Sunday’s basketball selection committee show for upper classifications was as uneventful and without argument from the few hundred in attendance as it has been since the institution of the larger brackets.
The release of the Class 5A and 4A postseason fields for boys and girls in the Denver Tech Center area apparently reflected the ebb and flow of the 2010-11 regular season.
There was little cheering, even less whining.
Balance and depth were themes of the 91st season on record. It will conclude with championships next month.
For Class 5A boys, Arapahoe (22-1), Highlands Ranch (22-1) and two-time defending champion Regis Jesuit (18-5) were locks for top seeds in the quadrants, and Denver East (19-4), which has won 13 games in a row, rallied to earn the fourth.
The big schools’ styles and productivity, plus the emergence of others such as the Front Range League’s Fossil Ridge (22-1), figure to make it a bracket worth watching.
“It’s always tough,” Arapahoe coach Dan Snyder said.
There was even less debate for big-school girls — Highlands Ranch (20-3), Legacy (20-3), Monarch (20-3) and ThunderRidge (19-4) head the field. Each program has won a championship or made a final at least once in recent years.
Big schools remain in 48-team outlays, but 4A has changed to 32.
Broomfield (21-2), Lewis-Palmer (20-3), Sterling (21-2) and Pueblo West (21-2) were designated for top seeds for boys. For girls, it’s Longmont (22-1), four-time defending champion Broomfield (20-3), Air Academy (18-5) and Mesa Ridge (22-2).
The 5A groups will play at home sites through two rounds before heading to neutral courts; 4A will open at sites involving the top 16 seeds.
Each class will complete two rounds this week — 5A boys and girls will play alternate days beginning Tuesday, and 4A will have a Friday-Saturday schedule.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
