Valor Christian boys basketball is the new No. 1 in Class 4A. The Eagles escaped Evergreen in a 54-53 win last week.
The previous top team in the CHSAANow.com 4A rankings, Pueblo West, wasn’t so lucky. The Cyclones lost to Pueblo South 67-64 after being down 34-19 at halftime. Pueblo West didn’t fall too far however, sliding to the No. 2 spot.
That Pueblo South team got some recognition for the upset as they joined the 4A poll at No. 8.
3A also added a new team to the rankings. Manual came in at No. 10 in this week’s CHSAANow.com rankings.
In 5A, Doherty and Grandview swapped places, with the Spartans rising from No. 7 to No. 5. Doherty won its second-straight league title after beating Rampart. Grandview dropped after its loss to No. 4 Eaglecrest.
Dawson received one first place vote as they rose from No. 9 to No. 6 in the 2A poll. The top three teams remained the same in 2A.
Crowley County entered the 2A rankings at No. 8.
In 1A, Longmont Christian moved from No. 6 to No. 4, swapping with Flagler.
Weldon Valley dropped out, making room for Primero to jump into the rankings at No. 10.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. These are the final rankings of the regular season.
Lewis-Palmer is making the right moves at the right time when it comes to the Class 4A CHSAANow.com boys basketball rankings.
After beating Sand Creek just over a week ago, the Rangers put on another impressive showing with a 65-56 win over PPAC front-runner Vista Ridge. With everyone now paying attention, Lewis-Palmer jumps four spots to land at No. 4 this week.
Pueblo West, Valor Christian and D’Evelyn all stood their ground at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 respectively.
Sierra also made a significant move as the Stallions are at No. 6, three spots better than last week’s poll. Mead broke into the poll this week at No. 8.
ThunderRidge remains the top team in the 5A poll and rightfully so considering the Grizzlies haven’t lost since Dec. 20 and are undefeated against Colorado teams.
Eaglecrest received two first-place votes and jumped one spot to No. 4 as a result.
Fort Collins is the lone newcomer to the poll, rounding it out at No. 4.
Resurrection Christian remains No. 1 in 3A after edging No. 4 Sterling on Friday. Colorado Springs Christian remains at No. 2 while Manitou Springs jumps one spot to No. 3.
There were no new teams in the 3A rankings.
Undefeated Highland still has a firm hold on the top spot in the 2A poll. Fowler jumped three spots from a week ago, coming in at No. 7. Haxtun joins the 2A rankings at No. 8.
Holly is still the top team in 1A. The top four teams from last week’s ranking went unchanged this week.
There were some big moves however as Rocky Mountain Lutheran made a three-spot jump to No. 5 and at No. 6, Longmont Christian is four spots better than they were last week.
Kit Carson joins the 1A poll 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.
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.
Jeffco’s Bryan Wickoren, far right, organized the first Colorado High School Adapted Basketball Tournament on Thursday at Gold Crown Field House in Lakewood. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
LAKEWOOD — Jeffco Public Schools’ Adapted Athletics program made to quantum leap Thursday hosting the inaugural Colorado High School Adapted Basketball Tournament.
A total of 21 schools — 31 teams — took part in the tournament. Teams from school districts in Aurora, Boulder, Brighton, Denver, Colorado Springs, Frederick, Greeley, Littleton, Longmont and Jeffco gathered at Gold Crown Field House in Lakewood first state-wide basketball tournament of its kind in Colorado for students with special needs.
“We had a great response,” said event organizer Bryan Wickoren, Adapted Physical Education Coordinator for Jeffco Public Schools. “It’s a great representation of schools from the eastern side of the state. It’s a start.”
The event got such a great response that 10 schools were on a waiting list for the tournament. Wickoren, who is a part of the Department of Education adapted team advisory counsel, presented his idea last fall of having a state basketball tournament that Jeffco would host.
Wickoren said there is already talk about adding a state-wide soccer tournament in the fall, along with state-wide track and field meet next spring to serve students with special needs.
Sand Creek senior D’Shawn Schwartz, left, served as a coach for the Adapted Basketball tournament. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“I’m extremely proud,” Wickoren said of the growth of Adapted Athletics. “Eight years ago we had five schools doing a couple of athletic events. Now we are doing something every month in Jeffco. We are just building and growing. We have a solid foundation and base. We’ll keep going.”
Bringing in schools from outside Jeffco has been a goal for Wickoren.
“We want to offer this to more than just Jeffco schools,” said Wickoren, who added he hopes in the future Adapted Athletics will be sanctioned by the Colorado High School Activities Association like it is in Minnesota.
Bonnie Mendenhall, Adapted PE teacher for middle and high schools in Falcon School District 49 in Colorado Springs, jumped at the chance to get her students involved in Thursday’s basketball tournament. Sand Creek brought two teams to compete.
“We’ve always wanted to get involved in unified sport, but we just didn’t have anything going on in the Springs,” Mendenhall said. “Talking to Bryan (Wickoren) he told me all about it. We decided to come up. This is our first time and our two teams we have are really excited.”
Schools from across the state took part in the Adapted Basketball Tournament. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Sand Creek also brought up a familiar face to Colorado prep basketball fans. Senior D’Shawn Schwartz, one of the top basketball recruits in the state that has committed to play at the University of Colorado next school year, was on hand as a coach for the Scorpions.
“This is my first time,” Schwartz said about helping with Adapted Athletics. “We had one practice and then came out here. It’s pretty fun. It’s cool.”
A couple of teachers at Sand Creek told Schwartz about the tournament and he decided to be apart of it. Schwartz has helped lead the Scorpions to a 13-1 record this season averaging more than 26 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game.
“It’s different, but it feels good to get away from competition,” Schwartz said about being a coach on the basketball court instead of facing a box-and-one defense. “I can just come out here and be loose.”
Arvada and Standley Lake high schools had members of its basketball teams on hand too as referees and scorers for games. Jeffco will hold its Adapted Athletics Basketball Day for Jeffco schools Friday, Jan. 20.
“We want to keep more kids involved in sports. It’s a win-win for everybody,” Mendenhall said. “They see the other kids in sports and it gives them the opportunity to be in sports. It gives them great self-esteem. They can be a part of a team.”
At the end of the day Thursday, Gateway lifted the first-place trophy.
Gateway was crowned the first-place champions in the first Colorado High School Adapted Basketball Tournament. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Corey Seng’s career night paid dividends for ThunderRidge this week.
With a 71-61 win over George Washington, the Grizzlies enter this week as the new No. 1 team in the Class 5A CHSAANow.com boys basketball rankings.
The Patriots fall just one spot, taking over at No. 2.
Chatfield made the big jump of the week, clearing three spots to land at No. 4.
At No. 7, Cherry Creek was the only new team in the 5A poll.
(Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
There was also a new top team in 4A as Valor Christian takes over the position formally held by Pueblo West.
The Cyclones were edged by Rampart in overtime on Saturday.
Sand Creek jumped three spots from the previous rankings to come in at No. 3.
Northridge (No. 9) and Pueblo South (No. 10) are the two new teams to the 4A rankings.
Despite a 16-point loss to Rampart on Friday, Colorado Springs Christian remains the top team in the 3A poll. Resurrection Christian maintains its spot at No. 2 and Manitou Springs holds firm at No. 3.
Overall, the top seven teams from the previous rankings went unchanged.
DSST-Green Valley Ranch (No. 8) and Basalt (No. 10) are the two new teams to break into the 3A rankings this week.
At 7-0, Sedgwick County remains the No. 1 team in 2A. Like the 3A rankings, the top seven teams in 2A are unchanged from the previous rankings.
Fowler jumped two spots to land at No. 8 this week while Sargent (No. 9) and Hotchkiss (No. 10) are the 2A newcomers.
Holly received seven of 10 first-place votes to hold on to the top spot in 1A.
Sierra Grande jumped one spot to land at No. 4 and at No. 7, Kit Carson is two spots better than the previous rankings.
Sangre de Cristo is the lone newcomer in 1A 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.
Cherokee Trail 6, Mountain Vista 6, Regis Jesuit 6, Chaparral 5, Rampart 5, Mountain Range 4, Lakewood 3, Legend 3, Columbine 2, Fort Collins 2, Vista Ridge 2.
Dropped out
Cherokee Trail (9).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Valor Christian (7)
8-3
144
4
4-1
2
Pueblo West (7)
8-1
143
1
4-1
3
Sand Creek (2)
10-1
122
5
3-0
4
Vista PEAK
8-1
106
2
1-1
5
Golden
9-2
97
3
1-1
6
Mead
8-2
66
6
2-1
7
D’Evelyn
8-2
47
9
2-0
8
Holy Family
7-3
30
7
2-2
9
Northridge
7-2
29
–
1-1
10
Pueblo South
7-4
25
–
2-0
Others receiving votes:
Sierra 20, Silver Creek 18, Durango 16, Thompson Valley 8, Lewis-Palmer 7, Evergreen 2.
Dropped out
Lewis-Palmer (8), Sierra (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Colorado Springs Christian (8)
6-1
159
1
1-1
2
Resurrection Christian (5)
9-0
146
2
2-0
3
Manitou Springs (3)
7-0
145
3
0-0
4
Sterling (1)
6-1
110
4
0-0
5
Alamosa
6-1
109
5
1-0
6
Faith Christian
6-2
87
6
1-0
7
Kent Denver
7-2
53
7
1-1
8
DSST-Green Valley Ranch
5-3
32
–
1-0
9
DSST-Stapleton
5-1
31
8
1-0
10
Basalt
6-1
19
–
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Strasburg 17, Bayfield 10, Machebeuf 10, Frontier Academy 9, Jefferson Academy 8, Lutheran 8, Buena Vista 6, Colorado Academy 6, Roaring Fork 6, Lotus 5, Manual 5, La Junta 3, Weld Central 3, Ridge View Academy 2, Rye 1.
Dropped out
Colorado Academy (9), Frontier Academy (10).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Sedgwick County (4)
7-0
81
1
2-0
2
Highland (3)
7-0
78
2
1-0
3
Paonia (1)
7-1
75
3
2-0
4
Del Norte
7-1
69
4
1-0
5
Peyton (1)
7-0
49
5
1-0
6
Akron
7-0
47
6
2-0
7
Holyoke
5-2
38
7
2-0
8
Fowler
6-1
27
10
2-0
9
Sargent (1)
4-2
26
–
1-0
10
Hotchkiss
6-3
12
–
1-1
Others receiving votes:
Center 9, Crowley County 8, Byers 7, Dawson 6, Dolores Huerta 5, Dayspring Christian 4, Ignacio 4, Burlington 3, Crested Butte 1, John Mall 1.
Dropped out
Dayspring Christian (8), Ignacio (9).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Holly (7)
8-0
93
1
0-0
2
Weldon Valley
8-0
69
2
3-0
3
Cheyenne Wells (1)
7-0
68
3
2-0
4
Sierra Grande (1)
5-1
65
5
0-0
5
Peetz (1)
7-1
57
4
1-1
6
Flagler
7-1
53
6
2-0
7
Kit Carson
4-2
32
9
1-0
8
Fleming
3-3
25
7
1-2
9
Sangre de Cristo
4-4
17
–
0-2
10
Rocky Mountain Lutheran
7-1
16
10
1-0
Others receiving votes:
Cotopaxi 10, Creede/Lake City 9, Front Range Baptist 7, La Veta 7, Wiley 7, ThornCreek Christian 5, Jim Elliot 4, South Baca 4, Longmont Christian 3, Heritage Christian 2, Genoa-Hugo/Karval 1, Otis 1, Shining Mountain 1, Walsh 1.
The 2016 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 head coaches across the state.
Players were placed onto the first-team, second-team and honorable mention based upon the number of votes they received. In 5A-1A, spots were reserved for linemen and one kicker/punter, while 8-man reserved spots for linemen.
CHSAA does not determine who makes or doesn’t make the team; they are created entirely from the results of the coaches’ vote.
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Class 5A
(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Player of the year: Dylan McCaffrey, Valor Christian
