Colorado state basketball tournaments head into the home stretch

The Faith Christian (Arvada) basketball team finds itself in a familiar place but an unfamiliar position.

The Eagles are back in the Class 3A state tournament, a place where they've seemed to take up permanent residence under coach Andrew Hasz, but they enter this year's bracket as something of an underdog, having earned a No. 9 seed after a regular season that saw them go 14-8.

Although it's still a pretty high seed in the 32-team field, it's not quite the lofty perch Faith Christian is used to after establishing itself as the team all the other squads in the classification measures itself against. Faith has won six championships in the last dozen years, including five in a row between 2008-2012.

But the Eagles could be a dangerous team heading into the playoffs, having battled their way through the gauntlet that is the Metro League and standing toe-to-toe with several other top seeds in the bracket. And they don't carry the burden of being the favorite to walk away with the gold ball at the end of the tournament.

"I think when you have that target on your back you've probably earned it with the way you've played through the year," said Hasz, who led the Eagles to a third-place finish in last year's tournament. "Sure, I'd love to have the record we had in some of those years heading in. But it is true, it's nice to not have that focus on there for sure."

See the MaxPreps CHSAA boys basketball playoff brackets

The road to the championship will go through the Metro League, with conference tournament king Jefferson Academy (Broomfield) (29-3) earning the No. 1 seed, and Holy Family (Broomfield) (20-2), which spent most of the year ranked No. 1 and finished tied for the regular season title, seeded-No. 2.

Colorado Academy (Denver) (20-2), which finished tied with Holy Family in the regular season standings and was runner-up in the conference tournament, earned the No. 4 seed.

Colorado Springs Christian (19-3), the Tri-Peaks champion and the only non-Metro League team seeded in the top four, comes in at No. 3.

"Our league is definitely the toughest in the state," said Hasz, whose team beat JA and CSC during the regular season. "It's nice knowing that you've played the toughest teams.

"Any of the teams in our league, on a given night, could (win the championship). The matchups are pretty interesting ones. Certainly, getting the top seed for JA is a great spot to be in."

And don't be surprised if Faith Christian is still around when the teams make their way to the Great 8 later this month. They've already shown they can beat the teams at the top of the bracket, and they have the championship pedigree in their history.

And Hasz believes the team still has room to grow and get better this season.

"Our guys are definitely battle-tested and hopefully that will benefit us as we get into the mix," Hasz said. "I expect to see more out of our guys coming up and hopefully we'll do that."

Pagosa Springs, the 2013 state champion, didn't make the field after going 4-16 this season.

CLASS 5A
The first two rounds of the big school tournament went pretty much according to plan, with a few notable exceptions. No. 7 Smoky Hill (Aurora) in the Chauncey Billups Region pulled off the biggest upset in 5A so far, knocking off second-seeded Regis Jesuit (Aurora) 47-46 in the second round Saturday night. The Buffaloes' Unwana Ekiko hit a shot at the buzzer to propel Smoky Hill to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007.

The Buffs are one of five Centennial League teams still alive in the final 16 of the tournament. They'll face another conference foe in third-seeded Arapahoe (Centennial) in the next round.

All four No. 1 seeds – Denver East, Fossil Ridge (Fort Collins), Overland (Aurora) and Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch) – are still alive.

CLASS 4A
Thomas Jefferson (Denver) is the first team in the state to knock off a No. 1 seed as the fourth-seeded Spartans upset No. 1 Pueblo South 71-66 in a Sweet 16 game Saturday night. Treyvon Andres scored 23 points to pace TJ, and Jalen Rose poured in 22 off the bench as the Spartans snapped the Colts' 20-game winning streak.

Thomas Jefferson is the only lower seed to crash the party, as the remainder of the teams making up the Great 8 are all either No. 1 or No. 2 seeds.