4A First Round Preview: Ron Vlasin Region
It’s playoff time! The Colorado Class 4A state tournament is set to kick off with the first round on Wednesday. A total of 16 games will be played, and they will determine who will face each of the four teams…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingIt’s playoff time! The Colorado Class 4A state tournament is set to kick off with the first round on Wednesday. A total of 16 games will be played, and they will determine who will face each of the four teams that received first-round byes in each of the four regions.
Let’s take a look at each first-round matchup in the Ron Vlasin Region:
First-round byes: No. 1 Lewis-Palmer, No. 8 Wheat Ridge, No. 9 Centaurus, No. 16 The Classical Academy.
No. 32 Silver Creek (12-11) vs. No. 33 Ponderosa (10-13), Wednesday, 7 p.m.
The Silver Creek Raptors have now qualified for the 4A state tournament in 14 of the past 15 seasons but this was one of the tougher ones as they were limited by a tough schedule and an injury to junior point guard Andrew Duquette (16.5 ppg). Ponderosa also had its struggled, going 1-9 in the difficult 5A/4A Continental League. The Mustangs held their 23 regular-season opponents to an average below 50 points and Silver Creek also prides itself on its defense. This one could turn into a low-scoring physical battle. Then winner gets the pleasure of facing juggernaut Lewis-Palmer in the second round.
No. 17 Greeley Central (14-9) vs. No. 48 Pueblo South (8-15), Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Pueblo South may be the final team to make it into this year’s postseason but just a year ago, the Colts were the No. 1 overall seed and reached the Final Four. The Colts filled in for last spring’s exodus of talent with players like Heath McLaughlin (11.1 ppg) and Teidric Duran (10.9), and still found their way in. They’ll face a guard-heavy Greeley Central club that has been ranked in the top 10 for most of the season but fell out in the final weeks. Slashing guards Jackson Hayslip (20.7 ppg) and Spencer Conway (13.4) pace the Wildcats and stopping their penetration will be key.
No. 25 Thomas Jefferson (13-10) vs. No. 40 Frederick (11-12), Wednesday, TBA
Thomas Jefferson comes to the 4A postseason having played with some of the state’s big boys in the Denver Prep League and absolutely cannot be underestimated as the No. 25 overall seed. Darius Hornbuckle (14.4 ppg) leads the Spartans in scoring and senior brothers Logan Cecil (6-foot-8) and Ryan Cecil (6-foot-7) give TJ an intimidating presence inside. Frederick, on the other hand, won just one game last year and finished dead last in the 2017-18 RPI standings. So in a lot of ways, the Warriors are playing with house money and a young roster that features a trio of double-digit scorers – Joe Cartelli (16.0 ppg), Jacob Green (14.1) and Davis Richard (11.7).
No. 24 Conifer (16-7) vs. No. 41 Eagle Valley (8-13), Wednesday, 6 p.m.
Entering the postseason on an eight-game win streak, Conifer is clearly the hotter team compared to Eagle Valley, which lost five of its last six regular-season contests. Eagle Valley senior Jacob Medina (14.1 ppg) is the highest-scoring player in this game but both teams spread the ball around quite a bit with a combined 11 averaging over 6.5 points a night. Since Eagle Valley has quite a long bus ride to reach Conifer, having home court advantage certainly won’t hurt the Lobos either.