Both Thompson Valley teams and the Mountain View boys squad have qualified for the Class 5A basketball playoffs as CHSAA released brackets for the 6A and 5A classifications Sunday.
The boys teams will begin play Tuesday in the first round, while the Thompson Valley girls will have a bye in the first round and host Aurora Central in the second round Saturday.
In the 5A boys bracket, Thompson Valley is the No. 37 seed and plays at No. 28 Palmer Ridge at 6 p.m. in the first round.
The Eagles and Bears have identical 9-14 records going into the playoffs. Thompson Valley went 8-7 and finished fourth in the 5A/4A Longs Peak League, while Palmer Ridge went 3-7 and finished fourth in the 5A/4A Pikes Peak League.
Senior Ethan Barker leads the Eagles with 10.9 points per game. Senior Gabriel Gutierrez is averaging 10.8 per contest. Senior Leland Romero leads the team with 5.2 rebounds and senior Karter Christensen averages 2.7 assists.
Palmer Ridge is led by junior Chaz Connors, who averages 18.8 points per game, and senior Lukas Pears, who averages 8.1 rebounds per contest.
Thompson Valley enters the playoffs coming off back-to-back losses to end the regular season, while Palmer Ridge has won two of its past three games.
The winner between the Eagles and Bears will face No. 5 Cheyenne Mountain in the second round.
Mountain View is the No. 40 seed and will play at No. 25 Evergreen in the first round (6 p.m.).
The Mountain Lions finished the regular season with an 11-12 overall record. They went 6-10 and finished seventh in the 5A/4A Longs Peak League. The Cougars are 15-8 overall and went 6-3 to finish fifth in the 5A/4A Jeffco League.
Mountain View is led by senior Cole Tonniges who is averaging 20.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. Junior Avery Lamar is averaging 11.2 points per game.
Evergreen is led by juniors Xavier Spungin and Logan McCanna, who average 16.3 and 14.9 points per game, respectively. The two also lead the team in rebounds with 9.3 and 9.0, respectively.
Mountain View enters the contest on a three-game winning streak, while Evergreen has won three of its past four games.
The winner between the Eagles and Cougars will face No. 8 Lewis-Palmer in the second round.
On the girls’ side, Thompson Valley is the No. 11 seed and will host Aurora Central at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Eagles finished the regular season with an 18-5 record. They went 13-3 and finished second in the 5A/4A Longs Peak League. The Trojans went 16-6 in the regular season and were 6-2 and finished second in the 5A/4A Colorado League.
Thompson Valley is led by senior Jesika Hopkins, who averages 14.3 points and 5.1 assists per game. Senior Mekayla Macias averages 12 points per game and leads the squad with 3.8 steals per contest. Sophomore Penny Gilbert and senior Libby Jarosik lead team in rebounds with 5.5 and 5.3, respectively.
Aurora Central is led by senior Jamaea Johnson-Gonzalez, who is averaging 16 points and 11.4 rebounds per game.
The Trojans enter the playoffs on a four-game winning streak, while the Eagles lost their last two regular-season games but had a four-game winning streak before that.
The winner between the Eagles and Trojans will play either No. 6 Air Academy, No. 27 Canon City or No. 38 Battle Mountain in the Sweet 16.
The 4A, 3A and 2A classifications have one more week of regular-season or league tournament games before their regionals are seeded next weekend.
