4A First Round Preview: Tracy Hill Quadrant
The state brackets are set in Colorado’s 5A and 4A fields with respective top seeds in Valor Christian and Sand Creek. In this preview, we’ll take a look at the Tracy Hill region in Class 4A — that’s bottom right…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe state brackets are set in Colorado’s 5A and 4A fields with respective top seeds in Valor Christian and Sand Creek. In this preview, we’ll take a look at the Tracy Hill region in Class 4A — that’s bottom right on your computer screens.
Green Mountain leads the quadrant as the third seed followed by No. 6 Thompson Valley, No. 11 Sierra and No. 14 Durango. Those four teams also earned one of the tournament’s 16 first-round byes and their next opponent will be decided following Tuesday and Wednesday’s slate of games.
Here’s a look at the region’s first-round games.
No. 30 Pueblo County (11-12, 4-6 South Central) vs. No. 35 Standley Lake (9-14, 4-8 Jeffco)
Erin MauroErin Mauro, in her fourth year on varsity for Pueblo County, leads the team with 10.5 ppg and 6.7 rpg. The Hornets finished fourth in the 4A South Central League and 11-12 overall — and yet something that may be keen to keep an eye on is the fact they won the last six games when Mauro scored in double figures. Hayle Herrera (8 ppg) and Rose Weimer (7.9) make up most of the other offensive production for Pueblo County, which averaged 36.5 ppg. Standley Lake, meanwhile, helped its seeding with back-to-back wins following a four-game losing streak. Delaney Huetson (9.6 ppg) and Lexi Stout (9.1) lead the Gators in scoring.
No. 19 Skyview (19-4, 7-0 Colorado 8) vs. No. 46 Coronado (7-16, 6-6 Colorado Springs Metro)
Thalia GuardiolaSkyview, winners of the 4A/3A Colorado 8 League, comes into the tournament red-hot with 10 straight wins on a season where it nearly doubled its opponents in scoring (1104-610). Consider this: The team;s leading scorer, Thalia Gaurdiola (11.8 ppg), had six games of scoring 16 or more points. The Wolverines had eight games in which they held opponents to 16 or fewer points. Eek. Coronado, meanwhile, snuck into 48-team field thanks to an impressive three-game winning streak to close the season — a run that included a three-point win over 5A No. 10 Fountain-Fort Carson. Fatinah Muhammed is sound defensively and leads the team with 9.4 ppg. Sanaya Jones is a monster on the boards averaging 11 per game.
No. 27 Mead (11-12, 7-9 Tri-Valley) vs. No. 38 Northfield (12-11, 4-5 Denver Prep)
Maddox BostonMead finished fifth in the 5A/4A Tri-Valley League, a conference that includes 4A top-10 teams in Holy Family, Berthoud and Erie. The Mavericks have just one senior on their varsity roster in Maddie Muntz, while sophomores Maddox Boston (10.2 ppg) and Jacklyn Stephenson (9.7 ppg) led the team in scoring. Said first-year coach JR Sagner last week: “We’re young, I’m brand new to them, so there was a lot of changes. But I think they’re starting to buy into those changes. We’re taking steps in the right direction.” Northfield, meanwhile, is also led by a pair of sophomores in Giavonna Meeks (12.4 ppg and 10.7 rpg) and Malia Heien (12.2 and 10.9), both of whom average a double-double. The Nighthawks finished seventh in the 11-team 5A/4A Denver Prep League and went 12-11.
No. 22 Weld Central (17-6, 6-1 Colorado 8) vs. No. 43 Rifle (9-14, 7-5 Western Slope)
Weld Central’s Kaydee Sims ranks in the top 10 in state scoring with 20.1 ppg. In consecutive games earlier in the month she outscored the opponent alone with 30 points in a 71-29 win over Fort Lupton and 31 points in a 74-29 win over Alameda. The junior captain, who also averages 8.6 boards per game, has scored over 20 or more points in a game 12 times this season. She had 35 points on 50 percent shooting six days ago in a loss to Riverdale Ridge. So … Rifle may need an uptick in its offensive production to keep up after averaging just 33.2 ppg. Sophomore guard Jamie Caron has proven to be an up-and-coming scorer at 10.1 ppg. Maybe most impressive among her season stats is her knack at reaching the line. She hit 72 of her 112 free throw attempts this season.