CLASS 4A BOYS

No. 1 Lewis-Palmer Rangers

Game data: No. 4 Holy Family (22-4) vs. No. 1 Lewis-Palmer (26-0) … 4A state semifinals … 4 p.m. Friday at the Denver Coliseum. The winner will move on to the 4A state championship against either No. 2 Longmont or No. 14 Pueblo East on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Scouting the Rangers: Through the first three games of the state tournament the Rangers average 73 points, all the while holding opponents to 37.3, on average. Lewis-Palmer will look to continue that through the semifinals as it faces Holy Family in a rematch from December. The Rangers defeated the Tigers 60-43.

Joel Scott scored 22 points in the Rangers’ last two games. Matthew Ragsdale scored 18 in the quarterfinals against Centaurus, and 10 in a 55-point victory over Greeley Central. Noah Baca scored 15 and eight points, respectively, while Ethan Forrester scored 11 against the Wildcats.

Scott averages 18.9 points, followed by Ragsdale (17.5) and Forrester (10.2). Scott is also the team’s top rebounder averaging six, followed by 6-foot-4 Forrester with 4.1. Baca averages 2.7 steals.

The Rangers are the top-scoring Class 4A team in the state, averaging 71.7 points and are the state’s most consistent shooting team, shooting 55 percent from the field and 38 percent from beyond the arc.

Averaging 5.4 blocks, Lewis-Palmer is ranked second in 4A thanks to efforts by Scott (1.8), Forrester (1.2) and senior Tre Mccullough (1.1).

Scouting the Tigers: Holy Family is coming off two very similar games in the third and fourth rounds in which they defeated Lincoln and Mead 64-54 and 63-54, respectively.

Individual scoring stats for Holy Family are not updated through the last two rounds, but through 24 games the Tigers were led by Tanner Baird with 16.5 points, followed by Kyle Helbig (13.5) and Adam Jolly (12). Helbig averages 8.2 rebounds, followed by Jolly with 7.7. They have completed eight and five double-doubles this season, respectively.

Last time out against the Rangers Jolly led the Tigers with 11 points, and nearly had a double-double with eight rebounds. Helbig scored 10 and Baird had nine.

From coach Bill Benton: “We played them a long time ago, and we are both very different teams. Watching them on film they are just playing at a different level, and I imagine they love this matchup and the opportunity to get another shot at us. That just adds another layer to our bull’s-eye that our guys wear, and they wear it pretty well.

They’re very similar to us and that’s a scary thing about them. They do so many things well and they work so hard. Usually we can go into a game knowing we are going to outwork someone, but with this group they match us with the same intensity and effort.”

CLASS 4A GIRLS

No. 1 Air Academy Kadets

Game data: No. 4 Pueblo South (23-3) vs. No. 1 Air Academy (26-0) … 4A state semifinals … 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Denver Coliseum. The winner will play in the Class 4A state championship game against either No. 2 Holy Family or No. 14 Mullen on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Scouting the Kadets: Air Academy enters the semifinals after storming through the regular season undefeated, and taking down its first three postseason opponents by an average of 15 points.

Air Academy will look for another double-digit victory in the semifinals against a familiar opponent. In the final week of the regular season the Kadets defeated Pueblo South 42-39, led by Liza Louthan with 12 points. The Colts outscored Air Academy 15-6 in the fourth quarter, but ran out of time to complete the comeback.

In the Kadets’ most recent playoff victory the team defeated No. 8 Berthoud by 12 points.

Heaven Hall led the Kadets in the state quarterfinals with 16 points, followed by Zoe Sims (14) and Tatum Miller (13). In a four-point win over Sierra in the third round Kylee Blacksten scored 18 points, followed by Sims (14), and Louthan (12).

Blacksten leads the team with 14.6 points a game, followed by Sums with 11.2. Both average 7.2 rebounds.

The Kadets average 55.5 points, and shoot 48 percent from the field, on average.

Scouting the Colts: Since the Pueblo South’s loss to Air Academy at the beginning of February, the Colts have won five straight. Most recently Pueblo South survived a 48-42 win over Evergreen in which the team had to fend off a Cougar comeback in the second half.

Drea Nelson led the Colts with 15 points against Evergreen. Jada Dupree scored 12. In the third round against Canon City, Gabi Lucero put up 25 points, followed by freshman Chloe Keck with 13.

Lucero has a double-double average with 18.8 points and 12.5 rebounds, and has 20 double-doubles through 26 games. Nelson averages 15.6 and Dupree is third with 11.

The Colts have a short bench with just six players appearing in six or more games this season.

From coach Phil Roiko: “I think this game is going to be a battle and it will be a great game for fans to watch. I think we have a pretty good game plan, not to give too much away. They’re solid across the board and we know we have to slow down Gabi and Nelson. Nelson against us I think had three 3s down the stretch that brought them back in the game, and those two make that team go. But we’ve been working hard and hopefully we can do the right things to slow them down.

This will be our first time playing in the Coliseum, while they have been there every year, I think. We actually went over to practice at Coronado, which has some depth behind the basket just to get a different feel like we will have in Denver, so that was good for us last night.”

CLASS 3A BOYS

No. 4 Vanguard Coursers

Game data: No. 5 Delta (20-4) vs. No. 4 Vanguard (22-2) … 3A state quarterfinals … 10:15 a.m. Thursday at the University of Denver. The winner will play either No. 1 Lutheran or No. 8 DSST: Stapleton in the semifinals Friday.

Scouting the Coursers: After cruising through the regular season undefeated in Colorado the Coursers claimed a close first-round win over Strasburg, and earned a dominant 27-point win over Gunnison in the round of 16.

Vanguard met Delta in the first game of the regular season, defeating the Panthers by 20 as Seth Fuqua put up 31 points.

Fuqua and Nique Clifford led Vanguard through the first round, scoring 22 and 19 points, respectively, while Joseph Padilla scored 10. Clifford went on to lead the team with 18 points against Gunnison, while Fuqua and Padilla had 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Vanguard is the second-highest scoring team in the state averaging 77.8 points. Fuqua leads the team with 24.6 points per game, followed by Clifford (18.7) and Padilla (14). Clifford averages 11.4 rebounds and posted 15 double-doubles this season. Fuqua has had three and one triple-double. Sterling Lee, who averages 5.5 points, has four double-doubles.

The Coursers have won 19 straight games and will compete in the quarterfinals for the first time in program history. Just last year Vanguard won its first playoff game.

Scouting the Panthers: Delta enters the state quarterfinals on a 12-game winning streak, which included an overtime Western Slope championship win over Roaring Fork.

The Panthers punched their ticket with a pair of narrow victories, defeating Bayfield in the first round by four points, and Faith Christian in the round of 16 by five.

Scoring stats for Delta have not been updated through the postseason, but senior Kyle Mock led the Panthers averaging 9.6 points through the regular season. Andrew Baier averaged 8.5 points and led the team in rebounds with 6.5 per game. Mock averages 6.4 boards.

From coach Joe Wetters: “The excitement level is really high. We’ve had a great week of practice and they’re excited to get to their goal of playing on the last day of the season. We feel pretty confident after playing them earlier in the season and knowing our opponent, but we still know they are going to play tough. I think they became a little bit more solid on their defensive end as the season went along, but they’re about the same team we saw earlier in the year.

At this point of the season I think our kids are used to these big games. These kids have played on so many club teams, winning championships, and being at the top of the league this season, every league game was a big game. So I don’t think they’re nervous or losing themselves in the moment, but they do realize it could come down to some key possessions and they’re ready for that.”

CLASS 3A GIRLS

No. 1 St. Mary’s Pirates

Game data: No. 9 Alamosa (17-6) vs. No. 1 St. Mary’s (23-1) … 3A state quarterfinals … 8:45 a.m. Thursday at the University of Denver. The winner will move on to the semifinal to play either No. 4 Delta or No. 5 Eaton.

Scouting the Pirates: Using momentum from a big Tri-Peaks championship victory the Pirates defeated their first two state tournament opponents by a combined 110 points. Juniors Seneca Hackley and Josephine Howery scored a combined 86 points, putting up 42 and 44 points, respectively.

The Pirates started fast in both playoff games, outscoring opponents by an average of 17 points in the first quarter.

Howery leads the team averaging 20.5 points, followed by Hackley with 13.3. Catherine Cummings averages 10.4 and is the team’s leading rebounder with 7.4 per game.

Although the team is young with just two seniors, St. Mary’s is wise beyond its years, entering the quarterfinals with extensive experience as the reigning Class 3A champions — won with just three seniors a year ago.

Scouting the Mean Moose: After losing a heartbreaker to Pagosa Springs in the Intermountain district championship, Alamosa kicked off the state tournament with a 32-point win over Colorado Academy. The Mean Moose moved on to defeat Platte Valley by nine in the round of 16.

Alamosa’s two playoff wins were credited in part to leading scorers Lilly Lavier (11.3 ppg) and Sylvie Canton (10.2 ppg). Lavier led the Mean Moose with 16 points against Colorado Academy, followed by Alma Martinez with 12. Canton led the charge with 14 points against Platte Valley with 14 points, and Emily Lavier had 10.

Alamosa averages 45.8 points, led by Lilly Lavier with 11.7 and Canton with 10. Emily Lavier averages 9.4 points.

From coach Mike Burkett: “We are really loose right now. We had a great practice and they’re having a good time. Today (Wednesday) we were talking about some things and talking about the memories from this year, and that’s what it’s really all about. You want to play hard and focus on doing the best you can, but it’s also about having a good time and making memories.

(Alamosa) is a pretty aggressive team defensively but I just told the girls that if we play at the level we have been playing we will be fine. People get nervous about things like this, but our strength is in our guards, and Seneca and Josephine are running the show. You don’t get guards any better than them.”

No. 2 Colorado Springs Christian Lions

Game data: No. 10 Centauri (18-6) vs. No. 2 Colorado Springs Christian (23-1) … 3A state quarterfinals … 4 p.m. Thursday at the University of Denver. The winner will move on to the semifinals to face either No. 3 Pagosa Springs or No. 6 Lutheran.

Scouting the Lions: CSCS bounced back from a Tri-Peaks championship loss to St. Mary’s with a pair of dominant performances in the first two state rounds, outscoring opponents 33.5 points on average.

The Lions were led by senior Megan Engesser who dropped a quadruple double against Eagle Ridge Academy, and a double-double against Manitou Springs in the round of 16. According to coach Mark Engesser, Megan is just the third female athlete in the state to record a quadruple double this season. She had 19 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and 14 steals against the Warriors. She scored 32 points and had 10 boards against the Mustangs.

Fellow senior Rachel Ingram scored 21 points to lead the Lions against Eagle Ridge, and added another 13 against Manitou Springs. Corrie Anderson scored 10 against the Mustangs.

Engesser has a double-double average with 23 points and 10.5 rebounds, followed by Ingram with 17.6 points.

Scouting the Falcons: Centauri is the third-place winner from the Intermountain district, and punched its ticket to the quarterfinals with wins over Roaring Fork and The Academy last weekend. The Falcons won by 14 and 15 points, respectively, led by Melissa Wilson and Brenna McDaniel who scored 32 and 24 points between the two games, respectively. Junior Mia Garcia scored a team-high 12 points against The Academy.

Wilson has the team’s only double-figure average with 14.9 points, followed by sophomores Courtney Hamilton and McDaniel with 8.8 and 8.2, respectively.

Hamilton is the team’s leading rebounder with 6.3 followed by Wilson with five.

The Falcons’ five losses in 2019 came against No. 3 Pagosa Springs (two losses) and No. 9 Alamosa (three losses).

From coach Mark Engesser: “Centauri is a very physical team, so we’ve been trying to rest some and watch more film and save our legs a little bit to get ready for hopefully a three-day weekend — but if we don’t win tomorrow it’s over, so we’re focused on Centauri.

It’s always nerve-wracking going up there, worrying about how you will do and what matchups you will get. Most teams we know are going to focus on stopping Megan and Rachel and we have to adjust based on how they try to stop those two. It’s different for every team, but (Megan and Rachel) play so hard. Even if they’re shooting poorly they give it everything they have and over time good things happen. They just keep going and going. Their intensity is never wavering and that’s what’s so great about them.”

CLASS 1A BOYS

No. 5 Evangelical Christian Eagles

Game data: No. 5 Evangelical Christian (19-3) vs. No. 4 Haxtun (16-7) … 1A first round … 1:15 p.m. Thursday at CSU-Pueblo. The winner will move on to the semifinals to face either No. 1 De Beque or No. 8 Prairie. The loser will play in the consolation semifinals.

Scouting the Eagles: ECA storms into the state tournament on a 14-game winning streak including a pair of dominant district and regional championship wins. The Eagles, who are undefeated in 2019, claimed a 23-point victory over Ouray in the Region 1 title game after a 14-point win over Genoa-Hugo/Karval in the District 7 tournament.

Jason Holt and Sam Mote led the Eagles against Ouray scoring 16 and 12 points, respectively. Holt put up 24 points against Genoa, while Brayden Hekkers scored 10.

Holt, a junior, averages 21.7 points, followed by Hekkers with 11.1. Mote averages nine. Judah Alexander, a 6-foot-2 center, is the team’s top rebounder, averaging seven. Hekkers averages six.

ECA averages 58.6 points, and during its 14-game winning streak the Eagles have outscored opponents by 25, on average.

Scouting the Fightin’ Bulldogs: Haxtun enters the tournament on a four-game winning streak after dropping the final regular-season game in double-overtime to Yuma. Their last two losses were decided in overtime. The Fightin’ Bulldogs average 49.65 points. Individual scoring stats were not available.

From coach Bob Wingett: “This is the first time any of the boys are going to be playing in the state tournament and we feel great. The kids have worked really hard and they’ve bought into this defense-first mentality and we know what we need to take care of.

I think we’ve won 14 in a row and it’s mainly because these kids are comfortable with the way we play. This whole season kind of flipped when we were down 15 with four minutes to go against Peyton (Feb. 9), and we ended the game on a 17-0 run and we won. Our kids are so confident right now and they’re playing that way.”

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