Pagosa Springs among title hopefuls in Colorado 3A girls basketball

The most dominant girls basketball team in Class 3A the past two seasons, at least in regards to raw success rate, might surprise some.

Top-seeded Sterling? Nope.

It's No. 2 Pagosa Springs. Now, anyone on the upper end of the 3A hierarchy knows the Pirates are among the handful of the elite. But a deeper look reveals the Wes Lewis-coached squad has gone 46-1 over the past two seasons.

The lone loss was a 52-45 decision to Holy Family (Broomfield) in last season's championship game at the Air Force Academy. Holy Family has vaulted to 4A, but even with the Tigers out of the picture, the Pirates, just like last year, aren't the absolute favorite despite entering the round-of-32 undefeated.

Sterling (22-0) also has gone unscathed and was deemed slightly stronger than Pagosa Springs.

"I don't know if it's a motivation factor," Pagosa Springs coach Wes Lewis said. "With the fact that Sterling is undefeated, we certainly respect them as a program and what they've accomplished. We try not to get caught up in the press or the record or anything like that."

What's certain is that Holy Family's departure after winning six of the past seven 3A titles is a game-changer.

"Whatever teams make the final eight are going to be quality basketball teams, and everybody is going to have a chance to win it," said Lewis, whose Pagosa Springs squad is seeking its first title after finishing runner-up in 1998, '99 and last season.

With that in mind and the first-round action set for Friday, here's a look at each quadrant of the 3A girls bracket.

Quadrant 1
Highest seed: No. 1 Sterling
Potential bracket buster: No. 9 St. Mary's (Colorado Springs). Two seasons removed from a double-overtime heartbreaker against Holy Family in the championship game, the Pirates have put themselves back in the hunt with a 20-2 mark. Olivia Florek and Maggie Hartman lead a squad that began the season with 16 straight wins.
Bracket notes: Grand Valley (Parachute) guard Kyra Chenoweth is fourth in 3A in scoring at 18.4 points a game for the No. 24 Cardinals. . . . That is one spot ahead of Chandler Babi of No. 8 Bennett, who averages 18.2. Included was a 35-point performance in a win against The Pinnacle (Federal Heights). . . . No. 16 Lamar and senior Courtney Clark (15 points, 8.3 rebounds) have won five of six entering the first-round matchup with No. 17 The Academy (Westminster).

Quadrant 2
Highest seed: No. 4 Manitou Springs
Potential bracket buster: No. 12 Faith Christian (Arvada). The Eagles play in perhaps the talented Metro League and regularly face rugged competition. Senior guard Carsen Cambier leads a cast of several capable scorers. A tough one potentially waits in the round-of-16 though with No. 5 Eaton.
Bracket notes: The Manitou Springs combo of Shelby Megyerii and Angala Jensen rank Nos. 12 and 13 on the 3A scoring list. . . . Three Patriot League teams are in this quadrant in Eaton, No. 13 Valley (Gilcrest) and No. 21 Brush. Valley went 2-1 against Brush this season. . . . No. 20 Coal Ridge (New Castle) has rebounded to the .500 mark (11-11) after beginning the season 1-6.

Quadrant 3
Highest seed: No. 2 Pagosa Springs
Potential bracket buster: No. 7 Olathe. The Pirates ran roughshod through the Western Slope League with a 14-0 mark and were heading for a loftier seed before losing to Moffat County (Craig) in the district final. Olathe (20-2) had defeated Moffat County twice during the regular season and will be looking to recapture its swagger in bracket play.
Bracket notes: Marin McCoy of No. 18 Colorado Academy (Denver) fills up the box score with 17.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.5 steals and 4.1 assists per game. . . . McCoy will be opposed in the first round by 6-foot senior Lauren McDonald, who has averaged 17.1 points and 8.3 rebounds for No. 15 Salida. . . . No. 10 Centauri (La Jara) faces a tough task if it advances to the quarterfinals and meets Pagosa Springs. The Falcons have lost to the Pirates by 13, 20 and 26 this season and have averaged only 26.3 points in those meetings.

Quadrant 4
Highest seed: No. 3 Lutheran (Parker)
Potential bracket buster: No. 11 Bishop Machebeuf (Denver). The Buffaloes finished second to Lutheran in the Metro League district tournament and had an impressive run through the tournament. Then again, a successful run here likely means running into Lutheran again in the quarters.
Bracket notes: As alluded to in the above bracket, No. 6 Moffat County is coming in hot after trumping Olathe in the Western Slope tournament final. The Bulldogs had lost twice to Olathe before running away to a 56-39 win. . . . Jacey Ovalle of No. 22 The Pinnacle is the leading active scorer in 3A with a 20.4 average. . . . Lutheran (21-1) won the 2A title last season over Yuma and hasn't skipped a beat since moving up. Senior Kaleigh Paplow (14.8 points, 7.2 rebounds) leads the Lions. . . . No. 14 Trinidad comes in battle-tested after a schedule laced with many teams in the bracket.

Class 2A

Regional tournaments get started Friday, with a pair of unbeaten teams headlining the action. Peyton (23-0) and Hoehne (21-0) are clear favorites to escape their respective four-team sub-regions and land in the final eight. Akron also comes in hot, with the Rams (20-2) riding a 10-game winning streak.

A potential meeting between Del Norte (18-5) and Rye (16-6) in Region 1 could be one of the most compelling with a state berth on the line. The classification's leading scorer, Anna Schwecke (21.4 points a game) of Clear Creek (Evergreen), will look to guide the No. 5 Diggers to an upset over No. 4 Caliche (Iliff) and a potential meeting with Akron in Region 2.

Class 1A

Regional tournaments start Friday here too, but unlike 2A, many teams have byes into the regional title games with fewer teams to choose from in the classification.

The favorites feature Kit Carson (21-0), Sangre de Cristo (Mosca) (21-1) and defending champion Norwood (19-1). The Mavericks recently had their 32-game winning streak, which spanned more than a calendar year, snapped by Ignacio. Norwood has rebounded with three straight wins.

The Mavs' Jordan Williams (20.0 points a game) trails only South Baca's Shaelynn Wood (22.6) in the classification's scoring race.