Two teams — Centauri and Pueblo West — have taken over the top spots in their respective classifications of the girls basketball rankings 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.
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.
Class 5A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Grandview (7)
2-0
97
1
2-0
2
Highlands Ranch (3)
4-1
86
5
4-1
3
Ralston Valley
3-1
76
6
3-1
4
Regis Jesuit
3-2
66
3
3-2
5
Fairview
3-1
43
9
3-1
6
Horizon
4-0
36
7
4-0
7
Cherry Creek
2-1
35
2
2-1
8
Lakewood
6-2
32
4
6-2
9
Castle View
4-0
28
10
4-0
10
Fossil Ridge
2-2
24
8
2-2
Others receiving votes:
Mountain Vista 11, Fruita Monument 6, Fort Collins 4, Denver East 3, Arapahoe 2, Broomfield 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Pueblo West (9)
5-0
145
3
5-0
2
Golden (4)
5-0
140
4
5-0
3
Evergreen (2)
4-1
108
1
4-1
4
Mesa Ridge
4-2
85
5
4-2
5
Holy Family
3-1
82
9
3-1
6
Valor Christian (1)
3-1
79
7
3-1
7
D’Evelyn
6-1
63
8
6-1
8
Pueblo South (1)
2-3
54
2
2-3
9
Air Academy
5-1
50
10
5-1
10
Windsor
2-1
33
6
2-1
Others receiving votes:
Thomas Jefferson 21, Discovery Canyon 19, The Classical Academy 17, Berthoud 11, Pueblo County 9, Rifle 5, Centaurus 4, Pueblo East 4, Palmer Ridge 3, Fort Morgan 1, Littleton 1, Sierra 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Centauri (5)
6-0
89
2
6-0
2
St. Mary’s (1)
4-0
79
3
4-0
3
Colorado Springs Christian (2)
3-0
74
4
3-0
4
Lamar (2)
3-1
65
1
3-1
5
Pagosa Springs
2-1
60
5
2-1
6
Moffat County
4-2
27
9
4-2
7
Eaton
4-1
21
–
4-1
8
Kent Denver
4-1
20
–
4-1
9
Cedaredge
4-0
17
–
4-0
10
Alamosa
4-2
15
–
4-2
Others receiving votes:
Manitou Springs 13, Resurrection Christian 11, Weld Central 10, Colorado Academy 9, University 7, Liberty Common 6, Brush 5, Delta 5, Lutheran 5, Sterling 5, Grand Valley 4, Jefferson Academy 2, Gunnison 1.
Dropped out
Sterling (6), Lutheran (7), Manitou Springs (8), Faith Christian (10).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Yuma (7)
5-0
95
1
5-0
2
Swink (2)
3-1
75
4
3-1
3
Wray
3-2
68
3
3-2
4
Del Norte (1)
4-3
49
2
4-3
5
Limon
3-0
44
7
3-0
6
Ignacio
3-0
37
9
3-0
7
Simla
2-0
35
8
2-0
8
Paonia
3-1
31
5
3-1
9
Holyoke
3-0
26
–
3-0
10
Haxtun
3-0
25
6
3-0
Others receiving votes:
Vail Christian 17, Akron 9, Sanford 9, Ellicott 8, Soroco 5, Denver Christian 4, Burlington 3, Highland 3, Hotchkiss 2, Peyton 2, Clear Creek 1, Lyons 1, Rocky Ford 1.
Dropped out
Lyons (10).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Kit Carson (11)
2-0
110
1
2-0
2
Briggsdale
3-0
89
3
3-0
3
Kim/Branson
4-0
84
5
4-0
4
Fleming
1-1
66
2
1-1
5
Sangre de Cristo
4-0
36
–
4-0
6
Antonito
4-1
33
4
4-1
7
Wiley
2-1
30
9
2-1
8
Heritage Christian
4-0
28
–
4-0
9
Cheraw
4-1
24
–
4-1
10
McClave
3-1
22
–
3-1
Others receiving votes:
Eads 20, Holly 20, La Veta 12, Springfield 11, Centennial 6, North Park 6, Prairie 5, Arickaree/Woodlin 2, Hi-Plains 1.
Dropped out
Eads (6), La Veta (7), Holly (8), Springfield (10).
A week after beating sixth-ranked Silver Creek, Erie football has another top-10 feather in its cap.
On Friday night, the Tigers, now ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, beat No. 4 Berthoud 33-7.
“Playing in the Tri-Valley (League), it doesn’t get any easier,” coach Chad Cooper told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show after the game. “I told our kids to enjoy this one tonight, but tomorrow morning we’re back to work and getting ready for Holy Family.
“It’s kind of similar to a playoff run where you can’t let down,” Cooper continued. “It’ll be good to kind of prepare us for the playoffs. You can’t have any let downs in the playoffs. It’ll be a great test for us.”
Erie’s Jacob Mansdorfer hit Alex Mathis with a touchdown pass just before the end of the first half to push the Tigers’ lead to 20-7.
Noah Roper rushed for two second-half touchdowns, and also recovered two fumbles on defense. He returned one of those for a touchdown. Roper had 165 yards rushing.
“Noah, obviously, is a talented kid. He kind of does it all for us,” Cooper said. “He runs extremely hard and is able to grind on people, too, with the style that we have on offense.”
[divider]
6-man: (5) Prairie 44, (1) Peetz 41
Prairie got the go-ahead score with 11.8 seconds remaining to secure the upset of previously unbeaten Peetz.
“It was just a dive to the right to Trenton Holzworth, one of our seniors, and he was able to power through a couple of kids and was able to get the ball in,” coach Justin Kerns told the Scoreboard Show of the winning score.
Prairie is now 6-0 this season.
“The players here are excited, the kids are excited,” Kerns said.
[divider]
2A: (3) Platte Valley 42, (6) Sterling 21
Tied at 21 at halftime, Platte Valley reeled of 21 unanswered points in the second half to secure a big win and move to 6-0 this season.
“It was one heck of a game up here for homecoming week, that’s for sure,” coach Troy Hoffman told the Scoreboard Show.
Hoffman praised his team’s effort on defense, which forced four turnovers.
“The kids created some opportunities and some turnovers,” Hoffman said. “We just needed to do that, play a little more aggressive in the second half, and when you get four turnovers, a lot of times good things happen for you, and it sure did for us tonight.
Senior Zach Waite had four touchdowns, including runs of 55 and 50 yards, and Ernseto Rios and Trevon Wehrman also score the the Mustangs.
Platte Valley had more than 400 yards of total offense.
[divider]
2A: (5) The Classical Academy 27, (8) Salida 19
TCA rallied from down 13-7 late in the second quarter to get an important top-10 win.
Jenson Hall had two rushing touchdowns for the Titans, and Cade Bethany accounted for two total touchdowns.
Brayden Luft added a receiving touchdowns.
[divider]
Notables
(Sedgwick County/NFHS Network)
8-man No. 1 Sedgwick County cruised to an easy win over No. 3 Haxtun, 44-0.
Centauri is 6-0 in 1A after beating Monte Vista 27-2. The Falcons, No. 4, got another big night out of their defense. “That’s been our strength this year,” coach Kyle Forster told the Scoreboard Show. “Our defense has done a great job when we needed them to.”
In 2A, Basalt got a big rivalry win over No. 10 Aspen, 48-22. Noah Williams had six touchdowns for the Longhorns. “Just a big, strong, very, very gifted athlete,” coach Carl Frerichs told the Scoreboard Show of Williams.
5A No. 4 Regis Jesuit beat Legacy 32-7. “I think this puts us in the driver’s seat” for the conference title, Raiders coach Danny Filleman told the Scoreboard Show.
Caliche snapped a two-game losing streak and knocked off No. 8 Dayspring Christian in 8-man, 18-13.
8-man No. 10 Gilpin County is 5-1 following a 48-0 win over Soroco.
6-man No. 8 La Veta cruised to a 52-19 win over Sierra Grande in an afternoon contest.
Platte Canyon moved to 5-0 this season following a forfeit by Front Range Christian. The Huskies are ranked No. 7 in 1A.
No. 6 Merino got a narrow win over Akron in 8-man, 28-26.
Paonia, No. 6 in 1A, is 5-1 after beating Hotchkiss 28-21.
Deer Trail picked up its first win of the season when Cheraw forfeit Friday’s 6-man game due to lack of players. It snaps a 13-game losing streak for Deer Trail.
Denver North beat Vista PEAK 15-13 in 3A, and is now 6-0 this season.
Wray is now 3-3 following a 40-8 win over Wiggins in 1A. Cade Hillman had 227 yards and two touchdowns, while Manny Heurta added three scores.
3A No. 9 Harrison is 6-0 after a 46-0 win over Sierra.
Springfield upset No. 2 Holly in overtime, 32-26, in 8-man.
An impressive win for Northglenn over ThunderRidge in 5A. Northglenn is now 5-1.
Keys threw a passing touchdown and rushed for another for the Mavericks. Evan Hansen, Jake Wachter and Nathan Mackey also had rushing touchdowns. Dom Esters caught the touchdown from Keys.
Longmont quarterback Oakley Dehning rushed for a touchdown.
This was just the second-ever meeting between the two schools which are just 15 minutes apart. Mead won last season, 49-35, during its march to the semifinals.
Bayfield senior Hunter Killough had a game-sealing interception in the game’s final moments, according to the Durango Herald.
“I wanted it bad,” he told the paper after the game. “Since last year, I had been stewing on this game. It’s good to get that victory.”
[divider]
Notables:
5A No. 8 Mullen went out-of-state to play Bothell (Wash.), and had a big rally and a chance to win late, but fell 31-28. Bothell reached Washington’s 4A quarterfinals last season.
In 1A, No. 2 Meeker got a top-10 win over No. 8 Monte Vista, 30-7. “Our defense did a good job of flying around the football tonight,” coach Shane Phelan told the Scoreboard Show. The Cowboys are 4-0.
Skyview knocked off No. 10 Thomas Jefferson 27-16 in 3A. The Wolverines have started 4-0, their best start since 2011.
Harrison beat Glenwood Springs 36-22, and is now 4-0 in 3A. “This is just another step forward for us,” coach Al Melo told the Scoreboard Show. “It was a good win for our kids tonight, and I’m really proud of them.
Check out Widefield, which is 4-0 in 4A following a 42-0 win over Palmer. The Gladiators haven’t started 4-0 since 2010. TJ Davis rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns on Friday. He also threw two touchdown passes.
5A No. 3 Eaglecrest is now 4-0 after beating Cherokee Trail 28-14.
Berthoud upset 3A No. 5 Fort Morgan, 22-10.
Grand Valley and Aspen had lightning delay their game, which the Skiers ultimately won 30-26. Aspen, which won a combined four games the past two seasons, is 4-0 for the first time since 2010.
Sierra Grande beat Cheraw 61-6 in 6-man action, including this touchdown. The Panthers are now 4-0, something they haven’t done since 2005.
6-man No. 1 Stratton/Liberty cruised to a 68-8 win over Idalia. Tyson Lichty completed four passes — all four went for touchdowns. Jacob McCormick rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
Levi Mair had four total touchdowns in Arvada’s 30-6 win over The Pinnacle.
Jaion Colbert rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns as Overland beat Rangeview 42-20.
Zac Hanenberg had two rushing touchdowns as Canon City beat Pueblo East 29-16. The Tigers are now 4-0, matching their win total from each of the past two seasons.
Peyton beat Ellicott 41-0 in 1A. Gunner Saarela rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns.
Trevor Reuss threw for 241 yards in 2A Basalt’s 41-33 win over 3A Battle Mountain.
Garrett Anderson rushed for 157 yards and a score as Lewis-Palmer topped Pueblo County 20-10 in a 3A matchup.
5A Ralston Valley also went out-of-state, and beat East Bakersfield (Calif.) 35-14.
Sterling is the new top dog in the Class 3A CHSAANow.com girls basketball rankings.
The Tigers are 6-0 on the young season which includes two wins at the Buena Vista Tournament this past weekend.
It’s a one-spot jump for Sterling who benefit from two early-season losses by No. 8 Manitou Springs.
St. Mary’s takes over the No. 2 spot in 3A and Lamar leaps ahead six spots from the preseason rankings, coming in at No. 3.
At. No. 7, Colorado Springs Christian is the only new team to the 3A poll.
In 5A, Grandview holds on to the No. 1 spot. Ralston Valley and Highlands Ranch also held firm at their No. 2 and No. 3 spots respectively.
Horizon (No. 4) and Arapahoe (No. 7) each jumped two spots from the previous rankings.
Despite a 2-1 record, Valor Christian is still the No. 1 team in 4A. Evergreen jumps up to No. 2 and Pueblo South comes in at No. 3, each team two spots better than the preseason poll.
Air Academy is the only new team in the 4A poll, rounding it out at No. 10.
Paonia holds firm at the No. 1 spot in 2A, but Wray is the new No. 2 team, jumping two spots to get there.
Del Norte made an impressive four-spot leap to land at No. 4 this week.
At No. 9, West Grand is the only new team in the 2A rankings.
Kit Carson is still the No. 1 team in 1A with Fleming still holding the No. 2 spot.
Antonio is new at No. 3, jumping five spots from the preseason poll. Kim/Branson also greatly improved its ranking, coming in at No. 4 which is six spots better than where they came in previously.
Cheraw (No. 7) and Wiley (No. 10) are the two 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.
Pueblo East 24, Palisade 16, Sand Creek 14, Falcon 8, George Washington 6, Sierra 6, Windsor 6, Green Mountain 3, Silver Creek 2, The Classical Academy 2, Durango 1, Lewis-Palmer 1, Longmont 1, Thomas Jefferson 1.
Dropped out
Sand Creek (7).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Sterling (8)
6-0
117
2
6-0
2
St. Mary’s (3)
4-0
112
6
4-0
3
Lamar
4-0
80
9
4-0
4
Pagosa Springs
2-1
69
3
2-1
5
Centauri
5-1
56
5
5-1
6
Liberty Common
3-0
55
10
3-0
7
Colorado Springs Christian
3-0
46
–
3-0
8
Manitou Springs (2)
1-2
37
1
1-2
9
Eaton
4-1
33
7
4-1
10
Faith Christian
5-2
31
8
5-2
Others receiving votes:
Moffat County 26, Lutheran 23, Trinidad 14, Olathe 10, Bennett 2, Cedaredge 1, Coal Ridge 1, Delta 1, St. Mary’s Academy 1.
Dropped out
Lutheran (4).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Paonia (12)
4-0
120
1
4-0
2
Wray
4-0
100
4
4-0
3
Yuma
4-1
89
2
4-1
4
Del Norte
4-2
54
8
4-2
5
Soroco
5-1
54
6
5-1
6
Haxtun
3-0
45
7
3-0
7
Swink
2-2
44
3
2-2
8
Lyons
4-1
32
9
4-1
9
West Grand
5-0
31
–
5-0
10
Highland
4-1
25
10
4-1
Others receiving votes:
Evangelical Christian 19, Akron 18, Sargent 13, Ignacio 12, Ellicott 10, Holyoke 9, Peyton 8, Sanford 8, Calhan 6, Dawson 6, Center 5, Hoehne 4, Custer County 2, Clear Creek 1.
Dropped out
Akron (5).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Kit Carson (8)
2-0
96
1
2-0
2
Fleming (1)
2-0
80
2
2-0
3
Antonito (1)
5-0
67
8
5-0
4
Kim/Branson
4-0
60
10
4-0
5
Heritage Christian
3-0
50
3
3-0
6
Idalia
3-1
37
4
3-1
7
Cheraw
4-1
26
–
4-1
8
Kiowa
2-1
23
9
2-1
9
Briggsdale
3-1
14
5
3-1
10
Wiley
2-1
14
–
2-1
Others receiving votes:
DeBeque 11, La Veta 11, Springfield 10, Holly 9, McClave 7, Sierra Grande 7, South Baca 5, Arickaree/Woodlin 4, Belleview Christian 4, Beth Eden Baptist 4, Caliche 4, Sangre de Cristo 4, Creede/Lake City 3.
A week after being upset by Eaglecrest, Grandview had a big bounce-back win against Cherry Creek.
The ninth-ranked Wolves got rushing touchdowns from Hayden Blubaugh and Gunnar Lamphere, then relied on a stout defense to secure the 17-6 win.
“It was a great bounce-back week for our kids, and our defense really stepped up tonight,” Grandview coach John Schultz told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show.
Blubaugh, the Wolves’ star running back, gave his team a 7-0 lead in the first quarter with a 57-yard run. No. 7 Cherry Creek responded in the second quarter with a rushing score from Trey Windham.
Grandview added a field goal before the half to lead 10-6 at the break. Lamphere, the quarterback, added his TD in the third quarter.
“It was a good grind-it-out victory for our offense,” Schultz said.
But the Eagles refused to go away. They scored 16 unanswered points in five minutes to tie the game at 44, and the teams headed to overtime deadlocked there.
Mead got perhaps the best win since the program was restarted in 2010, topping city rival Longmont in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
“We just kept plugging. That’s kind of the mantra we’ve been using,” Mead coach Jason Klatt told the Scoreboard Show. “Our kids just didn’t get ratted. We’ve shown a resiliency, and our kids don’t really care if we’re down two touchdowns, or seven points. It doesn’t matter. We just kept on plugging and I’m really proud of our kids tonight.”
“I’m so proud of our defensive staff and our defensive kids,” Klatt said. “We really just hung in there tonight, and we started gaining confidence as the game wore on that we could stop them.”
Mead tied it up on Riley Glynn’s third passing touchdown, and four minutes later Evan Hanson returned an interception for a score to give the Mavericks the lead.
Nathan Mackey had three total touchdowns, including two rushing scores and one receiving.
It was Mead’s third-straight win after dropping its season-opener.
[divider]
8-man: (1) Sargent 22, (5) Norwood 20
The new No. 1 team Sargent held firm with a big top-5 win.
“It was a total team effort. They jumped out ahead 6-0, and we just kept battling and battling,” coach Trevan Pepper told the Scoreboard Show.
The Farmers led 22-8 early in the third quarter, and then 22-14 as the fourth quarter started, but they were able to hold on.
Sargent made a stop on a two-point attempt in the fourth quarter to win.
“We had it timed out well in practice and it was just like second nature down there because we’d done it already so many times,”Boudron told the Durango Herald after the game.
Durango’s Dawson Marcum then ended the game with an interception on Bayfield’s possession in overtime.
[divider]
3A: (7) Silver Creek 20, (10) Roosevelt 10
The Raptors improved to 4-0 with a big top-10 win.
“It’s a huge win,” Silver Creek coach Mike Apodaca told the Scoreboard Show. “We had the opportunity to play Roosevelt eight-to-ten times over the last few years, and we’ve never been able to beat them at their place. For our program in general, that was a big win and a step in the right direction.”
Silver Creek led most of the way, though it was only 7-3 at halftime, and Roosevelt did take a brief 10-7 lead in the third quarter.
“Our defense kept us in it,” Apodaca said.
[divider]
Notables
High winds affected a number of games across the state, to the point that they caused the postponement of the Rye/John Mall game, according to Rye AD Beth Burns. The winds were so bad that several cars had their windows blown out, one soccer goal slid on the field, and another blew over the fence. The two teams will play Saturday at 1 p.m.
6-man No. 2 Kit Carson beat No. 5 Cheyenne Wells 22-14. The game featured a 20-minute lightning delay, and a big rain storm late in the fourth quarter. “To our kids’ credit, they really hung on and persevered and came up with the win,” coach Jim Trahern told the Scoreboard Show.
A top-5 showdown in 1A ended with No. 2 Strasburg beating No. 4 Limon 43-12.
Another top-10 matchup in 4A saw No. 9 Ponderosa handle No. 10 Rampart, 37-6. “Our team is starting to click a little bit,” Ponderosa coach Jaron Cohen told the Scoreboard Show.
Snow made its first appearance at a game this season, when Grand Valley hosted Aspen. Grand Valley won 48-34.
In 2A, No. 7 D’Evelyn picked up a good win by topping No. 10 Platte Valley 22-12.
1A No. 5 Bennett edged No. 10 Burlington 15-13.
Centauri got a big 26-12 upset win against 1A No. 6 Buena Vista. “They were fired up and ready to go, and they did everything we asked them to do,” coach Kyle Forster told the Scoreboard Show of his defense.
Pikes Peak Christian upset No. 10 West Grand 20-8 in 8-man. The keeps all-time wins leader Chris Brown at 309 career wins.
Cheraw knocked off No. 7 Sierra Grande in 6-man.
Legacy football won its second game in a row after the tragic bus accident that shook the community. This night, the Lightning beat Horizon 38-21.
Lutheran beat Falcon in overtime, 21-14.
Pueblo West made a late stand to secure a 20-13 win over Dakota Ridge. Dakota Ridge was at the 6-yard-line with 17 seconds remaining.
Faith Christian had a 98 1/2 yard touchdown tonight in a 34-7 win over Brush. Freshman Isiah Kroll hit senior Brandon Herman.
4A No. 8 Windsor trailed at the half, but rallied to beat Greeley West 28-7.
The seven titles are the most since Regis Jesuit and Cheyenne Mountain each won seven in 2010-11.
Five teams tied for second place in the state with three team championships this season: Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Academy, Kent Denver, Pomona and Regis Jesuit.
Colorado Academy and Valor Christian each had a state-best three girls championships, while Valor’s four titles were the most on the boys’ side.
In all, 67 different teams won a team championship in 2015-16, including 16 teams which won multiple championships.
A breakdown of team championships is below.
Rank
Team
Girls
Boys
Co-Ed
Total
1
Valor Christian
3
4
0
7
2
Cheyenne Mountain
2
1
0
3
2
Colorado Academy
3
0
0
3
2
Kent Denver
1
2
0
3
2
Pomona
1
2
0
3
2
Regis Jesuit
0
3
0
3
7
Broomfield
1
1
0
2
7
Cherokee Trail
1
1
0
2
7
Cherry Creek
1
1
0
2
7
Eaton
2
0
0
2
7
Fairview
2
0
0
2
7
Grandview
2
0
0
2
7
Heritage Christian
1
1
0
2
7
Lutheran
1
1
0
2
7
Mountain Vista
1
1
0
2
7
Yuma
2
0
0
2
17
Air Academy
1
0
0
1
17
Alamosa
0
1
0
1
17
Aspen
1
0
0
1
17
Battle Mountain
0
1
0
1
17
Bayfield
0
1
0
1
17
Bennett
1
0
0
1
17
Buena Vista
0
1
0
1
17
Castle View
0
0
1
1
17
Cedaredge
0
1
0
1
17
Cheyenne Wells
1
0
0
1
17
Colorado Springs Christian
0
1
0
1
17
Dawson School
0
1
0
1
17
Durango
0
1
0
1
17
Eads
0
1
0
1
17
Eaglecrest
1
0
0
1
17
Evergreen
0
1
0
1
17
Faith Christian
0
1
0
1
17
Fleming
0
1
0
1
17
Fort Collins
1
0
0
1
17
Fossil Ridge
0
1
0
1
17
Holly
0
1
0
1
17
Idalia
1
0
0
1
17
Lewis-Palmer
1
0
0
1
17
Lyons
0
1
0
1
17
Meeker
0
1
0
1
17
Monarch
1
0
0
1
17
Mountain Range
1
0
0
1
17
Mountain View
0
1
0
1
17
Niwot
1
0
0
1
17
Otis
1
0
0
1
17
Overland
0
1
0
1
17
Palmer Ridge
1
0
0
1
17
Paonia
1
0
0
1
17
Peak to Peak
0
1
0
1
17
Ponderosa
1
0
0
1
17
Pueblo County
0
1
0
1
17
Pueblo East
0
1
0
1
17
Pueblo West
0
1
0
1
17
Salida
1
0
0
1
17
Sanford
0
1
0
1
17
Sedgwick County
0
1
0
1
17
St. Mary’s
0
0
1
1
17
Strasburg
1
0
0
1
17
Telluride
1
0
0
1
17
The Classical Academy
1
0
0
1
17
ThunderRidge
1
0
0
1
17
University
1
0
0
1
17
Vail Christian
1
0
0
1
17
Vail Mountain
1
0
0
1
17
Valley
0
1
0
1
17
Windsor
0
1
0
1
[divider]
Individual Championships
Cheyenne Mountain had a state-best 11 individual champions in 2015-16. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Cheyenne Mountain also had an outstanding year in terms of individual titles, leading the state with 11 championships. The program was well balanced: Six championships came from its girls teams, and five came from the boys.
Lutheran’s 10 individual championships were the second-most in the state, including a state-best nine boys titles. Regis Jesuit was third with nine individual titles, and Air Academy and Pomona tied for fourth with eight apiece.
A total of 135 schools had at least one individual champion, and 82 had multiple champions. Of those, 21 schools had at least five individual champions.
LOVELAND — Style points are of no consequence come tournament time.
In a grind-it-out type game between Shining Mountain and Kit Carson, the No. 4 Lions defeated the No. 5 Wildcats 45-34 in the Class 1A boys basketball Great 8 at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland.
For Shining Mountain (22-2), a school in Boulder, critical defensive stops and a late run in the final quarter allowed the Lions to keep Kit Carson (18-6) at bay.
Leading 15-11 after the first quarter, 21-18 at halftime and 32-29 after the third, Shining Mountain gave up 20 points, including four three-pointers, to junior guard Brad Johnson, but only 14 points to the entire rest of the team.
Meanwhile, the Lions had a bit more balanced effort offensively as seniors Gray Hill (13 points), Gavin Edwards (13) and Luke Feigal (7) all contributed. Sophomore forward Nathan Fairmont chipped in six.
“I thought we did a decent job of playing poised,” Shining Mountain coach Sean Lynch said. “There were definitely a few points where we got a little out of control, but we talk all the time about how other teams are going to make runs. It’s all about how we respond to those runs.”
Shining Mountain’s largest lead up until the final two minutes of the game was only eight, but they had a slight advantage in momentum throughout, playing with plenty of energy in front of a large and raucous crowd.
“We’re really appreciative of that,” Edwards said of the Lions’ fan section. “Our fans really come out and support us at a lot of our games.”
Shining Mountain will be appearing in their first Final 4 in boys basketball since losing to McClave in the state championship game in 2013.
The Lions will be facing No. 1 Holly in the semifinals.
(1) Holly 67 (8) Cheraw 43
The Wildcats are now 21-2 and the defending 1A champions. They have plenty of athletic and really skilled guards, ones who can control the pace and dominate at both ends.
Holly will be a tough out for anyone, but Shining Mountain is playing well and will take their crack at 8:30 p.m. on Friday.
(3) Ouray 71 (6) Rocky Mountain Lutheran 54
The Trojans improved to 21-2 by jumping on Rocky Mountain 36-28 at half. Eli Sievert had 24 points in the loss for Rocky Mountain Lutheran.
Ouray, a team in their second straight state tournament, advances to face Fleming at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
(2) Fleming 32 (7) Norwood 24
The Wildcats improved to 22-2 by grinding one out in the quarterfinals against Norwood. Fleming lost to Holly by one in the state finals last season, so they have an experienced and seasoned group.
Fleming will have an interesting matchup against high-scoring Ouray in the Final 4.
The 2015 football players of the year. From left: Dylan Dixon of Eads; Keegan Wentz of Buena Vista; JoJo Domann of Pine Creek; Dylan McCaffrey of Valor Christian; Daniel Martin of Pueblo East; Kelton McCoy of Bayfield; Trey Walter of Sedgwick County. (Photos: Jack Eberhard/JacksActoinShots.com; Bill Cronin; Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com; Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com; Jeff Tucker; and Sedgwick County HS)
The 2015 all-state football teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues and then a vote of coaches.
No. 3 Valor Christian beat No. 2 Grandview in a big 5A game at Valor on Friday. The Eagles won the Centennial League. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
A complete schedule and scoreboard for football’s top-10 teams during Week 9 of the 2015 season.
