Ball Fever: Recapping early rounds of boys hoops’ 5A/4A tourneys, looking ahead to the Sweet 16
Whew! Tons of fun in the first and second rounds of the state tournaments.
Our Fever Crew has you covered with a recap of each 5A and 4A region along with The Look Ahead for each, as well. Let’s get it!
Class 5A
Larry Farmer Region
The Look Back:
- Braxton Bertolette kept his hot scoring streak going dropping 38 to help Fossil Ridge advance past Lincoln.
- Matt Johnson Jr., recently named EMAC player of the year, came out blazing with 33 points for Rangeview in win over Mountain Range.
- Well hello there Mr. Kountz! How about 37 points from Daylen in Denver East’s second round home win over a game Fossil Ridge squad. Angels are dangerous!
- With only three seniors on the roster, this young Smoky Hill squad is confident and they beat Highlands Ranch by more than 20.
- Our 5A favorite Eaglecrest came on strong late beating a tough Rangeview squad by 16 to head again to the Sweet 16.
- Vista Ridge got a road win over Lakewood behind Hunter Maldonado’s 20 points.
The Look Ahead:
We talked about “star power” helping teams advance and Hunter Maldonado showed up big for Vista Ridge to get to this point. The problem is Wyoming-bound Maldonado now has to play one of the most balanced squads in the state who has a star of their own in Eaglecrest’s Colbey Ross. With Vista Ridge playing without senior stellar point guard Noah Beatty we don’t see them advancing here. The Raptors came up short last season to Overland and they will get to the Coliseum again.
You want athletes? Get yourself to Smoky’s gym on Wednesday night when the Buffs host Denver East. Arguably, our state’s two best players in class 2018 and 2019 will be on the floor in Daylen Kountz and Kenny Foster respectively. The Angels have maybe the hottest player in the state in Kountz along with Coach Carey’s playoff experience. The young Buffaloes are hot, but can that confidence take down a perennial power? This will be fun!
Mark Randall Region
The Look Back:
- Big-time home win for the school and community as Montbello (FNE) took care of round one business downing Dakota Ridge behind Steven Goss III 16 points.
- Rock Canyon used a 20-11 fourth quarter advantage to pull away from Boulder late! On to Sweet 16 Jags.
- Mountain Vista sophomore Simon May scored 14 and the Eagles held Legend to 5 fourth quarter points completing the comeback win.
- Grandview shook off some late season rust to cruise to 27-point win over Grand Junction.
The defending champ Overland dealt with change after losing a tremendous senior class from last year and Montbello (FNE) came in their house to pull off one of the big upsets of round two 68-56. The Warriors dominated the fourth quarter here.
The Look Ahead:
Mountain Vista got serious on defense shutting Legend down in the fourth quarter of round two. They’ll need all of that defense to stop the inside/out tandem of Gage Prim and Lechaun Duhart from Grandview. Prim is one of our state’s top big men and Duhart is a “microwave” type point guard who can heat up and score 30 if needed. Will be tough for Vista to take down the higher seed here.
The Fever Crew loves confident guard play come playoff time and Rock Canyon has two in juniors Sam Masten and Tyson Gilbert. The Jags defend hard and grind their ways to wins! Montbello (FNE) is led by Aaris Bonds who is a utility knife, college ready player. The Warriors are the surprise in 5A so far and may be able to give the Jags a lot of trouble in a low scoring affair.
Chauncey Billups Region
The Look Back:
- Our Fever Crew got out to Cherokee Trail in round one and were treated to Jaizec Lottie’s 27 points as the Cougars raced away from Douglas County.
- Cortney Dean stepped up with 17 points to get Denver South its first 5A playoff win over Heritage.
- 21 points from senior Jeremiah Pruitt helped Liberty take down Monarch.
- Our Crew thought Denver South had a great chance to knock off Cherry Creek but the Bruins held home court and won 80-71.
- Rampart’s size proved to be too much for Cherokee Trail. Jackson Ehrlin scored 22 in the big second round win.
- ThunderRidge cruised to a 43-point win to advance to the Sweet 16.
- Chatfield can RUN and DEFEND. That’s how you beat Fountain-Fort Carson 94-57!
The Look Ahead:
Size, size, size! The Fever Crew has been flooded with info from our friends down south about how good this Rampart squad is and the coverage they deserve. There could be something to this as they beat a solid Cherokee Trail team by 20 reach the Sweet 16. Well, Rampart, if you want to prove you belong there’s no better opportunity than to face the team that was No. 1 for a great majority of the season: ThunderRidge. The Grizzlies balance and scoring prowess of Corey Seng should prove to be too much here.
Lucas St. Germain led the three-point barrage for Chatfield scoring 30 points in the blowout of Fountain-Fort Carson. The Chargers run but don’t think it’s just run and gun. They pride themselves on defense and we think Cherry Creek may be in trouble if this turns into a track race.
Guy Gibbs Region
The Look Back:
- Senior Sam Foster scores 19 points and Broomfield started fast in win over Grand Junction Central.
- Ralston Valley’s leading scorer fouled out but his buddies came through!
- Believe us when we tell you: you don’t want to see Sitting Eagle Gym as your destination of round one of the playoffs as Pine Creek found out visiting Arapahoe.
- Regis found a way to get it done at home vs. Arvada West.
- Chaparral took down Continental foe Regis by 3 with 19 points from Joseph Dalton in a second-round win.
- Jervay Green was at it again, dropping 32 points for a hot GW squad.
- Speaking of 32, check out Jacob Pfaffinger leading Fort Collins to the Sweet 16.
- The 32 point scoring continues as Kyle Lucasiewicz did just that for Arapahoe as they pulled a huge upset at Doherty. The Warriors travel well!
The Look Ahead:
Jervay Green, folks. George Washington is talented across the board but we see Green as the difference maker here. A lead senior who plays with a little attitude! Chaparral is young and talented. They came up short in their early season visit to GW but they have grown since that matchup and can cause the Patriots some trouble in this return. Keeping it close early will be key for the Wolverines.
There’s those Warriors! Arapahoe is a huge surprise here as the No. 27 seed but they are “Centennial Tough”. Fort Collins wants to prove they are legit after taking care of business up north. Kyle Lucasieweicz and Jacob Pfaffinger both scored 32 points each for the respective teams in round two. Look for these two to step up again Wednesday.
4A
Bob Ottewill Region
The Look Back:
- Widefield put up 93 points and ran away from Roosevelt.
- Mountain View got 13 from senior J. Greylock and held off the Classical Academy to advance.
- Valor needed a big second half surge to put away Thomas Jefferson.
- Michael Ward scored 22 for Mead in second round win over Skyview.
The Look Ahead:
Northridge and Mead both ready to prove they belong in the big dance. Valor Christian is the top overall seed and we see them advancing here.
Bill Weimar Region
The Look Back:
- Falcon got 22 points from Noah Martinez and slid past Green Mountain.
- Niwot scored 30 in the fourth quarter but Elizabeth held on for 73-69 win.
- Longmont cruised in its first round match vs. Frederick.
- Golden had a trio of juniors step up big vs. Longmont in the second round.
- A bit of an unknown for us but Durango is playing some ball as they took down Elizabeth by 17!
- Tanner Baird, just a sophomore, scored 18 for Holy Family as they cruised into Sweet 16 over Falcon.
The Look Ahead:
A little bit of the known and unknown here. Holy Family and Golden very familiar with each other in a match that seems a little too early. Durango won’t find it easy vs. Evergreen who has been tested against some of our best 4A squads in league play.
Jim Baggot Region
The Look Back:
- Windsor got 13 from senior Jake Hammond to beat Steamboat by 4.
- Sophomore Chano Gonzales with 15 points in Glenwood Springs first round victory.
- “Number 7 Seed?” said defending champ Pueblo West as they hammered Glenwood Springs in round two.
- Silver Creek took care of business to advance and get their shot at the defending champs!
- Top 4A Seed Pueblo South won the first and fourth quarter, starting/finishing strong in win over Windsor by 9.
- Vista PEAK followed Marquise Johnson and his 19 points to a 5-point win over Ponderosa to march into Sweet 16.
The Look Ahead:
Can’t help but pull for a kid like Marquise Johnson and his journey with Vista PEAK but now they face the top overall seed in Pueblo South. South’s late season heroics took down the defending champ Pueblo West and they were tested by an always tough Windsor in round two.
Speaking of Pueblo West, they took out their frustrations of landing a 7 seed on on Glenwood Springs proving they were awakened by late loss to Pueblo South.
Richard Tate Region
The Look Back:
- Senior Garrett Martin scored 22 for Eagle Valley but not enough as Wheatridge pulls out the tight win late.
- Palmer Ridge 70-39 over Pueblo East to advance!
- Cheyenne Mountain got things started here using their height advantage to secure round one victory over Harrison.
- The 3 seed D’Evelyn got defensive in their second round win.
- Sand Creek is a scary 14 seed and they took it to Thompson Valley by 19.
- It took two overtimes and 23 points from CJ Jennings for Sierra to advance past Pueblo Central.
- Lewis-Palmer was cooking as they trounced Wheat Ridge 81-47.
The Look Ahead:
Great matchup here as one of the hottest teams in the state D’Evelyn welcomes a Sand Creek squad who has battled through on and off the court adversity to regain the form that had them as our No. 1 4A team for a few weeks during the season. Does D’Shawn Schwartz, CU-commit, take over now that playoffs are here?
In the other match we have two teams that could easily advance in Lewis-Palmer and Sierra. The Rangers hot streak faces one of our top point guards in the state, CJ Jennings.
Wednesday, March 1 is action-packed, folks! Whether you are a 5A or 4A fan get out and enjoy CO hoops at it’s best.
