Ralston Valley’s boys basketball team knows the landscape, and it has seen the competition.
Now, it’s a matter of matchups.
The Mustangs, who won the Class 4A state championship in 2003 and are making their third appearance in the Final Four in seven seasons, beat other semifinalists Broomfield and Abraham Lincoln this season and are familiar with Widefield, today’s opponent at the Coors Events Center in Boulder.
“Widefield is very athletic and very fast,” Ralston Valley coach Mitch Conrad said. “But we are an up-tempo team ourselves. I think we both cause some matchup problems for each other.”
Pierce Hornung, Zach John- son and Grant Hamilton lead Ralston Valley’s well-rounded offensive attack.
Widefield has won 12 straight games behind Brandon Lutz (18.9 points per game), Julien McCollum and Vincente Valdez.
Broomfield (21-5) will play Abraham Lincoln (18-7) in the late semifinal. All boys state titles will be decided Saturday, as will the 3A, 2A and 1A girls championships.
Class 3A teams play at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, 2A teams are at the Pueblo Events Center and 1A teams play at Air Force’s Clune Arena.
The Broomfield boys knocked D’Evelyn out of the postseason with deadeye shooting from long range and spectacular guard play, with Tim Halliday leading the charge. Lincoln, with Jorge Gutierrez and his scoring average of nearly 20 points per game, has won 12 of its past 13 games.
In 3A, undefeated Faith Christian sits atop the quarterfinal bracket with Roosevelt up first at 8:45 a.m. today.
Only Denver Christian, winner of the past two 3A state titles and a team no longer playing, has come within 20 points of the Eagles since the beginning of February.
Jefferson Academy will continue its 2A title defense against top-seeded Evangelical Christian, which won the two previous championships. The Eagles’ Rob Lewis is the leading scorer in the classification with 27.4 points per game.
Hi-Plains is the defending 1A state champion. But undefeated Kit Carson is on the other side of the bracket.
Girls teams from the Metropolitan League are represented well in 3A, with Faith Christian, Holy Family, Denver Christian and Machebeuf taking four of the eight slots on the bracket.
Machebeuf (14-10), the last team from that league to win a state title, in 2003, has been the biggest surprise as a No. 7 seed.
Cedaredge (22-1) was undefeated until a week ago, and the Bruins will have their hands full with Holy Family (21-3).
Limon (20-2) has won four of the past five 2A state titles, with only Strasburg interrupting that streak in 2004. Whitney Liggett saved the Badgers with a last-second, game-winning 3-pointer against Kiowa in the district quarterfinals.
In 1A, the bracket looks unfamiliar without McClave, which won the past three state championships during a state-record, 75-game winning streak.
Looking to assume the top position in the Cardinals’ absence are contenders such as North Park (21-1), Kit Carson (20-3), Haxtun (19-4) and Eads (21-2).
