ERIE — The Erie Tigers boys basketball team pulled the upset over eighth-ranked Longmont in a 56-51 win on Saturday. Kyle Leahy had 17 points, while Dylan Brink added 14.
Longmont sophomore Justinian Jessup had 23 points in the loss.
Fossil Ridge is the new No. 1 team in 5A. (Courtesy of Matt Johannsen)
Fossil Ridge, unbeaten and with a number of impressive wins under its belt thus far, is the new No. 1 team in this week’s CHSAANow.com Class 5A boys basketball poll.
The SaberCats, off to a 10-0 start, edged Denver East — which had held the No. 1 spot since the preseason — despite having one fewer first-place vote. The Angels are No. 2 this week.
Regis Jesuit moved up one spot to No. 3, while Cherry Creek made the week’s biggest gain by going from No. 10 to No. 4. Overland rounds out the top 5.
Eaglecrest is sixth and is followed by Arapahoe, Mountain Vista, Monarch and Grandview.
The 4A ranking continued to be led by Valor Christian and added two new teams: No. 7 Pueblo South and No. 10 Denver South.
3A added Aspen (No. 8), while 2A got a new No. 1 team in unbeaten Ignacio. The 1A ranking added Primero (No. 10).
Regis Jesuit moved up one place to No. 4 this week. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Grandview, Monarch and Cherry Creek all joined this week’s CHSAANow.com boys basketball rankings in 5A.
Combined, the three teams went 9-0 last week. Grandview, which went 4-0 at the Mission Prep Christmas Classic in California last week, joined at No. 8. Monarch is No. 9 and Cherry Creek is No. 10.
There was nearly a massive shakeup of the 5A poll this week. Fossil Ridge — which already owns impressive wins over Eaglecrest, Grandview, ThunderRidge, Highlands Ranch and Thompson Valley — received eight first-place votes, and was close to overtaking No. 1 Denver East for the top spot. But the Angels got 11 first-place votes in staying atop the ranking.
So Fossil Ridge remained at No. 2 spot. Overland stayed at No. 3, while No. 4 Regis Jesuit and No. 5 Mountain Vista switched places.
Eaglecrest is sixth and Arapahoe moved up to ninth this week.
The biggest mover in the 4A ranking was Air Academy, which went from No. 10 last week to No. 6 this week. Valor Christian stayed atop that poll, and continued to be followed by No. 2 Thompson Valley and No. 3 Thomas Jefferson. No. 4 Pueblo East and No. 5 Sand Creek each moved up one spot.
3A’s Holy Family, 2A’s Sanford and 1A’s Caliche all remained atop their respective rankings this week. That means the No. 1 teams in each classification have not changed since the preseason.
These polls will serve as the rankings over the winter break, and through the first part of January. The next poll will not come out until Jan. 13.
Thomas Jefferson remained in the No. 3 spot in the 4A poll. (Pam Wagner)
Unbeatens Arapahoe and Grand Junction have joined this week’s CHSAANow.com boys basketball rankings in 5A.
The Warriors (3-0) are No. 9, while Grand Junction (5-0) is No. 10. Highlands Ranch, last week’s No. 5, and Chaparral, last week’s No. 10, both dropped out this week.
Elsewhere, Denver East maintained its grip on the top spot, and Fossil Ridge continued its climb up the poll. The SaberCats are No. 2 this week, moving up two spots from No. 4. Fossil Ridge went 3-0 last week, including a 66-48 win over Highlands Ranch.
Overland fell one spot to No. 3, and is followed by No. 4 Mountain Vista and No. 5 Regis Jesuit. Mountain Vista moved up from eighth; Regis up from No 6.
Eaglecrest is sixth in this week’s 5A poll, Legend is seventh and Rangeview fell five spots to eighth.
In addition to Denver East, the other four No. 1 teams remained the same this week: Valor Christian (4A), Holy Family (3A), Sanford (2A) and Caliche (1A).
The 4A poll added Air Academy at No. 10 this week. That ranking also saw Thompson Valley jump from fifth to second following wins over three 5A teams. Thomas Jefferson is third.
Falcon 35, Greeley Central 11, Lewis-Palmer 8, Mountain View 7, Frederick 6, Mesa Ridge 2, Palmer Ridge 2, Glenwood Springs 1, Ponderosa 1, Pueblo South 1.
Dropped out
Denver South (8).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Holy Family (8)
5-0
98
1
2-0
2
Colorado Academy (1)
4-0
81
3
2-0
3
Brush (1)
2-0
77
2
1-0
4
Jefferson Academy
4-0
69
9
4-0
5
Bishop Machebeuf
4-0
67
6
3-0
6
Faith Christian
4-3
36
4
3-1
7
Moffat County
3-1
29
7
3-1
8
The Pinnacle
3-1
22
–
1-0
9
Kent Denver
3-1
20
10
2-0
10
Colorado Springs Christian
1-2
19
5
1-2
Others receiving votes:
Denver Science & Tech 10, St. Mary’s 6, Valley 6, Aspen 4, Monte Vista 4, Cedaredge 2, Sterling 1.
Dropped out
Aspen (8).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Sanford (12)
4-0
155
1
4-0
2
Yuma (3)
3-0
125
2
2-0
3
Akron
2-0
110
4
1-0
4
Lutheran
2-1
106
3
1-0
5
Ignacio (1)
5-0
101
5
2-0
6
Resurrection Christian
4-2
75
6
3-0
7
Limon
3-1
39
9
2-0
8
Simla
3-1
31
10
2-0
9
Rye
4-1
30
–
1-1
10
Denver Christian
1-3
24
7
1-1
Others receiving votes:
Swink 23, Peyton 22, Haxtun 13, Alexander Dawson 11, Sedgwick County 6, Crowley County 3, Front Range Christian 3, Custer County 1, Paonia 1, Rangely 1, Sierra Grande 1.
Fossil Ridge, meanwhile, went from sixth to fourth after going 3-0 last week. The standout win was a 58-51 win over then-No. 3 Eaglecrest.
The 5A ranking continued to be led by Denver East, which has also started 3-0 at the Great Western Shootout in Utah. Overland remained in the No. 2 spot despite going 1-2 at the same tournament.
Highlands Ranch rounds out the 5A top 5.
The other No. 1 teams also stayed the same this week: Valor Christian (4A), Holy Family (3A), Sanford (2A) and Caliche (1A).
Denver East begins the season ranked atop the 5A poll. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Denver East, Valor Christian, Holy Family, Sanford and Caliche are the preseason boys basketball favorites in their respective classifications.
Those teams were the No. 1 picks in the 5A through 1A CHSAANow.com rankings released Monday morning.
Denver East received 19 of 20 first-place votes in the 5A poll. The Angels return their top five scorers from last season’s runner-up squad, including University of Colorado commit Dominique Collier and his 20.1 points per game.
Overland is No. 2 in the 5A ranking, and is following by defending champion Eaglecrest at No. 3. Highlands Ranch is fourth, and Rangeview rounds out the top 5.
Fossil Ridge is sixth in the 5A poll, Regis Jesuit is seventh, Mountain Vista is eighth, Chaparral is ninth and Legend is tenth. Monarch narrowly missed the top-10.
A total of 23 teams appeared on preseason ballots in the 5A ranking.
Valor Christian is 4A’s preseason No. 1 team. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Another runner-up from a season ago, Valor Christian, heads the 4A preseason ranking. The Eagles return their top eight scorers from last season. That includes Chase Foster, who averaged 20.0 points per game last season.
Pueblo East is second in the 4A ranking, and is followed by No. 3 Cheyenne Mountain, No. 4 Denver South and No. 5 Thomas Jefferson. Two-time defending champion Lewis-Palmer is ranked 10th to begin the 2013-14 season.
Holy Family heads the 3A poll, though No. 2 Brush received an equal amount of first-place votes (five). The Tigers reached the Great 8 last season.
Defending 3A champion Pagosa Springs is unranked to begin the year.
In 2A, Sanford is the No. 1 pick. The Indians reached the Final 4 last season. Denver Christian, last season’s champion, is ranked third.
Caliche heads the preseason 1A poll. The Buffaloes were in last season’s semifinals. Defending champion McClave is ranked fifth.
Monarch 41, Chatfield 22, Fort Collins 19, Cherokee Trail 17, ThunderRidge 11, Montbello 10, Abraham Lincoln 9, Grandview 9, Fairview 7, Cherry Creek 6, Dakota Ridge 5, Grand Junction 5, Arapahoe 1.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Valor Christian (12)
0-0
151
2
Pueblo East
0-0
101
3
Cheyenne Mountain (2)
0-0
100
4
Denver South (1)
0-0
87
5
Thomas Jefferson
0-0
84
6
D’Evelyn
0-0
63
7
Longmont
0-0
59
8
Thompson Valley
0-0
58
9
Sand Creek (1)
0-0
48
10
Lewis-Palmer
0-0
32
Others receiving votes:
Broomfield 25, Falcon 13, Ponderosa 9, Windsor 9, Mesa Ridge 8, Elizabeth 6, Sierra 5, Durango 4, Frederick 4, Pueblo West 4, Greeley Central 3, Pueblo South 3, Green Mountain 1, Kennedy 1, Palisade 1, Widefield 1.
Peyton 18, Paonia 9, Crowley County 6, Rocky Ford 6, Meeker 5, Rye 5, Byers 4, Hayden 4, Sierra Grande 4, Haxtun 3, Heritage Christian 3, Sangre de Cristo 1.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Caliche (3)
0-0
48
2
Hi-Plains (1)
0-0
39
3
Norwood
0-0
34
4
Shining Mountain
0-0
30
5
McClave (2)
0-0
26
6
Holly
0-0
25
7
Fleming
0-0
23
8
Vail Christian
0-0
22
9
Otis
0-0
19
10
Granada
0-0
18
Others receiving votes:
Prairie 8, Denver Jewish Day 6, Pawnee 6, Elbert 5, Primero 5, Jim Elliot Christian 4, La Veta 4, Bethune 3, Stratton 3, Deer Trail 2.
