Thirty-two teams still battling for Colorado high school girls basketball state championships

After battling through their respective brackets, the Class 5A and 4A semifinalists head to the Denver Coliseum where they' will begin their championship quest Thursday.

The 3A brackets have been whittled down to the final eight teams, and those squads will converge on Hamilton Gym on the campus of the University of Denver.

The 2A tournament was seeded this past week and will begin play at the Budweiser Events Center. The 1A tournaments were also seeded earlier in the week and those teams will begin play at the University of Northern Colorado before the championship games move to the Budweiser Events Center.

Class 5A // Brackets
The Denver Coliseum will host a semifinal game that could certainly feel like a state championship game when No. 1 Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch) and No. 4 Grandview (Aurora) take the floor. Coming off a loss in the state championship game a year ago, Grandview has ambitions of once again reigning as 5A champion. Lauren Betts has been dominant in the post, averaging 17.7 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. In the Final 4 game against Fruita Monument she scored 29 points and pulled down 16 boards. Valor Christian has its own dominant post play in Raegan Beers. The sophomore scores 15.6 points and pulls down 9.9 rebounds per game. Each team also has a standout guard to help facilitate the offense. Addison O'Grady plays that role for Grandview, while Kindyll Wetta does the same for Valor.

Defending champion Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) still has two crucial pieces that helped the Bruins claim the first girls basketball title in program history. Jana Van Gytenbeek can score as evidenced by her 17.4 points per game and can also get everyone else involved. She also averages nearly eight assists. It helps that she has Cali Clark down low. Clark leads the Bruins in rebounding at 10.9 per game. She also scores 13.9 and had a game-high 20 points in the Great 8 win over Ralston Valley (Arvada). They're just one game away from returning to the state title team but have to go through a deep Highlands Ranch team to get there. The Falcons' offense runs through point guard Payton Muma (15.3 points per game) but sophomores Taylor Ray and Alex Pirog could create the formula needed to slow down the defending champions.

The winners of the Final 4 games will play for the 5A title at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Class 4A // Brackets
Defending 4A champion Mullen (Denver) is in a good spot. The No. 9 seed of the Mustangs is a bit deceiving because of the losses they were dealt playing in the Centennial League. But like last year, Mullen can't be ignored when looking at potential state champions. Megan Pohs averages 10.2 points to lead the team, while Imani Perez adds 9.3 points and 7.6 rebounds. They will meet Berthoud in the Final 4 at the Denver Coliseum. For the Spartans, Emily Cavey could be the anaswer to Perez as she scores 17.7 points and grabs seven rebounds of her own. Breanna Fowler adds 13.7 points and 3.6 steals per game to the mix.

Fresh off an upset win over No. 1 Pueblo West, seventh-seeded Holy Family (Broomfield) might be heading to the Coliseum with more momentum than any other 4A team. The Tigers closed out their Great 8 game with the Cyclones by going on a 17-0 run and outscoring Pueblo West 21-4 in the fourth quarter. A pair of juniors in Alyssa Wells and Tyler Whitlock hope to keep that momentum rolling and put the Tigers into the 4A state title game. Wells scores 12.6 points per game while Whitlock totals 9.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.3 steals and three assists per game. Standing in Holy Family's way is 4A Jeffco League champion Green Mountain (Lakewood). The Rams dropped just two games all year, one to Pueblo West and the other to 5A ThunderRidge (Highlands Ranch). Green Mountain is led by junior Courtney Hank, who averages 10.2 points and seven rebounds per game.

The winners of the two 4A games will meet at 1 p.m. Saturday with the state championship on the line.

Class 3A // Brackets
St. Mary's (Colorado Springs) has yet to yield to a 3A team in its hunt for a third state title. The Pirates are once again the favorite to raise a championship trophy. Player of the year candidate Josephine Howery averages 21.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 4.1 steals per game. The Pirates will see a familiar foe in the first round as they play The Vanguard School (Colorado Springs). The Tri-Peaks foes last played Jan. 9 with St. Mary's getting an 82-39 win. The Coursers will likely have to lean on freshman Hailey Blanchard. She scored 16 points in their previous meeting.

Coming off an upset win over second-seeded The Academy (Westminster), Brush will play Eaton in the Great 8, as the Reds also advanced with an upset win. Dalayna Tadolini leads the Beetdiggers with 14.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. She scored 19 in the win over The Academy. Eaton took down No. 7 Lutheran (Parker) to move on to the final weekend of the year. Addie Randell scored 17 points in that win and averages 9.3 points per game. Nakaiya Kuskie leads the team with 11.1 points per game.

University (Greeley) brings a talented trio of scorers to Hamilton Gym as Kylie Kravig, Taylor Gollhofer and Taryn Kravig all average double-digit point performances. The Bulldogs haven't lost since they were beaten by St. Mary's on Dec. 14. They hope to keep that streak alive when they face Centauri (La Jara) on Thursday. The No. 6 Falcons are coming off wins over Kent Denver (Cherry Hills Village) and Alamosa. Mia Garcia leads the team with 10.2 points and 2.7 steals per game.

Delta advanced to the Great 8 after a big win over Buena Vista and close battle with Platte Valley (Kersey). Keely Porter scores 12.8 points per game for the Panthers and gets a big boost from Sara Geddes with 11.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. They will take on Pagosa Springs, which heads to DU as a highly regarded team. Although the Pirates have the No. 5 seed, their depth across the board could put them in a position to contend with St. Mary's should they win on Thursday. Taylor Lewis leads Pagosa in scoring at 10.2 points per game.

Class 2A // Brackets
Limon is the No. 1 seed in 2A on the strength of a 23-1 record on the year. The lone loss for the Badgers came in overtime against Rocky Ford back on Dec. 21. Since then they've been on a tear with just three of their wins coming by single digits. Trista Marx scores 10.4 points per game, while Sidney Hines and Toni Lopez each add nine. Limon gets Region 7 champion Holly in the first round. The Wildcats have won five of their last six games. Saedee Davis leads the team with 12.6 points and seven rebounds per game.

Like Limon, No. 2 Holyoke lost just one game on the year and that was against the Badgers. A 41-32 win over Soroco gave Holyoke the Region 1 championship and a berth in the state tournament. Kristin Vieselmeyer nearly brings in a double-double each game with 14 points and 9.7 rebounds. The Dragons face a hot Ignacio team Thursday. The Bobcats knocked off Rocky Ford, a team many had pegged as state bound. Ignacio has a diverse offensive attack as Makayla Howell leads the team with eight points per game.

Rye enters the 2A bracket as the lone undefeated team left in the field. The Thunderbolts have been sound defensively, giving up an average of just 23 points per game while also averaging 14.2 steals. Offensively it's Sophie Adamson leading the way with 14.7 points per game. Her twin sister Sydney Adamson averages 10.5 while Jolee Ortiz scores 13.5. They will meet Sanford in the first round of the tournament. Mackenzie Peterson averages 9.9 points per game to lead the Indians.

A 12-point win over Peyton punched No. 4 Del Norte's ticket to the 2A state tournament. The Tigers haven't lost since getting edged by points by South Baca on Feb. 15. Kendra Parra has been a high-level scorer for Del Norte this season by averaging 21 points per game. The Tigers meet No. 5 Wray in the first round. Johanna Anderson, Riley George and Jordlynn Wiltfang all score in double figures for the Eagles.

Class 1A // Brackets
Springfield enters the week as the top overall seed in the 1A tournament. The Longhorns have a 20-2 record on the year but suffered just one loss to an in-state opponent. That came on Feb. 28 when South Baca beat them 49-39. That won't deter them from making a run at the 1A championship, however. Julia Mondragon averages 14.6 points and six rebounds per year and has consistently been one of the top performers in 1A all season. Springfield opens its state tournament against McClave. The Cardinals swept their way through district and regionals to claim a state tournament bid. Sophomore Anna Beckett is scoring 15 points a game while also averaging 4.3 steals.

Briggsdale enters the tournament with a nine-game winning streak and holds the No. 2 seed. Kylie Krise and Shelby Hoffman might be the top one-two punch in the entire tournament. Krise averages 20.9 points per game while Hoffman adds 15. The Falcons take on Cotopaxi, which is coming off a regional championship win over Dove Creek. Koylynn Gulliford scores 16.9 points and grabs 4.5 steals per game for the Pirates.

South Baca is in a dangerous spot as the No. 3 seed. The Patriots already have a win over No. 1 Springfield and get nearly 14 points per game from both Delaney Eskew and Alissa Hebberd. The Patriots are also 3-1 on the year against teams that made the 1A tournament. They will meet Sangre de Cristo (Mosca) in the first round. The Thunderbirds shouldn't be counted out after going 20-3, which includes wins in their last nine games. Kylee Christensen leads the team with 14.4 points per game.

Fleming bounced back from a loss to Briggsdale in a district championship to top Lone Star for a regional title. The Wildcats dropped two games to Briggsdale this season but did get a 64-63 win on Feb. 1. Whitney Chintala and Kendyl Kirkwood each average more than 18 points per game for the Wildcats. They have a tough first-round draw as they will meet Shining Mountain (Boulder) to start tournament play. The Lions sat near the top of the 1A RPI all season, and three of the seven total players on the roster average double-digit scoring numbers. Lola Conaway leads with 12.9 points per game, while Frances Hilliard has 11.2 and Kalea Zeender adds 10.4.