shaw? Yes, anytime Coach Shaw’s Regis Raiders are on your side of the bracket one should take notice. Almost a shame that Overland and Regis could see each other so early because the Fever Crew felt coming in that Coach Danny Fisher’s Blazers (a squad that peaked after tough early comp!) is also capable of upsetting anyone on a given night.
Richard Tate Region
(Marcus Gipson/Jmariahimages.com)
Checking the social media feed there were definitely those who felt the top seed in this region, ThunderRidge, were worthy of the overall No. 1 seed. Hard to argue that but after a closer look at the region, Grizzlies fans may not be so upset … the Grizz are in a nice spot with the Fever Crew seeing them roll to Sweet 16 match vs. Doherty.
Favorites:
T-Ridge stands out in what seems to be a very favorable spot. Honestly, on paper, it’s just hard to imagine the Sweet 16 match we spoke of above not happening in this region. If it doesn’t someone has pulled off a MAJOR upset.
Watch out for:
Highlands Ranch, in at the 10 seed, will get all they want from Centennial Cherry Creek if that matchup plays out. Our main “watch out” squad here, though, is Doherty, which has won 14 of its last 16 and those were to Regis in overtime and a 5-point loss to Denver East. They can play with anyone and would like nothing more than a shot at T-Ridge if they both take care of business along the way.
Chauncey Billups Region
(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
The B-B-B-Billups Region will be represented well by top seed Chaparral. The Wolverines hope to get sharp-shooting wing Joseph Dalton back soon to join fellow junior stud Ronnie DeGray III, who has had a player-of-the-year type last couple months! But be careful Wolverines, there’s an early possible match with a familiar foe Mountain Vista, and as the saying goes, “It’s always hard to beat the same team twice.”
Favorites:
Chaparral is joined as a favorite in this region by Grandview, which is on a six-game winning streak and has the athletes to compete in any style game. A possible Continental/Centennial showdown? We shall see.
Watch out for:
It’s been a couple of years now that the Fever Crew has been advised of the “size” and improvement of this Rampart squad. Well, it’s time to make that run if you want to show you belong, Rams! Don’t look past the “Bellos” (FNE) either … they are a feisty squad who won’t go down easily.
Maceo Broadnax Region
(Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Goodness! There must be a region that seems a little tougher than the other three and this year it’s the Broadnax Region. Our Fever Crew feels GW earned the right to the top spot here, but it’s Denver East who could be in for another Sweet 16 match with ultra-athletic Smoky Hill (they danced last year as well!).
Favorites:
George Washington isn’t off the hook at the bottom of the bracket, where a potential match with Liberty looms. Liberty has won eight of their last 10 games and those two losses are by a combined 5 points to Rampart/Doherty. If the Patriots and Angels want to settle things one more time, they have a lot of work to do before that happens.
Watch out for:
Smoky Hill’s athleticism and exciting play is unquestioned but there have been some head-scratching losses right when you thought they were ready for a run. They match player-for-player with any squad in the region … is this the time it all comes together?
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Class 4A
Larry Brunson Region
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Can the 4A football player of the year help lead his squad to the 4A basketball championship? Marcell Barbee, a two-sport stud, has a great opportunity to do that for the Pueblo South Colts. The Colts ran through their 4A League whether home or away and our top dog, right now.
Favorites:
Pueblo South is joined by two teams that have remained in the 4A top 10 most of the season in Evergreen and Valor. But only one can advance for a chance at No. 1 P-South should they advance!
Watch out for:
Keep an eye on a tough Elizabeth squad that was in the top-10 more than once and currently on a four-game winning streak.
Mark Randall Region
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Speaking of “stud” 4A players, Lewis-Palmer has a Player of the Year candidate in Joel Scott who is averaging 18 points, 7 rebounds per game for the Rangers, who spent a large chunk of the season as our No. 1.
Favorites:
It gets tough IMMEDIATELY for Lewis-Palmer with a potential Round 2 match-up vs. Mesa Ridge, which beat them 50-41 earlier this season. L-P is on a 8 game winning streak on our favorite here.
Watch out for:
Two teams to watch out for may face each other in bottom half of this bracket: Silver Creek and Widefield. Silver Creek has an undisputed lethal scorer who we have covered a lot in 6-foot-4 “do-it-all” senior Trent Dykema, who averages 24 points per game and fill ups the full stat sheet nightly. Widefield is 19-4 overall and a senior heavy squad that won’t want to lose.
Guy Gibbs Region
(Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Need more 4A star power? How about 23 points, 8 rebounds per game from Golden’s Adam Thistlewood. The Demon’s off/on court early season turmoil is well documented and could be just the thing to unite the squad for a late season run.
Favorites:
Pueblo West joins Golden in this region as a familiar postseason squad but they split this year with Pueblo East and that matchup could happen again.
Watch out for:
Don’t automatically “pencil” in that Pueblo West/Pueblo East trilogy quite yet because Discovery Canyon, which is limping in to the playoffs, has been tested vs. 5A/4A competition. Eager, as well, to see Glenwood Springs, which only lost four games this season and went undefeated in league play. They’re out west so we confess they are an unknown who can make this interesting.
Ron Vlasin Region
(Conner Davis/CHSAANow.com)
RPI has Falcon and their four-game win streak coming in as the top squad in this region. However, if you’re looking for that 4A team that might feel a bit slighted in seeding look no further than Longmont (21-2, 14-0 league champs).
Favorites:
Longmont suffered a mind-boggling late-season loss to Skyline but this blue collar crew will likely use that to propel a run.
Watch out for:
Toughest 4A region in our opinion with tough squads capable of pulling upsets: Thompson Valley, Windsor, Mead … all teams with experience that you cannot look past.
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Ok, hoop fans! Wednesday it all starts.
The RPI/Human Element/Better System debate is always interesting and no system will be perfect. The Fever Crew is just happy that our young basketball stars now have the chance to quiet the rhetoric and settle things on the court … the way it should be.
Vince Damelio assured himself a a spot in boys basketball’s state records. Well, many spots.
Damelio, a senior at Primero, had a monster game in which he scored 61 points, made 24-of-27 field goals, and went 10-of-11 from 3-point.
“It was a very special thing to watch because he practically didn’t miss a shot,” said Primero coach Kyle Navarette.
Though Primero lost the game to South Baca on Saturday, Damelio became just the seventh player in state history to score at least 60 points in a game, and his total output ranks sixth all-time.
Other records:
24 field goals made, tied for the fifth-most.
10 3-pointers made, tied for the 14th-most.
Damelio is averaging 25.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game for Class 1A Primero (14-4), which will play in its district tournament this week. The 25.5 points per game rank sixth in the state in all classes, and are second in 1A.
Saturday’s game was the fourth time he’d scored more than 30 points in a game this season.
Jeffco Public Schools’ multimedia specialist Jack Maher brings one last look at the 2018 Colorado High School Activities Association’s state wrestling tournament. Pomona High School juniors Theorius Robison and Colton Yapoujian, along with Lakewood High School senior Gabe Dinette brought home individual state titles.
