After three months of navigating preseason tournaments and their league and district challenges, six area teams now look to begin March with a clear path ahead – the fields of 32 teams in the 3A, 2A, and 1A basketball classifications have been released.
Here’s a breakdown of the paths for each of the area teams still in contention for a state title:
In boys action, No. 8 Mancos (17-4) takes on No. 25 Sedgwick County (8-12), as the Cougars make a second trip to the Four Corners region, after their football team visited in the quarterfinals of the 8-man state tournament. Mancos hopes that the outcome is similar, as the Jays blitzed Sedgwick County in a 38-0 win in November, as several key figures from the gridiron will take to the court for both teams on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. inside Bluejay Fieldhouse.
The winner will face either No. 9 Limon (17-5) or No. 24 Akron (9-12) in the regional final on Saturday, March 2 at 1 p.m. with a spot in Blue Arena in Loveland for the 2A state tournament on the line.
On the girls side, No. 8 Mancos (16-5) faces off against No. 25 Del Norte (10-11) in the opening round, in a rematch of a contest that the two teams played on Dec. 16. The Jays won a tight affair, 36-30, and hope that they can complete the sweep of the Tigers and pick up their first regional round victory in over two decades. Mancos gets the right to play on their home court, as they prepare for a 2 p.m. meeting on Friday, March 1.
In the other regional semifinal, No. 9 Sedgwick County (18-4) will meet up with No. 24 Center (11-9) for a place in the regional final on Saturday at 11 a.m.
All of the action involving Mancos teams this weekend will be broadcast on local radio stations 98.7 FM KRTZ and on krtzradio.com, kicking off with the girls regional semi at 2 p.m. on Friday.
After their district title, the Dove Creek girls (18-2) will host a regional site as the No. 6 seed, preparing to face No. 27 Lone Star (8-10) in their opening round. The contest against the Longhorns kicks off at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 1 in The Dawg House.
The ‘Dogs hope to advance to the regional final on their home floor to face off with either No. 11 Cheyenne Wells (13-9) or No. 22 Arickaree (11-8) for a 10 a.m. battle and a spot in the Great 8 at the Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley on the line. Action can be heard on local radio station NewsTalk 740 AM and 92.3 FM and on kvfcradio.com for the Bulldogs tournament run.
While the girls may potentially meet up with the Cheyenne Wells Tigers, the Bulldog boys will hit the road out to the Kansas border to take on the No. 2 seed Cheyenne Wells (18-4) in the opening round of the 1A boys regionals. The Bulldogs (8-13) enter as the No. 31 seed, and hope to spring the upset to advance to the regional final against either No. 15 Arickaree (17-3) or No. 18 Denver Waldorf (14-6).
The contest between the ‘Dogs and Tigers kicks off at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 1 with the regional final on Saturday at 1 p.m.
For the first time in nearly 15 years, the M-CHS girls (11-10) find themselves in the tournament bracket – entering the 3A field as the No. 12 seed. The Panthers hit the road to Yuma – the No. 5 seed in the tournament – where their opening round matchup will pit them against No. 21 Meeker (10-10). The contest against the Cowboys is set for Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
The winner will face either the host team Yuma (13-8) or the No. 28 seed Brush Beetdiggers (8-14) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Panther boys (8-13) landed as the No. 23 seed and will face off with No. 10 Banning Lewis Academy (18-4) in the opening round of the 3A state tournament. If M-CHS can get past the Stallions in their 5:30 p.m. bout on Friday night in Meeker, then the Panthers will move into the regional final to face either the No. 7 Meeker Cowboys (19-2) – who serve as the regional host – or the No. 26 Florence Huskies (9-13).
If the Panthers are able to win twice this weekend, a spot in the state quarterfinals awaits at Hamilton Gymnasium on the campus of the University of Denver over the weekend of March 7-9.
