Centauri, the ninth seed, knocked off No. 1 seed and previously undefeated Pagosa Springs 36-35.
The Falcons opened up a six-point lead by intermission but the Pirates inched back.
Centauri held off Pagosa as Veronica Fringer scored four of the Falcons’ seven fourth-quarter points. She led Centauri with 14 points, Alyssa Gomez adding 11.
Morgan Lewis matched Fringer’s effort, leading the Pirates with 14.
Lutheran girls basketball beat Moffat County in the Great 8. More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
In the first game of the day, Lutheran handled Moffat County 55-40. The Lions built a 34-15 halftime lead in cruising to the victory.
Morgan Barone and Kristin Vigil provided a strong one-two punch for Lutheran, the former leading all scorers with 20 points and Vigil adding 18. Morgan Lawton paced the Bulldogs with 17
Second-seeded Sterling jumped out to a 16-5 lead in the first quarter and eased to a 43-26 victory over Faith Christian.
The Tigers got balanced scoring behind Jenna Knudson (16), Abbey Browder (12) and Kylie Chavez (8). Hristina Geraskova’s 12 paced the Eagles.
Manitou Springs cruised to a victory in the nightcap, defeating Eaton 55-27.
The Mustangs held the Reds to nine points in the first half, taking a 25-point lead at intermission.
“We just knew we had to have a strong start,” said junior guard Shelby Megyeri, who scored 12 points.
“I was real excited about how we played defense,” Manitou coach Jon Asp said.
“We knew we had to stay in help defense and keep them from shooting the 3,” said Angala Jensen, who led all scorers with 18 points.
Jensen said the players were nervous entering the Coliseum.
“We decided we were going to eliminate those nerves in warmups,” she said.
Kaci Jurgnsmeier paced the Reds with 10 points.
In Friday’s consolation round, Pagosa Springs and Moffat County square off at 8:45 a.m. Faith Christian and Eaton meet at 11:45.
The semifinals find Sterling and Manitou Springs facing off at 4 p.m. Centauri and Lutheran complete the girls’ schedule at 7:00.
Defending champion Pagosa Springs is the top overall seed in the 3A girls field. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
AURORA — The Class 3A basketball brackets for both boys and girls were released on Sunday afternoon.
Pagosa Springs, the defending champion, got the No. 1 overall girls seed. Denver Science & Tech – Stapleton heads the boys field as the No. 1 seed.
Both the 3A fields will narrow to eight after next weekend. When they do, play will move to the Denver Coliseum for the Great 8 and beyond on March 10-12.
Pagosa is unbeaten (21-0) to this point, and spent a long portion of the regular season atop CHSAANow.com’s 3A rankings. Elsewhere, Sterling (21-1) is No. 2, Manitou Springs (21-1) is No. 3, Moffat County (19-3) is No. 4, and Lutheran (18-4) is No. 5.
The top eight seeds in 3A host their quadrant. Also hosting are No. 6 Eaton, No. 7 St. Mary’s, and No. 8 Bennett.
On the boys side, Denver Science & Tech – Stapleton (21-1) is the No. 1 overall seed. Other hosts include No. 2 Lutheran, No. 3 Manitou Springs, No. 4 Sterling, No. 5 Eaton, No. 6 Faith Christian, No. 7 Grand Valley, and No. 8 Alamosa.
Those district brackets will also narrow to eight teams for a state tournament field, which will be announced next Sunday. The 2A tournaments are at CSU-Pueblo, and the 1A tournaments are at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland.
Like 3A, those brackets will play their Great 8 and beyond on March 10-12.
The South Central League already had plenty of representation in the Class 4A CHSAANow.com girls basketball rankings. But Pueblo South was apparently feeling left out.
The Colts stormed their way into the 4A poll, landing at No. 6. They were unranked a week ago. They join league foes Pueblo West and Pueblo East, who have been fixtures in the poll all season.
Sand Creek still has a strong grip on the No. 1 spot in the class as they received 11 of 14 votes this weeks.
The top spot in 5A continues to be held by Highlands Ranch as the Falcons show no desire to relinquish their hold as the regular season nears its end.
No new teams were able to play their way into the 5A poll.
Manitou Springs couldn’t overtake Pagosa Springs for the top spot in the 3A poll, despite an impressive blowout win over No. 4 St. Mary’s last week.
After falling out of the rankings last week, La Junta rejoins the ranks at No. 10.
Yuma is still the unanimous No. 1 team in 2A, a welcome sight as they inch closer to the start of the playoffs.
Swink was able to give the 2A poll a fresh face as the Lions come in at No. 10.
Kit Carson hangs on to the No. 1 spot that they took over last week in 1A. While the order was somewhat different, the 10 teams in last week’s 1A poll remain the same.
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.
By the slimmest of margins, Kit Carson is the new No. 1 team in the Class 1A CHSAANow.com girls basketball rankings.
The Wildcats registered 95 points, only one point better than former No. 1 Sangre De Cristo, which falls to No. 2.
Kim jumped from No. 10 to No. 7 this week, but there were no new teams added to the 1A poll.
Highlands Ranch maintains the No. 1 spot in the 5A rankings, taking 13 of 15 first-place votes. In fact, the top seven teams in the 5A poll maintained their position from last week.
Rocky Mountain did join the rankings, landing at No. 10.
The 4A rankings also saw few changes as Sand Creek is still the top team with Mesa Ridge still nipping at the Scorpions’ heels.
Montrose is No. 10 in 4A this week. (Tom Hoganson)
The Western Slope got some love from the votes as Montrose breaks into the 4A poll, coming in at No. 10.
The two remaining unbeaten teams in 3A continue to sit atop their rankings. Pages Springs and Manitou Springs remain entrenched at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. St. Mary’s moved up to No. 4 and have a looming showdown with Manitou on Tuesday.
Liberty Common joins the 3A poll at No. 10.
No new teams were added to the 2A poll, which still has Yuma as the No. 1 overall team.
Kiowa did make a two-spot jump from last week, coming in at No. 7.
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.
Although Highlands Ranch, Sand Creek, Pagosa Springs, Yuma and Sangre de Cristo all held on to their respective No. 1 rankings, there was an influx of new teams added to this week’s CHSAANow.com girls basketball polls.
The Falcons continue to have their talons firmly grasped on the No. 1 ranking in Class 5A and with only one more ranked opponent on their schedule, appear to be in control of the top spot for the remainder of the regular season.
Regis Jesuit joined the 5A girls basketball rankings this week. (Dennis Pleuss)
Pine Creek and Regis Jesuit are shaking up the 5A poll by joining its ranks this week.
The Eagles come in at No. 9 while the Raiders take over the No. 10 spot this week.
Sand Creek continues to hold off fellow Colorado Springs-area powerhouse Mesa Ridge for the top 4A spot.
The 4A rankings from top to bottom went unchanged from a week ago.
Pagosa Springs took nine of 13 first-place votes to keep the top 3A spot this week. Manitou Springs sits right behind them at No. 2, with both teams still undefeated on the year.
La Junta is the lone newcomer to the 3A poll as the Tigers come in at No. 10.
The top of the 2A poll also looks familiar with Yuma keeping a firm grasp on the top spot. Haxtun made a significant jump this week, landing at No. 5, three spots better than last week.
Kiowa joins the 2A ranks at No. 9 this week.
Sangre de Cristo still sits atop the 1A poll, claiming 80 percent of the first-place votes. The 1A poll also welcomes two new teams as Briggsdale lands at No. 8 and Norwood comes in at No. 9.
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.
Highlands Ranch cemented itself atop the 5A girls basketball rankings this week. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
It seemed like Highlands Ranch was poised to get knocked off the top spot of the Class 5A CHSAANow.com girls basketball rankings.
But the Falcons had other ideas.
They trailed at halftime Friday night against ThunderRidge but rallied to take down the Grizzlies, cementing their status as the No. 1 team in state. The ThunderRidge effort only dropped them one spot, setting up a potential high-profile rematch in the state playoffs.
The 5A rankings saw only one new team join this week as Horizon comes in at No. 9.
Sand Creek remained the top team in the 4A poll, a position they have held all year. Evergreen and Windsor each jumped one spot to come in at No. 8 and No. 19 respectively. There were no new teams in the 4A rankings.
Pagosa Springs remains the top team in 3A rankings after winning both their games last week. Manitou Springs jumped one spot to land at No. 2.
Like 4A, there were no newcomers to the 3A poll.
Yuma is still the No. 1 team in 2A, getting 14 of 16 first-place votes. Highland made the biggest jump of the week by landing at No. 7, up three spots from where they were in the previous rankings. No new teams made 2A poll this week.
Although three teams remain undefeated in 1A, Sangre de Cristo is still the team holding the top spot in 1A. McClave is the only newly ranked team this week, coming in at No. 10.
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.
It seems that the top girls basketball teams in the state have no desire to relinquish their spots in the CHSAANow.com girls basketball rankings.
After very few changes to last week’s rankings, things are looking just as — if not more — consistent this week.
Highlands Ranch, Sand Creek, Pagosa Springs, Yuma and Sangre de Cristo all maintained the top spots in their respective polls and by decisive margins.
The No. 1 teams went a combined 9-0 last week.
The 5A rankings only saw two teams shift positions as Lakewood and Ralston Valley traded spots from last week. The Tigers come in at No. 5 while the Mustangs fall to No. 6.
The top four 4A teams continue to look good as they went a combined 8-0 in play last week.
Centaurus and Windsor were able to do enough to make their case as they break into the rankings at No. 8 and No. 10 respectively.
In 3A, it continues to look like a three-team race at the top with Pagosa Springs, Sterling and Manitou Springs locking up the positions they have held for pretty much the entire season.
Eaton made a two-spot jump this week to land at No. 4 and Monte Vista is the new addition as they come in at No. 9.
West Grand (No. 9) and Highland (No. 10) break into the 2A rankings this week. Cedaredge jumps one spot to take over the new spot. The Bruins remain the only undefeated team in the 2A rankings.
South Baca and Otis made up the most ground this week in the 1A poll with each team jumping two spots. Otis lands at No. 4 while Otis jumped up to No. 9.
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.
Highlands Ranch maintained its grip on the No. 1 spot in the 5A girls basketball poll. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Consistency would be the best word to describe the CHSAANow.com girls basketball rankings this week. While some new teams played their way into some of the polls, the overall tops teams continued to do what top teams tend to do: win.
Highlands Ranch fought off a good effort from defending Class 5A champion Broomfield to maintain their spot atop the 5A rankings.
The close game did get the attention of quite a few voters as it helped Broomfield jump two spots to land at No. 4.
No new teams were able to crack their way into this week’s 5A rankings.
For the most part, the 4A poll looks about the same as it did going into the winter break. Sand Creek remains the No. 1 team in the class and Mesa Ridge, Valor Christian, Longmont and Pueblo West all kept their spots at 2-5 respectively.
Holy Family made the biggest jump in 4A, gaining two spots to come in at No. 6.
Pueblo East broke into the 4A rankings at No. 10.
All 10 teams from the previous 3A rankings remained in this week’s poll. Pages Springs holds on to their spot at No. 1 with Sterling keeping a firm grasp on the No. 2 position.
Manitou Springs regained some first-place votes after beating a couple of top-10 teams in Lutheran and Lamar last week.
Moffat County jumped two spots to land at No. 7, the biggest jump for any team in 3A.
The 2A poll saw more changes than any other class this week. Yuma is still firmly in the No. 1 position, but Haxtun jumped two spots to land at No. 5.
There were three new teams to the rankings as Soroco (No. 7), Ignacio (No. 9) and Evangelical Christian (No. 10) all played their way into the top 10.
Despite not playing a game since Dec. 17, Sangre De Cristo maintains the top position in the 1A rankings. Kit Carson, who received a couple of first-place votes remains at No. 2.
Heritage Christian jumped into the 1A poll at No. 8 this week.
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.
Rampart 20, Fairview 5, Loveland 5, Dakota Ridge 3, George Washington 2, Pine Creek 2, Fossil Ridge 1, Horizon 1, Mountain Vista 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Sand Creek (12)
7-1
179
1
2-0
2
Mesa Ridge (4)
9-1
157
2
2-0
3
Valor Christian (2)
8-1
149
3
2-0
4
Longmont (1)
9-1
118
4
3-0
5
Pueblo West
10-2
91
5
3-1
6
Holy Family
6-3
63
8
2-0
7
Evergreen
9-1
44
7
3-1
8
Golden
8-2
34
6
1-1
9
Berthoud
10-1
33
10
2-0
10
Pueblo East
7-4
29
–
1-1
Others receiving votes:
Centaurus 27, D’Evelyn 26, Mullen 23, Windsor 22, Durango 17, Green Mountain 16, Pueblo South 8, Thomas Jefferson 4, Montrose 3, Greeley Central 1, Palmer Ridge 1.
Dropped out
Centaurus (9).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Pagosa Springs (6)
7-0
111
1
1-0
2
Sterling (3)
7-0
97
2
2-0
3
Manitou Springs (3)
9-0
94
3
3-0
4
Centauri
8-0
62
4
1-0
5
St. Mary’s
8-1
56
5
2-0
6
Eaton
7-1
49
7
2-0
7
Moffat County
6-1
47
9
2-0
8
Lamar
8-2
42
8
1-1
9
Trinidad
8-2
31
10
2-0
10
Lutheran
6-4
25
6
2-3
Others receiving votes:
Grand Valley 10, Faith Christian 8, Liberty Common 7, Monte Vista 7, Alamosa 5, La Junta 5, Olathe 4.
Dropped out
None.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Yuma (13)
7-1
173
1
1-0
2
Akron (3)
8-0
157
2
3-0
3
Cedaredge (1)
8-0
136
3
2-0
4
Paonia (1)
7-1
128
4
1-0
5
Haxtun
7-0
78
7
2-0
6
Wray
4-3
61
6
0-1
7
Soroco
7-1
38
–
2-0
8
Simla
3-3
33
5
0-3
9
Ignacio
4-2
27
–
0-0
10
Evangelical Christian
7-1
26
–
2-0
Others receiving votes:
Peyton 21, Highland 19, West Grand 15, Kiowa 13, Union Colony 13, Calhan 11, Sanford 10, Del Norte 8, Ellicott 6, Hoehne 6, Rye 4, Clear Creek 2, Fowler 2, Lyons 1, Sargent 1.
Although the Class 3A CHSAANow.com girls basketball rankings are loaded with talent at the top, breaking into those ranks is not impossible and Centauri is proving just that.
After sitting at No. 8 last week, the undefeated Falcons leapt to No. 4 after a 62-33 win over Buena Vista. They now sit right behind Pagosa Springs, Sterling and Manitou Springs, the three preseason favorites to take the state title. Pagosa Springs held on to the top spot that they grabbed from Manitou only a week ago.
The only new addition to the 3A poll this week is Trinidad who gave Manitou Springs its toughest test of the year Friday night.
In 5A, Highlands Ranch remains the top team, while nine teams from last week’s rankings remained in the top 10 this week.
The only team to break in is Rocky Mountain, who comes in at No. 10.
Sand Creek remains ranked No. 1 in 4A. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Sand Creek remains  the top-ranked team in 4A and are looking every bit the part. Like 3A, the 4A rankings are top-heavy with talented teams as Mesa Ridge (No. 2), Valor Christian (No. 3) and Longmont (No. 4) all look like contenders early in the season.
Centaurus is the only new team to the 4A poll as they land at No. 9 this week.
Yuma still has a grasp on the No. 1 ranking in the 2A polls, although Akron and Cedaredge are both undefeated and getting first-place recognition.
Hasten makes a splash this week as they land at No. 7 after being unranked only a week ago.
Sangre de Cristo edged out Kit Carson by one point to remain the No. 1 team in 1A this week.
The 1A rankings added the most teams this week as Prairie (No. 7) and Jim Elliot (No. 9) break into the poll.
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.
Highlands Ranch is the new No. 1 team in 5A girls basketball. (CHSAANow.com file photo)
The CHSAANow.com girls basketball polls saw three new No. 1 teams crowned this week, including Highlands Ranch, who takes over the No. 1 spot in Class 5A.
It is the biggest shift at the top of the polls since the start of basketball season.
The big story of the week came as ThunderRidge fell to Cherry Creek, 32-27. The Grizzlies had held the top spot in 5A since the preseason poll. But the Bruins couldn’t capitalize on the win. They turned around and lost their next game to Broomfield, which kept them firmly in the No. 7 spot this week.
Poudre and Loveland were the two new teams added to the 5A rankings as they come in at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively.
Sand Creek was one of two teams to hold on the top this week, as they remain No. 1 in the 4A poll. Mesa Ridge jumped from No. 3 to No. 2, continuing their climb and showing that they intend to be a force this year, much like they were in 2014 when they won the 4A title.
Joining the 4A rankings this week is Pueblo East, who comes in at No. 10. The Eagles started the season at 1-2, but have played well enough lately to earn the votes needed to crack the top 10.
Pagosa Springs takes the top spot in the 3A rankings away from Manitou Springs, despite the Mustangs starting 4-0.
In fact, the Mustangs received six first-place votes last week, only to get two this week. Manitou falls to No. 3 in this week’s poll.
Lamar made a two-spot jump this week to come in at No. 7 and Grand Valley comes in at No. 10 as the lone newcomer to the 3A rankings.
Yuma remains firmly at the top of the 2A rankings and had a nice showing last week, going 3-0. The big jump in that class was Wray leaping from No. 9 to No. 5. They got the attention of the voters by taking Yuma to the limit and only falling to the Indians 69-66. Highland and Sanford break in as the two newcomers to the 2A polls, landing at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively.
With Idalia’s 48-43 loss to Otis, the Wolves fell out of the top spot in the 1A rankings. That helped Otis break into the top 10 where they come in at No. 7 this week. Kim at No. 8 and Briggsdale at No. 10 also joined this week’s rankings.
Sangre de Cristo takes to the top spot this week, jumping from No. 3 to No. 1.
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.
