Now that the calendar has flipped to January, there’s a good sample size to analyze each La Plata County high school winter sports team.
The Colorado High School Activities Association has rankings for girls basketball, boys basketball and ice hockey.
“The official CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index is calculated by averaging each team's rating in the CHSAA RPI and the MaxPreps Rankings,” according to CHSAA’s website. “These ratings are normalized within their classification, then combined and averaged.”
Here’s a look at where multiple Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio teams are ranked using this system.
Durango boys basketball
The Demons are 6-4 and ranked 19th in the CHSAA selection and seeding index out of 57 Colorado high school basketball teams in Class 5A.
Durango is one win away from tying last season’s total of seven wins.
Senior center Jacob Neubert and freshman forward Donovan Whitehead represent a fearsome Demons frontcourt with their size and strength.
With 12 games left in the season, the Demons still have to play Montrose (5A’s seventh-ranked team), Grand Junction (5A’s 12th-ranked team), Grand Junction Central (5A’s 24th-ranked team) and Fruita Monument (12-0 entering Thursday and 6A’s top-ranked team).
Durango will face each of those teams twice in 6A/5A Southwestern League play.
Durango girls basketball
After a thrilling win against Bloomfield Tuesday night, the Demons (5-5) are ranked 20th in Class 5A.
Under first-year coach Lauren Moran, Durango has struggled to score at times but has been active on defense.
In the rest of the 6A/5A Southwestern League, Montrose (7-3) is ranked seventh in 5A, Fruita Monument (8-2 entering Thursday) is ranked 12th in 6A, Grand Junction (4-6) is ranked 45th in 5A, and Grand Junction Central (3-8) is ranked 36th in 5A.
The Demons haven’t played a league game yet so they will play all these teams twice, once at home and once on the road.
Durango ice hockey
Last weekend was a mixed bag for the Demons hockey program. They beat Summit 5-2 on the road Friday before Summit exacted revenge with a 3-2 win over Durango on Saturday.
Durango is ranked eighth out of 16 hockey teams in Class 4A.
Five out of the 16 teams in Class 4A are in the 4A Mountain League with Durango. Glenwood Springs is the top team in 4A at 5-0-1. Steamboat Springs (6-4) is fifth, while Crested Butte (4-1-1) and Summit (4-3) are ranked sixth and seventh, respectively. Battle Mountain (1-5) is ranked 10th.
The Demons have already played both Steamboat Springs and Summit twice. Durango still has to play Glenwood Springs, Battle Mountain and Crested Butte to wrap up league play.
Bayfield boys basketball, Ignacio boys basketball
It has not been easy for the 1-7 Wolverines. Three of those losses were by 25-plus points. In all seven losses, Bayfield is giving up an average of 65.7 points per game.
The Bobcats have fared a little better at 4-4. In those victories, Ignacio has won by an average of 23 points.
Bayfield is ranked 45th out of 55 teams in Class 3A. It has the worst record in the 4A/3A Intermountain League.
Ignacio is ranked 25th in 3A and has the fourth-best record in the 4A/3A Intermountain League. Pagosa Springs (9-1) is ranked fourth in 4A, while Alamosa (7-2) is ranked 18th in 4A. Centauri (5-3) is ranked 14th in 3A, while Montezuma-Cortez (3-5) is ranked 34th in 3A.
The Wolverines and Bobcats both open league play on Friday.
Bayfield girls basketball, Ignacio girls basketball
The Wolverines (3-4) are struggling against varsity opponents this season, beating just one varsity foe. Bayfield’s lone varsity win so far came against Telluride.
Bayfield is averaging just 26.3 points scored per game. The Wolverines are ranked 49th out of 55 in 3A.
Ignacio is having a much better season at 4-4 and is ranked 10th in 3A. The Bobcats have been strong defensively throughout the season, especially in a dominant 46-20 win at Sargent.
Centauri (6-2) is the top team in the 4A/3A Intermountain League at 6-2 and is sixth in 3A. Pagosa Springs (7-3) and Alamosa (6-4) rank sixth and 14th, respectively, in 4A. Montezuma-Cortez (3-3) is ranked 14th in 3A.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
