5A First Round Preview: Rhonda Blanford-Green Quadrant
With the announcement of the 5A and 4A state tournament brackets on Sunday morning, it officially became playoff time for Colorado’s two largest classifications. To continue our corner-to-corner tournament preview, here is a look at what to expect from each…
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Continue ReadingWith the announcement of the 5A and 4A state tournament brackets on Sunday morning, it officially became playoff time for Colorado’s two largest classifications. To continue our corner-to-corner tournament preview, here is a look at what to expect from each game in the 5A Rhonda Blanford-Green quadrant.
First-round byes: No. 4 Grandview, No. 13 ThunderRidge, No. 5 Fruita Monument and No. 12 Denver East.
No. 29 Loveland (13-10, 4-8 Front Range) vs. No. 36 Arvada West (13-10, 3-5 Jeffco)
Loveland has the players capable of having an inside and outside presence against anyone it faces. Guards in senior Megan Stackhouse and junior Avery Buhler both average over 10 points a game and over 2 steals per game on the defensive end. Down low, sophomore center Kajsa Borrman leads the team in scoring with 11 per game and and hauls in 7.3 boards a night. Arvada West is also led by a couple underclassmen with sophomore Amanda Neff leading in scoring with 8.8 points per game and freshman Payton Reed leading on the glass with 6.8 rebounds a game. Each side averages right at about 44 points per game, so this matchup could come down to the wire and be decided by which team’s younger roster can pull through the first-round nerves.
Other Loveland players to watch: Skyler Michael, Livia Mcquade, Hannah Zink.
Other Arvada West players to watch: Madison Manson, Calaiya Vickles, Jasmyn Williams.
No. 20 Arapahoe (13-10, 8-6 Centennial) vs. No. 45 Douglas County (8-15, 3-7 Continental)
Arapahoe is led by 6-foot-2 power forward Sam Crispe who averages 12.6 points per game and brings in 7.7 rebounds a contest, as a sophomore. Plus it helps to have a senior guard up top running the team on the floor in senior Kali March with her 10.9 points per game and 2 steals on the defensive end per night. And playing in a league with Grandview and Cherry Creek never hurts to get battle-ready for the playoffs. Douglas County will try to pull the upset behind senior Taylor Griffin as she leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 10.3 and 5.2 per game, respectively. Overall, the effort for Huskies is done by a large committee with eight players seeing action in at least 20 games, a depth that could help later on in the contest.
Other Arapahoe players to watch: Katy Edwards, Sam Shaw, Marley Delaney
Other Douglas County players to watch: Isabella Newbold, Julia Dias, Carly Dickson.
No. 28 Mountain Range (14-9, 6-6 Front Range) vs. No. 37 Brighton (12-11, 6-4 East Metro)
Hannah ChavezFor the Mustangs, senior guard Lillian West and junior 5-foot-11 forward Hannah Chavez lead the way as they both score right at 11 points per game. Meanwhile, Chavez puts down 6.1 rebounds per game, while senior Ashleigh Hinds isn’t far behind both of them with 8.7 points and 6 rebounds per game. Nikki Antonopoulos is the leader for the Bulldogs with 11.2 points per game and gets her rebounding help from sophomore Payton Gagon and Amanda Byrnes who both average 6.6 rebounds per game. The glass could become the difference in this one as Brighton averages 12 more per game than Mountain Range as the two clubs score about 45 points per game.
Other Mountain Range players to watch: Miliani Alvarado, Aaliyah Chavez, Athaiah Gallegos.
Other Brighton players to watch: Mai Le Water, Tori Hendricks, Liyah Bruin.
No. 21 Doherty (15-8, 10-2 CS Metro) vs. No. 44 Legend (9-14, 2-8 Continental)
Doherty averages 20 more points a game than Legend and that starts with the 13.1 from junior Taryn Lindsey. The guard also pitches in 3 assists and 2 steals per game in the backcourt. The Spartans also have a big advantage on the glass with Aujanae Latimer hauling in 9 boards per game. Doing most of the scoring from Legend is sophomore Kinzie Whitehead (9.1 points per game) and senior Ally Lowe (7.7 points per game). If the Titans are looking for an upset, they will have to impose their will on defense to slow down the 53 points per game scored by the Spartans, and steals leader Delaney Quinn could help that with her 3.7 swipes per game.
Other Doherty players to watch: Payton Sterk, Taylor Corsi, Makenzie Noll.
Other Legend players to watch: Ashley Menard, Hailey Houlberg.