Ball Fever: Mile High Madness 2023

Another fun and exciting season is in the books, hoops fans. Our final two weeks were full of overtime excitement, individual “monsta” performances, and leagues that came down to the wire, final games.

Let’s hope it is a sign of what’s to come over the next few weeks!

There is NO PERFECT ANSWER regarding the final 6A and 5A RPI standings/seedings but thankfully our awesome athletes don’t play this “Mile High Madness” out on the internet…it will be settled on the hardwood!

Those who follow Ball Fever also know we don’t think this is a rare time for Colorado hoops, but a result of numerous factors leading to good basketball being played on our high school courts. The buzz about Colorado hoops is legit and we can thank a growing basketball community for that from our peewee rec leagues to competitive club ball, increasing individual personal training opportunities, and truly dedicated high school staffs. The basketball product hitting the Colorado hardwood is improving and colleges of all levels are taking notice!

Great time to be a part of Colorado hoops … let’s get to the Madness!

6A Bracket

Bert Borgmann Region 
“Let me know what you see out there, Coach T!” Bert Borgmann…rest peacefully my guy!

Well, the first thing we see in this region is the overall #1 seed Mountain Vista who recently had a thrilling double overtime win over ThunderRidge and The Fever Crew expects them to roll that momentum right into the 6A Bracket! Good luck to Bear Creek trying to keep up with Caden Stevens 17 points, 7 rebounds per game and the Eagles 73 points per game pace!

FAVORITES: 
At first glance Mountain Vista and Valor Christian stand out here as the two highest seeds at 1 and 8 respectively. But in this wacky season of upsets the Fever Crew adds Cherry Creek right in there after their exciting run to win the Centennial League Post Season Tourney. In the early season Ralston Valley embarrassed Creek 73-48 but as the Bruins improved and got revenge in January 71-66. Rubber match will be a good one, folks!

WATCH OUT FOR: 
Ralston Valley was already mentioned and they have recent games scoring in the 90 point range and averaged 70 per outing during the season. With “super soph” Tanner Braketa scoring a hot 23 points per night the Mustangs can surprise any squad on a given night.

Jim Dorsey Region

The first thing that sticks out here is a Continental League heavy bracket! Rock Canyon coming in as the #2 overall seed and 21-2 record along with fellow league foes Regis and Highlands Ranch who have been in our coaches poll top 10 of 6A teams consistently.

FAVORITES: 
After a close loss to Mountain Vista by 2 points Rock Canyon reeled off 4 straight wins to finish the season strong. As mentioned, the Jags only have two losses on the season and they both came in state to Mountain Vista (losing by 2 points in both losses). However, Rock Canyon only beat Regis and Highlands Ranch by 2 points each in their Continental battles this season so they are fully aware they are formidable opponents should those paths cross again. Continental league will be felt in this Region!

WATCH OUT FOR: 
Fountain-Fort Carson started the season a solid 14-0 and ended with a final 18-5 overall record. League play was tough where they were 5-5 but a start like that in many non league games shows they are capable of winning at home or away vs. any opponent. Antonio Martinez leads Fountain at 17 points per game from the guard spot and we believe if anyone can stop the Continental league from dominating this region, it’s them!

Erik Melgoza Region 
Ooooooh there’s those Saber Cats! Fossil Ridge coming in as the 6A #3 overall seed. They took a loss to rival Fort Collins late January and promptly ran off 6 straight wins after that to set up a playoff run. Speaking of Fort Collins they come in as the #6 seed and an 18 point loss to Fairview late season didn’t help their cause but they are obviously more than capable of advancing.

FAVORITES: 
Hard to see anything but the two squads from up north on a collision course here. Fossil Ridge would love nothing more than an opportunity to avenge the 3-point loss to the Lambkins 5 games ago! If this region does play out that way a rematch of big man Luke Wagstaff (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Nick Randall (22 points, 9 rebounds) would truly be a treat.

WATCH OUT FOR: 
The Grandview Wolves are backing into the playoffs after two losses but those losses were to Centennial Champion Cherry Creek and tough Smoky Hill in an exciting 91-90 finish. We’ll see if that Centennial League end of season tournament help tune the Wolves up for some wins in this region.

Tom Robinson Region 
Speaking of those ultra athletic Smoky Hill Buffaloes they come in as the 5 seed in this bracket after closing out the regular season with that 91 point effort. Another squad that can score in bunches is the 4 Seed Denver East Angels who have another City Title under their belt and are looking for more.

FAVORITES: 
A possible top seed match up of East vs. Smoky Hill would be super exciting and we’d be the first one to sign up for that but that is certainly no guarantee in this region. The Fever Crew is a big fan of senior guard play this time of year and it gets no better than Smoky’s smooth Rickey Mitchell and East’s exciting D’Aundre Samuels with both averaging well over 20 points per game.

WATCH OUT FOR: 
This could easily be looked at as the toughest region when you consider Eaglecrest and defending champ ThunderRidge will tangle in round 1.  Always tough to take down the defending champ but Eaglecrest has had a knack for playing their best in big games taking down two of our Coaches Poll #1 teams during the season. With the winner of Eaglecrest/ThunderRidge likely facing Denver East in Round 2 we will lose some very good teams really early in this region!

5A Bracket

Bert Borgmann Region 
Air Academy comes in as the overall top seed in 5A with only 2 losses on the season and 21 wins which “stat-stuffin” Corbin Garver’s 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game led the way.

FAVORITES: 
The next highest seed here is Pueblo South and they are one of the hottest teams in the state right now with 11 wins in a row including 10-0 in league play. They have the fire power to perhaps match the 1 seed Air Academy’s 73 points per game pace.

WATCH OUT FOR: 
Vista PEAK sitting at 17-6 has some exciting wins under their belt this season and have certainly been tested with a tough schedule. No one on VP scores an average of more than 9 points per game so they get it done as a unit and will be looking to surprise and advance.

Jim Dorsey Region 
Hard to find a better record than Mesa Ridge when they run the table at a perfect 23-0! Junior guard Tevin Riehl’s 14 points and 5 assists per outing leads the way for this squad from Colorado Springs. Hard to believe an unbeaten team can come in with a chip on their shoulder but we’re sure they’ll be out to prove that record deserved the #1 seed.

FAVORITES: 
Another squad with a strong resume’ is Dakota Ridge coming at 19-4 and unbeaten in league play. Dakota Ridge ran off 4 straight wins to end the regular season taking momentum into this region.

WATCH OUT FOR: 
Thomas Jefferson and Northfield will both be playing for “city pride” and the Denver Prep League. Both had to face some tough 6A teams during this season so they may be more prepared for this region than the seeding leads one to believe.

Erik Melgoza Region 
Two teams that seem to be mainstays in the 5A bracket jump right out here in Windsor and Lewis-Palmer. Along with Longmont these are tough squads that we seem to be talking about every year at this time.

FAVORITES:   
Windsor is our 3 seed and highest in this region. The Wizards senior leader David Hageman is one of our state’s best, regardless of classification, and brings an average of 20 points per outing to the table and plenty of above the rim action! And speaking of momentum Windsor is coming into the tourney on a 13 game winning streak.

WATCH OUT FOR: 
Longmont beat Mountain View once this season already back in November by double digits. They’ve faced some tough teams as well to help prepare for this moment along with boasting a 10-2 home record.

Tom Robinson Region 
Mead comes in at 19-4 and suffered a late season 26 point loss to Windsor. None of us are used to seeing Mead take those kind of double digit losses and it may just be the kind of late seeing wake up call to spur the Mavs on a run.

FAVORITES: 
Tucker Mills leads Mead with 19 points per game and the Mavs average 65 points per outing, but not to be out done the Fever Crew has also been intrigued all season by Frederick who come in with a strong 22-1 record and scoring a “MIGHTY” 80 points per game! Luke Justice a big part of that 80 point average scoring 22 per game of his own.

WATCH OUT FOR: 
We’re sticking with Frederick here! Hard to call a team that is 22-1 on the season and averaging a blistering 80 points “under the radar” but they seem to be. Win, lose, or draw must get out and see this squads style of play!

Sheesh! Here we go folks. Some dreams will come true and some hearts will be broken but it’s why we love the passion of competition and sport. Get out and enjoy your neighborhood school, city, or just hoops in general. Always, 72 & Sunny in the gym #BallFever