(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Basketball championships are closer to being won. That was evidenced on Sunday as the state basketball brackets for the Class 3A boys and girls were released.
Kent Denver enters the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed for the boys. The Sun Devils beat Manual in the final of the Metro League district tournament and took over the top spot in the RPI as a result.
Sterling is the top seed on the girls side. The Tigers are still undefeated and beat Liberty Common 52-39 in the final of the Patriot League tournament.
For the boys, Manitou Springs takes the No. 2 spot, coming off a tough overtime loss to Colorado Springs Christian School in the Tri-Peaks final. The Lions are right behind their rivals at No. 3. They’re in search of their third-straight state title.
The Mustangs are the only non-district winner that will serve as a host site for the first two rounds of the tournament. They had remained at No. 1 in RPI at the end of the regular season, but were overtaken by Kent Denver after districts.
CSCS, Resurrection Christian, Bayfield, DSST-Stapleton, Coal Ridge and DSST-Green Valley Ranch will serve as the other host sites.
Defending girls champion Lutheran is seeded 15th and will travel to Centauri to play Grand Valley in the first round. Centauri beat Pagosa Springs in the Intermountain district final to take the No. 2 spot in the bracket.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
In a similar situation that the boys are in, the Tri-Peaks district runner up is sitting one spot higher than the champion.
CSCS beat Lamar in the girls final on Saturday, but it’s the Savages who enter the tournament at No. 3 with the Lions taking the No. 4 spot.
The Tri-Peaks League has two teams hosting for both the boys and girls brackets.
Faith Christian, Moffat County, The Academy and Weld Central all won their district tournaments and will serve as hosts next weekend.
The 3A state basketball tournaments will begin on Friday with the Sweet 16 rounds following them up on Saturday.
The eight teams to come out of that round will head to DU for the remainder of the state basketball tournament beginning Mar. 9.