The following is a look at the marquee games this week in boys and girls basketball. (All rankings and records are current as of Monday.)
BOYS BASKETBALL
Fossil Ridge (10-7) at Fort Collins (14-3), 7 p.m. Tuesday: Class 5A’s leading scorer, Fossil Ridge senior Braxton Bertolette, leads a Sabercats team that hasn’t lost since Jan. 7 into a pivotal Front Range League affair against coach Monty Alcaraz’s Lambkins, who sit atop the conference standings and boast a balanced offense led by senior Jacob Pfaffinger.
No. 6 Chatfield (16-1) at No. 7 Lakewood (12-4), 7 p.m. Wednesday: Chatfield bulldozed Lakewood by 32 points on Jan. 7, a game in which seniors Joe Miks (21 points) and Landon Rodgers (16 points) went off for the Chargers. Coach Daryl Johnson’s Tigers will need more consistent defensive intensity, as well as a better shooting performance, in order to rebound from Friday’s conference loss to unranked Ralston Valley.
Denver South (13-4) at Far Northeast (13-5), 7 p.m. Thursday: Two underrated 5A squads square off in Denver Prep League action, as the Rebels’ scoring trio of senior Connor Nelson, junior Cortney Dean and senior Tucker Cargile battle a Far Northeast team that has played a brutal schedule to this point and will test the Rebels with the talented likes of senior Aaris Bonds and junior Sindou Cisse.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
No. 9 Fairview (15-3) at No. 10 Fossil Ridge (13-5), 6:30 p.m. Thursday: Fairview has yet to lose to an unranked team this year — the Knights’ only setbacks came to No. 2 Ralston Valley, No. 7 Regis Jesuit and No. 4 Horizon — while coach Chad Salz and the Sabercats have played the role of giant slayer all winter, racking up signature wins over Valor Christian, Lakewood, Loveland and Rocky Mountain to assert themselves as playoff contenders.
No. 5 Doherty (16-1) at Pine Creek (11-5), 7 p.m. Thursday: Only an overtime loss to 4A No. 1 Pueblo South on Jan. 3 has kept Doherty from perfection, as senior captains Aubriana Noti and Kalani Poloa pace the momentum-laden Spartans against an experienced and aggressive Pine Creek team that averages over 10 steals per game.
No. 6 Cherry Creek (11-5) at 4A No. 8 Mullen (8-9), 2:30 p.m. Saturday: In this matinee Centennial League duel, the point guard battle between Bruins freshman standout Jana Van Gytenbeek and Mustangs seasoned senior Tori Galvan is critical, as is the effectiveness of Mullen leading scorer Whitney Jacob against a disciplined Bruins defense.
