Five local high school teams will compete in the state playoffs Saturday, and three will host the action here in La Plata County.
The Bayfield football team scored the No. 8 seed for the Class 2A state tournament and will host No. 9 Elizabeth at 2 p.m.
The Wolverines finished 7-1 overall and a perfect 4-0 in the 2A Southwest League, concluding its regular season on a seven-game winning streak after falling in its opener to San Juan (10-1) in Utah.
Elizabeth, meanwhile, went 7-2 overall and won the 2A Colorado League with a 4-0 mark. Its two losses were to No. 1 Eaton, 31-7, and No. 3 The Classical Academy, 42-13. After staring 2-2, however, the Cardinals outscored their past five opponents 241-13.
Bayfield and Ignacio will host the regional round of the volleyball playoffs Saturday. Durango will compete in Colorado Springs.
Bayfield earned the No. 12 seed for the 3A volleyball tournament after winning the 3A/2A Intermountain League and finishing 15-8 overall. The Wolverines concluded their regular season by placing third at the Discovery Canyon tournament with a win over 4A No. 8 Montrose.
The Wolverines will battle No. 13 Valley (17-7) and No. 25 Colorado Academy (12-11) for one of 12 spots at the state tournament.
BHS will start the tournament by playing Colorado Academy at 9 a.m.
Colorado Academy and Valley will play next.
Then Bayfield will play Valley, approximately at noon, in the regional’s finale.
Ignacio’s volleyball team also earned the No. 12 seed for the 2A championships and will host No. 13 Union Colony Prep (16-7) and No. 25 Plateau Valley (15-8) .
Ignacio finished its regular season 17-6 overall and 10-1 in the 2A/1A San Juan Basin League.
Union Colony finished its season on a five-match win streak, placing third out of 15 teams in the 3A/2A/1A Mile High League with a 10-2 mark.
Plateau Valley finished fifth out of 12 squads in the 2A/1A Western Slope League.
On Saturday, Ignacio will play Plateau Valley at 9 a.m. to start the tournament.
Plateau Valley and Union Colony will play next.
Then the Volleycats will take on Union Colony about noon.
Durango (9-13) earned the No. 28 seed for the Class 4A tournament and will play at The Classical Academy-hosted Region 9 championship in Colorado Springs along with No. 16 Berthoud.
The Demons will enter the tournament battle tested, with six of the last seven teams it played qualifying for the playoffs, including five class 5A teams.
DHS will play No. 9 The Classical Academy (21-2) at 9:30 a.m. to start the tournament and then take on Berthoud (16-7).
Durango’s boys soccer team, meanwhile, won its first two playoff games at home and will travel to No. 4 Denver North High School to take on the Vikings in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. Saturday.
DHS, the No. 5 seed, beat No. 28 Erie 3-1 in the first round and No. 12 D’Evelyn 2-0 in the second round. Denver North beat No. 29 Montrose 3-1 to start the tournament and then No. 20 Palmer Ridge 1-0 in the second round.
The Fort Lewis cross-country and women’s soccer teams will also compete in the postseason this weekend.
The men’s and women’s cross-country teams will race at the NCAA South Central Regional in Lubbock, Texas, where the top three teams will automatically qualify for nationals Nov. 20 in Tampa, Florida.
The women’s soccer team, meanwhile, scored the No. 8 seed for the RMAC tournament and will play at No. 1 Colorado Mesa Sunday in the first round.
