Highlands Ranch took over as the No. 1 team in the Class 5A girls basketball rankings this week.
With a relatively light schedule this week, these will be the final rankings prior to the winter break.
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
Highlands Ranch (8)
5-1
106
2
1-0
2
Regis Jesuit (2)
6-2
93
4
3-0
3
Grandview (1)
3-1
89
1
1-1
4
Ralston Valley
5-1
79
3
2-0
5
Lakewood
6-2
44
8
0-0
6
Castle View
7-0
42
9
3-0
7
Horizon
4-0
41
6
0-0
8
Fairview
4-2
40
5
1-1
9
Cherry Creek
2-1
38
7
0-0
10
Fossil Ridge
5-2
16
10
3-0
Others receiving votes:
Fruita Monument 6, Fort Collins 4, Denver East 3, Columbine 2, Mountain Vista 2.
Dropped out
None.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Pueblo West (10)
5-0
136
1
0-0
2
Golden (3)
8-0
116
2
3-0
3
Evergreen (1)
6-1
92
3
2-0
4
Valor Christian
4-1
85
6
1-0
5
Holy Family
6-1
80
5
3-0
6
Mesa Ridge
4-2
67
4
0-0
7
Air Academy
7-1
52
9
2-0
8
D’Evelyn
7-2
37
7
1-1
9
Windsor
4-2
25
10
2-1
10
Berthoud
8-0
22
–
2-0
Others receiving votes:
Thomas Jefferson 20, Pueblo South 16, Discovery Canyon 8, Pueblo County 7, Centaurus 2, Greeley Central 2, Widefield 2, Standley Lake 1.
Dropped out
Pueblo South (8).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Centauri (6)
7-0
91
1
1-0
2
St. Mary’s (1)
6-0
90
2
2-0
3
Colorado Springs Christian (2)
4-0
84
3
1-0
4
Lamar (1)
5-1
71
4
2-0
5
Pagosa Springs
4-1
63
5
2-0
6
Kent Denver
7-1
32
8
3-0
7
Resurrection Christian
5-1
26
–
1-0
8
Alamosa
4-2
17
10
0-0
9
Manitou Springs
2-3
11
–
1-1
10
Cedaredge
6-0
10
9
2-0
Others receiving votes:
Colorado Academy 9, Liberty Common 9, Moffat County 8, Delta 5, Sterling 5, Grand Valley 4, The Vanguard 4, University 4, Brush 2, Jefferson Academy 2, Eaton 1, Lutheran 1, Prospect Ridge 1.
Dropped out
Moffat County (6), Eaton (7).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Yuma (7)
7-0
106
1
2-0
2
Swink (2)
5-1
91
2
2-0
3
Limon
5-0
76
5
2-0
4
Simla
4-0
59
7
2-0
5
Wray
3-3
51
3
0-1
6
Holyoke (2)
6-0
49
9
3-0
7
Del Norte
5-3
47
4
1-0
8
Ignacio
4-0
44
6
1-0
9
Vail Christian
6-0
21
–
1-0
10
Haxtun
4-2
20
10
1-2
Others receiving votes:
Ellicott 12, Paonia 9, Highland 5, Rocky Ford 4, Sanford 4, Denver Christian 2, Soroco 2, Clear Creek 1, Colorado Springs School 1, Lyons 1.
Dropped out
Paonia (8).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Kit Carson (11)
5-0
110
1
3-0
2
Kim/Branson
7-0
81
3
3-0
3
Briggsdale
5-1
74
2
2-1
4
Fleming
3-1
72
4
2-0
5
Sangre de Cristo
5-0
48
5
1-0
6
Holly
6-2
44
–
2-1
7
Antonito
4-1
37
6
0-0
8
Heritage Christian
6-1
25
8
2-1
9
Springfield
4-2
20
–
2-1
10
North Park
5-0
17
–
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Eads 15, La Veta 15, McClave 10, South Baca 7, Centennial 6, Cheraw 6, Wiley 6, Prairie 5, Hi-Plains 4, Arickaree/Woodlin 2, Longmont Christian 1.
The 2017 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.
Grandview (5A), Evergreen (4A), Lamar (3A), Yuma (2A) and Kit Carson (1A) are each top-ranked teams in the preseason girls basketball rankings that were released on Monday.
All but Yuma are defending champions.
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
1
Grandview (6)
0-0
90
2
Cherry Creek
0-0
79
3
Regis Jesuit (2)
0-0
71
4
Lakewood (1)
0-0
65
5
Highlands Ranch (1)
0-0
64
6
Ralston Valley
0-0
48
7
Horizon
0-0
28
8
Fossil Ridge
0-0
19
9
Fairview
0-0
18
10
Castle View
0-0
13
Others receiving votes:
Arapahoe 10, ThunderRidge 10, Doherty 7, Eaglecrest 7, Poudre 5, Monarch 4, Broomfield 2, Fruita Monument 2, Legacy 2, Legend 2, Bear Creek 1, Chaparral 1, Grand Junction Central 1, Liberty 1.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Evergreen (14)
0-0
175
2
Pueblo South (2)
0-0
142
3
Pueblo West (1)
0-0
120
4
Golden (1)
0-0
115
5
Mesa Ridge
0-0
90
6
Windsor
0-0
75
7
Valor Christian
0-0
74
8
D’Evelyn
0-0
47
9
Holy Family
0-0
39
10
Air Academy
0-0
37
Others receiving votes:
Mullen 26, Rifle 14, Thomas Jefferson 11, George Washington 6, Discovery Canyon 5, Sierra 5, Littleton 2, Pueblo County 2, Pueblo East 2, The Classical Academy 2, Lewis-Palmer 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Lamar (5)
0-0
93
2
Centauri (2)
0-0
74
3
St. Mary’s (1)
0-0
66
4
Colorado Springs Christian
0-0
64
5
Pagosa Springs
0-0
56
6
Sterling (2)
0-0
54
7
Lutheran
0-0
34
8
Manitou Springs
0-0
30
9
Moffat County
0-0
16
10
Faith Christian
0-0
12
Others receiving votes:
Resurrection Christian 11, Liberty Common 9, Colorado Academy 6, La Junta 4, Bennett 3, Grand Valley 3, Jefferson Academy 3, Kent Denver 3, The Academy 2, Machebeuf 2, Salida 2, Brush 1, Eaton 1, Trinidad 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Yuma (6)
0-0
77
2
Del Norte (1)
0-0
57
3
Wray
0-0
53
4
Swink
0-0
46
5
Paonia
0-0
34
6
Haxtun
0-0
30
7
Limon
0-0
27
8
Simla
0-0
24
9
Ignacio
0-0
21
10
Lyons
0-0
15
Others receiving votes:
Evangelical Christian 10, Holyoke 10, Akron 7, Denver Christian 6, Ellicott 5, Sanford 5, Clear Creek 4, Burlington 3, Highland 3, Soroco 2, Center 1.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Kit Carson (9)
0-0
90
2
Fleming
0-0
65
3
Briggsdale
0-0
62
4
Antonito
0-0
61
5
Kim/Branson
0-0
46
6
Eads
0-0
45
7
La Veta
0-0
28
8
Holly
0-0
18
9
Wiley
0-0
14
10
Springfield
0-0
11
Others receiving votes:
Genoa-Hugo/Karval 10, Heritage Christian 10, South Baca 10, Sangre de Cristo 7, Cheraw 5, Nucla 5, Cheyenne Wells 3, McClave 3, Edison 2.
DENVER — To start the volleyball season, Mountain Vista handed Cherry Creek one of its two losses on the year. To start the state tournament, the Bruins returned the favor.
Cherry Creek battled to a 21-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-20, 15-7 win over the Golden Eagles, knock off the No. 1 seed in the Class 5A bracket. It was just one of many upsets across all five classifications on Friday at the Denver Coliseum.
Mountain Vista won the regular season opener between the two teams. That match also went to five sets.
“It was motivation to come in here and beat them,” coach Sally Moos said.
The Golden Eagles claimed the first set of the match, putting the Bruins into a quick hole. It was all tied up after two, but Mountain Vista again pulled ahead, putting Creek on the verge of defeat and losing any control over its own fate.
Even at that point, there was no panic from the Centennial League’s only representative at the tournament.
“I don’t think so,” junior outside hitter Katie Sherman said. “We were all just so into (the match) and we wanted to win it so bad.”
So they battled. The fourth set remained tight until Creek pulled away at the end. They came out in the fifth and dominated from the start, jumping out to a 11-3 lead.
Mountain Vista started to rally back, but the Sherman put down one last kill to give the Bruins control of Pool I.
“We wanted to win that so bad,” Sherman said. “They’re probably our biggest rival. We’re super excited.”
Cherry Creek finished the regular season with just two losses. The first came against the Golden Eagles. The second loss was back on Sept. 16 against Rock Canyon. Cherry Creek evened the score against Rocky Mountain in the Legend Tournament on Oct. 28.
The Bruins and the Lobos will play Saturday morning and a win by Creek means advancement to the semifinals.
“Rocky Mountain is a very good team, too,” Moos said. “We’ll do the same thing, we’ll battle back and forth.”
[divider]
Other upsets shake up the pools
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Denver East continued 5A’s upset trend in the third match of day when the No. 11-seeded Angels swept No. 2 Fossil Ridge, the defending champions.
The Angels, who are now 21-6 this season, swept the Sabercats 25-23, 25-22, 25-20.
“They stuck to the gameplan,” Denver East coach Tarah Olmstead said after the match. “They ran outside their comfort zone, which is what we are supposed to do every single day. We watch film on everybody here. We know what everybody does before we even know our own rotations. And they called it, they stayed on top.”
Denver East last advanced to the state tournament two years ago, but only two players remain from that team.
“What’s really tough is we have a ton of people who have never been here before,” Olmstead said. “We only have two people who have been here. And their eyes, when they’re walking in, are all over the place. So in order to keep them present, I said, ‘Look around, Snapchat, I don’t care what you have to do, do it right now. But the second we get in there, you are present and you are with each other, because that’s what everybody came to watch.’”
The Angels will have the chance to win their pool and advance to the semifinals by beating Chatfield on Saturday.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
And with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds already the victims of upsets, No. 10 Rock Canyon was looking to make it a hat trick against No. 3 Castle View.
The Jaguars fell behind 2-0 early, though both sets they lost were close. They battled back in the third to avoid the sweep and and evened things up after the fourth set.
With momentum on their side, they went into the fifth and deciding set believing they could get the win.
The Sabercats jumped out in front and seemingly had control with a 10-6 lead. But Rock Canyon had battled back to tie up the overall match, so coming back to tie the final set seemed like child’s play.
Down 14-11, the Jaguars rode a couple of key kills from Keeley Davis to pull even. Davis made the final kill to give the Jags a 16-14 win in the deciding set of the match.
“(Early on) it was just the nerves at state,” Davis said. “We have a lot of new people who are here in this big coliseum. I think once we set those nerves off and we started getting excited and being happy about things, we started getting less nervous.”
Rock Canyon will play Coronado Saturday morning and can advance to the 5A semifinals by winning that match.
In 1A, No. 9 Holly knocked off No. 4 McClave 3-2 to start the day, including 15-3 in the fifth set.
In 2A‘s first match of the day, No. 9 Denver Christian upset No. 4 Hoehne, 3-1.
Simla threw a second wrench into the 2A tourney when the No. 11 Cubs upset No. 2 Swink with a 25-16, 25-19, 25-15 sweep.
No. 5 Otis over No. 4 McClave in 1A, 3-1.
2A No. 6 Lyons beat No. 3 Dayspring Christian 3-1.
[divider]
Notables
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Buena Vista had probably the largest, and loudest, crowd of the day. The students at Buena Vista took a field trip to the Denver Coliseum on Friday. The school picked up the tab to get as many students as possible to support the Demons at state.
Kit Carson’s incredible run of not losing a set continued on Friday. The Wildcats swept Weldon Valley and Briggsdale, and have now won all 72 sets they’ve played this season.
Lewis-Palmer, the defending champion and No. 1 seed in 4A, extended its match winning streak to 56 with sweeps of Mullen and Roosevelt. The Rangers are ranked No. 5 nationally by MaxPreps.
Eaton is in search of a fifth-straight championship in 3A. The Reds opened their tournament with a 25-18, 25-20, 25-10 sweep of Platte Valley, and then swept Lamar in the evening.
[divider]
Semifinal berths clinched
Yuma won 2A’s Pool I with wins over Dolores and Rangely.
Niwot captured 4A’s Pool IV. The Cougars beat Discovery Canyon and Palmer Ridge.
Chaparral won Pool IV in 5A with wins over Fort Collins and Fruita Monument.
Kit Carson, after its two sweeps, clinched Pool I in 1A.
University won 3A’s Pool IV following wins over Middle Park and Resurrection Christian.
Lewis-Palmer will meet Niwot in the 4A semifinals after winning Pool I.
Fleming topped Genoa-Hugo and Springfield to win Pool II in 1A.
Eaton is back in the 3A semifinals following sweeps over Platte Valley and Lamar.
La Veta got wins over Sangre de Cristo and Wiley to win 1A’s Pool III.
Lutheran beat Sterling and Bennett in winning Pool II in 2A.
Valor Christian beat Cheyenne Mountain and Pueblo West as it won 4A’s Pool II.
Holy Family topped Ponderosa and D’Evelyn in winning Pool III in 4A.
Faith Christian beat Buena Vista and Valley is it won Pool III in 3A.
AURORA — Sedgwick County, Bennett and Platte Valley head their respective playoff fields as state football brackets were unveiled in 8-man, 1A and 2A on Sunday.
The brackets are composed to automatic qualifiers — league champions — and then the next highest finishers in the final RPI standings of the regular season. In the case of all three brackets, the top 16 teams in the RPI all qualified for the postseason.
(Sedgwick County/NFHS Network)
Sedgwick County enters as the No. 1 seed in 8-man football following a 9-0 regular season. The Cougars are the defending champions and have actually won 19 consecutive games — most in the state along with 5A’s Valor Christian.
Also hosting first-round games in 8-man are West Grand, Merino, Hoehne, Holly, Rocky Mountain Lutheran, Sargent and Springfield.
Bennett, the top seed in 1A, is also unbeaten so far this year at 9-0. The Tigers were semifinalists a year ago.
Among high seeds in 1A are Meeker, Centauri, Strasburg, Burlington, Clear Creek, Crowley County and Peyton. All will host games in the first round.
Platte Valley football also enters its postseason undefeated at 9-0. The Broncos will host D’Evelyn in the first round of the 2A playoffs.
2A’s other high seeds include Kent Denver, Bayfield, La Junta, The Classical Academy, Basalt, Faith Christian and Eaton. La Junta is the defending champion.
First round games for all three classes are set for this coming weekend. Semifinals will be Nov. 18, and all three championship games for 2A, 1A and 8-man will be held on Nov. 25 at a home site of one of the finalists.
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.
Grandview’s Aaron Harris blocked a punt that the Wolves recovered for a touchdown to cut into Eaglecrest’s lead early in the third quarter. They had possession deep in the Raptors’ territory on their next possession, but the drive stalled and the Wolves turned it over on fourth down.
Eaglecrest then went back up 21-7, and held that lead for most of the fourth quarter.
4A: (10) Pueblo West 55, (3) Pueblo South 54 (2OT)
4A Football: @wilkyway22 with the TD, then a subplot… Long snapper hurt, PW thinking of going for it. But a sub long snapper does this pic.twitter.com/R34pANGm40
In a wild one, Pueblo West took down their crosstown foe in two overtimes.
The game was tied at 42 after regulation — but Pueblo West had to rally to get to that point. South led 35-21 at the half, only to see Pueblo West tie the game at 35 in the third quarter.
Roosevelt scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to come roaring back and upset the Trojans.
The Roughriders’ defense got their team started with a safety early in the fourth quarter, and then Angelo Hurtado cut it to 12-9 with a 21-yard rushing touchdown.
Four minutes later, Roosevelt’s Trent Beall scored what proved to be the winning touchdown on a 14-yard rush.
Jaydon Elkins had a rushing touchdown for Longmont.
[divider]
4A: (4) Windsor 40, (8) Broomfield 14
(Steve Oathout)
Windsor jumped out to a 26-0 lead at halftime, and the Wizards kept their foot on the pedal in the second half en route to the big win.
Quarterback Connor Apodaca, a senior, accounted for four total touchdowns, including two through the air.
Big win for No. 6 Holly in 8-man, topping No. 2 Hoehne 33-14.
Gilpin County upset No. 10 Caliche in 8-man, 36-30.
There is once again a tie atop the all-time football wins list. West Grand’s forfeit win over Nederland became official tonight, giving coach Chris Brown his 318th career win.
Prairie, No. 8 in 6-man, is now 3-0 after beating Arickaree/Woodlin 34-14. “You can’t be displeased with 3-0,” coach Justin Kerns told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “We’re looking forward to next week.”
Skyview continued its hot start with a 29-3 win over Summit and is now 4-0. Its the first time the Wolverines are 4-0 since 2011.
3A No. 7 Erie’s Noah Roper rushed for 308 yards and four touchdowns in a 47-23 win over Northridge.
Masiah Hudson rushed for 188 yards and four touchdowns on just five carries as Manual beat Sheridan 42-6. Corey Jones added 111 rushing yards and a score.
Trevor Reuss threw three touchdowns for Basalt in a 35-7 upset win over No. 6 Delta in 2A.
Bryce Sugden had two touchdown passes as 8-man No. 3 Dayspring Christian beat Springfield 47-17.
Peetz, ranked No. 2 in 6-man, beat Idalia 60-12. Bryson Long had three receiving touchdowns, while Tre Fehringer tossed two TD passes.
Rowan Neal threw two touchdowns in leading Vista Ridge to a 28-16 win over Dakota Ridge in 4A.
Eaton beat Brush 35-21, and Austin Coalson had two passing TDs. Travis Cunningham also rushed for two touchdowns.
