Round two of big-school playoffs feature tough bouts – Boulder Daily…

Now that the ribbon has been cut on the big-school state basketball playoffs, several area boys and girls teams still remain in contention with desires to continue their court heroics to the very end.

One of the few schools who have both teams still in contention is Mead — after the boys put away Evergreen rather handily Wednesday night at home just 24 hours after the Mavericks girls forged a 16-point win over Cheyenne Mountain.

Holy Family also still has its boys and girls programs alive — the Tigers’ boys upset a good DSST: Green Valley Ranch on the road Wednesday night while the girls dismantled Eagle Ridge Academy. Frederick? Yep, still rolling out back-to-back practices at the gym for the girls and boys.

And there are plenty more of teams alive heading into the weekend. Here’s a recap of Wednesday boys action (Longmont boys were to play later Thursday) as well as a look at the next round of play for both genders:

Boys

Class 6A

What happened Wednesday: Legacy was the only team of four participants to escape with a win, as the Lightning skated past Douglas County, 65-36, holding DCHS to 27% shooting and getting 18 points from Bryce Spradling. Broomfield fell at Highlands Ranch, 75-68, with Ranch’s Jeremy Jacob going off for 27 points to end BHS’ season at 15-9. No. 8 seed Valor Christian hung a tough one on Monarch, 102-53, with the Eagles hitting 17 3-pointers to end MoHi’s season at 15-9. and it was a heartbreaker for Fairview at Fruita Monument, as the Wilcats’ Jack Carrica sent the Knights packing with a buzzer-beating bucket at the end of a 60-58 final.

Coming up for Legacy: No. 11 Legacy (18-6) plays the winner of No. 6 Fort Collins and No. 27 Denver South — a game played late Thursday at FCHS. One of the few hiccups in the Legacy schedule came against the Lambkins on Valentine’s Day, a 73-49 drubbing in which LHS allowed FCHS to shoot 62% from the floor.

5A

What happened Wednesday: Three teams advanced, with Centaurus the odd team out as it had to face a red-hot Frederick at home. The Golden Eagles got 18 points from Luke Justice  and never were in trouble against a CHS team that finished a decieving 8-16. Silver Creek, meanwhile, used 21 points from Zach Schmeeckle points and 11 from Ryan Burns to beat Northfield, 60-51. The aforementioned Mavericks of Mead built a 40-14 halftime lead over Evergreen and never looked back.

Coming up for Frederick: No. 5 Frederick (23-1) hosts No. 21 Harrison on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The Panthers held No. 12 Montrose to 32 points in the first round and will have to try and do the same to a Golden Eagles team that just surpassed 1,900 points for the season (79.5 points a game).

Coming up for Silver Creek: No. 15 Silver Creek (16-8) is the next team tasked with trying to hand No. 2 seed Mesa Ridge (24-0) its first loss of the season. The 1 p.m. game Saturday at MRHS will pit the Raptors against a Grizzlies squad led by Tevin (14.1 points per game) and Bryce Riehl (13.5 ppg).

Coming up for Mead: The No. 4 seed Mavericks (20-4) host the winner of the Thursday Thompson Valley-Ponderosa game on Saturday. Mead did not play either team this season, has never lost to TVHS (3-0) and last played Pondo in 2012.

4A

What happened Wednesday: The Tigers of Holy Family got back on track with a win over DSST: Green Valley Ranch, using 12 Gabe Tafoya points to move on to the second round. Jefferson Academy finished the season 11-13 after a 64-36 loss at Lutheran, with a 33-point third quarter for the Lions the key sequence in the outcome. Peak to Peak led most of the way in a 61-52 victory over Fort Lupton, outscoring the Bluedevils in each of the first three quarters.

Coming up for Holy Family: An old Metro League foe awaits the No. 17 Tigers (13-11) as they travel to No. 1 Kent Denver on Saturday. They have not played each other since 2014… but Holy Family did walk away with a win in that last meeting. This year’s Kent team is 20-4 and averages an astounding 85 points a game.

Coming up for Peak to Peak: No. 19 Peak to Peak (14-10) will venture off to No. 3 Alamosa for a Saturday game. The Mean Moose struggled against Basalt through three quarters Wednesday, but secured the game with a 29-point final frame.

Girls

Class 6A

Coming up for Monarch: No. 4 Monarch (23-1) hosts No. 13 Ralston Valley on Friday, and the teams are a bit familiar with each other after playing to a 48-35 game (in MoHi’s favor) on Jan. 6. Since then, Monarch hasn’t lost, while RVHS has gone 10-4 averaging 46.9 points scoring.

5A

Coming up for Mead: After a convincing Tuesday win, No. 5 Mead (19-5) hosts Vista PEAK Prep on Friday night. The Bison, whom Mead has never played, boast a young scoring star in sophomore Eianna Jackson (16.9 ppg) — she poured in 19 in a first-round win.

Coming up for Frederick: The No. 27 Golden Eagles (13-11) were the only 5A team to pull off an upset on the girls side, and now they get to travel to No. 11 Canon City for a Friday game with the potential of pulling off yet another upset. The Tigers score just 44.8 points per game (FHS comes in at 52.4 per game).

Coming up for Centaurus: The No. 13 Warriors (16-8) will get a third crack at No. 4 Windsor on Friday. While the first two contests haven’t gone Centaurus’ way — Windsor won by scores of 57-37 and 54-28 — Chris Mischke’s team had a good all-around effort in Tuesday’s win against GJ Central.

4A

Coming up for Holy Family: The No. 1 team in 4A looked every bit of it in round one, and the Tigers (21-3) will host No. 17 The Classical Academy Friday. Both teams are sound defensively, with the Tigers allowing just 33.7 points per game on average and the Titans sitting at just 41.

Coming up for Jefferson Academy: The No. 19 Jaguars (15-9) come off one of the more fantastic upsets of the playoffs so far and now must face a pretty seasoned No. 3 seed in University, which held La Junta to just 18 points in round one. Taryn Kravig is the Bulldogs’ top scorer (15.9 ppg).

Coming up for Peak to Peak: No. 11 Peak to Peak (17-7) matches up with No. 6 Eaton Friday night hoping to beat the Reds for the first time in three tries since 2021. In fact, the teams played Dec. 13 to the tune of a 46-35 Eaton win, with EHS getting 12 points apiece from Abiah Randel and Tayla Wiedeman. Alexandra Eschmeyer has 55 points in her past two games.