TOP PERFORMERS* Xavier Ford, Harrison: The senior poured in 31 points Saturday as the Panthers improved to 9-0 with a 73-59 win against Discovery Canyon. Ford, who averages 28.4 points, has topped 30 five times.
* Max McCaffrey, Valor Christian: The son of former Denver Broncos wide receiver Ed McCaffrey found a way to pass his time in the winter. The standout defensive back scored 17 points Saturday in the Eagles' 68-58 win against Legend (younger brother Christian added eight points). Niko Read leads the 9-2 Eagles with a 20.4 scoring average.
* Brennan Wilkie, Wheat Ridge: The senior drilled six 3-pointers Saturday en route to 24 points in the Farmers' 87-36 thrashing of Littleton. Not bad for one of the state's top softball catchers.
* Diani Akigbogun, Regis Jesuit: The injury-ravaged Raiders have eight freshmen among their 11 active players, but Akigbogun would be in the lineup regardless. The 6-foot-1 frosh scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Friday night in the Raiders' 57-49 win against Pine Creek.
ON TAP* Wasson (Colorado Springs) at Lewis-Palmer (Monument) boys, Friday, 7 p.m.: D.J, Hanes-led Wasson will attempt to inhibit the Rangers' high-scoring ways in a matchup of 9-2 4A Colorado Springs Metro League squads. Lewis-Palmer is coming off a 104-39 shellacking of Mesa Ridge in which center
Josh Scott produced 41 points.
* Broomfield at Longmont boys, Friday, 7 p.m.: Two of the finest teams in the 4A Northern League square off in a contest that could go a long way in determining the league crown. Longmont's
Cade Kloster averages 20 points a game while balanced Broomfield is led by
Aric Kaiser (12.7).
* Longmont at Broomfield girls, Friday, 7 p.m.: The Trojans (11-0) take another shot at four-time defending-champion Broomfield in a matchup of the defined top two teams in 4A. Some of the luster has been taken off this one with Broomfield's loss to 5A Legacy last week, which snapped a 31-game winning streak, but the Eagles are still 117-4 during their title reign.
* Centauri (La Jara) at Pagosa Springs girls, Friday, 7 p.m.: 3A Intermountain League play kicks off with a dandy, with Centauri entering 9-1 (the loss was by two points to Rye) and Pagosa Springs unscathed at 8-0. Senior
Mary Brinton averages 22.1 points a game for Pagosa.
Paul Willis is a regular sports freelancer for The Denver Post and covered high school, college and pro sports for the Rocky Mountain News from 2000-09. You can reach him at gdpdub@aol.com.
