Colorado girls basketball final weekend promises fireworks

While the Class 5A quarterfinals featured a slew of 25-point games and one close one, the semifinals figure to hold much more intrigue.

Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) began action Friday by nipping top-seeded Highlands Ranch 47-43 to earn its first trip to the semifinals since 2004, but then No. 1 seeds Monarch (Louisville), Broomfield and ThunderRidge (Highlands Ranch) cruised to wins by a combined 75 points.

Storylines are abundant as the Final Four kicks off Thursday at the Coors Events Center. Can Broomfield (24-2) send coach Mike Croell out a winner in his 20th and final season with the Eagles, their first in 5A? Or can Cherry Creek keep its roll going by upsetting the Eagles?

The other semifinal features teams that haven't met yet this season in Monarch and ThunderRidge. Monarch is seeking its first ever championship after finishing runner-up in 2009 and 2012, and ThunderRidge is looking to capture the title for the first time since reeling off three straight from 2003-05.

"Freshman year, we lost a heartbreaker in the championship game," Monarch guard Raegen Rohn said, referring to a close loss to Legacy. "Ever since then, it's been me and my fellow seniors' goal to come out here and redeem ourselves our senior year."

The 4A Final Four, also to start Thursday at the Coors Events Center, features an absolute bracket-buster in Longmont. The Trojans were the No. 6 seed in the Tanya Haave Region and upset No. 3 Evergreen No. 2 Pueblo South and then, most notable of all, No. 1 overall seed Canon City.

The Trojans got an enormous game from junior center Sydney Wetterstrom (28 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks) to oust the previously unbeaten Tigers 61-48 on their home floor. Canon City coach Shae Heath told the Canon City Daily Record that his team has struggled with widespread sickness in the week leading up to the contest but didn't discredit Longmont's gritty effort.

"I'm not making excuses but there are realities that these girls had to overcome this week and they overcame them the best they could for tonight's game," he told the newspaper. "Emily Lambrecht played her heart out tonight a fraction of who Emily is normally."

Full strength might not have mattered with the way Longmont has been performing.

"We just have that attitude that we're not going to lose," Wetterstrom said.

Longmont will take on Sand Creek (Colorado Springs) in the semifinals, a Scorpions bunch that earned its first appearance in the Final Four by ousting top-seeded D'Evelyn (Denver) 59-56. Juniors Oliana Squires and Liah Davis lead the Scorpions (22-3).

The lone No. 1 seed to survive was Pueblo West, who ousted Mullen (Denver) in the quarterfinals. The Haley Simental-led Cyclones will take on Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch), a No. 2 seed that walloped top-seeded Holy Family (Broomfield) 53-37 in the quarterfinals.

The 3A, 2A and 1A final weekend features eight teams per classification with the quarterfinals beginning Thursday.

The clear party-crasher in the 3A bracket is No. 25 Liberty Common (Fort Collins), which upset No. 8 Bennett and No. 9 St. Mary's (Colorado Springs) en route to the Great 8. The Eagles' reward is to face top-seeded Sterling (23-0), but they'll take it if it means they're in the Colorado Mines-based tournament.

Liberty Common (18-5) will look for a huge game from sophomore Halley Miklos, who averages 16.7 points and 10.3 rebounds.

The only other team outside the top eight to earn a spot in the bracket is No. 10 Centauri (La Jara), which ousted No. 7 Olathe in the Sweet 16 to gain inclusion. Center Ember Canty recorded 18 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks as the Falcons outscored the Pirates 20-6 in the fourth to eke out a 48-45 win.

Now Centauri (17-6) will take on another set of Pirates, those of No. 2 Pagosa Springs (23-0).

Sterling and Pagosa Springs remain the favorites with their combined 46-0 mark, but don't count out defending 2A champ Lutheran (Parker), Manitou Springs, Eaton or red-hot Moffat County (Craig).

The 2A tournament, to be held at CSU-Pueblo, is top-heavy with unbeaten squads Peyton (23-0) and Hoehne (25-0) leading the way. Third-seeded Akron (22-2) might have made a case for a No. 1 seed in any other season, and the Rams absolutely should be considered a title contender.

Then there is fourth-seeded Yuma (19-4), who finished state runner-up last season and has received a stellar season from junior Logan Hixon.

In the 1A final weekend at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, top-seeded Norwood (21-1) will be looking for a second straight title. The Mavericks' lone loss this season was to 2A Ignacio and they have posted a 47-2 mark over the past two seasons.

Kit Carson (22-0) is the lone undefeated team in the field and the Wildcats have benefitted from gigantic seasons from Aurelia Isenbart and Micayla Isenbart. Sangre de Cristo (Mosca) (22-1) and Idalia (18-2) also are looking to parlay incredible regular-season success into a run at the title.