It’s time to tip off the 2017-18 high school basketball seasons in Colorado.
The preseason rankings from the Colorado High School Activities Association were posted Tuesday, with both boys and girls from Ignacio ranked inside the top 10 in Class 2A. Bayfield’s boys, fresh off Saturday’s state championship win in football, also were ranked in the top 10 in Class 3A. This season, the Wolverines have big aspirations.
The Durango High School boys and girls teams are largely unknown going into the season, and the Demons’ squads didn’t receive a vote in the either Class 4A poll.
The CHSAA rankings are voted on by coaches and select media members.
The Ignacio girls are No. 9 in the preseason rankings. The Bobcats received 21 points a year after going 16-8 overall and 10-1 in the San Juan Basin League. Ignacio won its regional last year and went 0-2 in the state tournament with losses to Simla and Swink.
Yuma earned six first-place votes in the 2A girls poll and is ranked first with 77 points. Del Norte received one first-place vote and is ranked second with 57 points. Wray (53), Swink (46) and Paonia (34) round out the top five. Ignacio was three points behind Simla and six ahead of Lyons.
The Ignacio boys are No. 10 in the preseason rankings for 2A. The Bobcats, who went 15-7 overall and 11-1 in the San Juan Basin League before they fell to Del Norte in regionals, received 24 points. Sedgwick County earned 94 points and five first-place votes to come in as the preseason No. 1. Holyoke earned four first-place votes and 84 points as the No. 2 team, and Del Norte garnered one first-place vote and 61 points to come in third. Highland (46) and Paonia (43) round out the top five. Perennial power Sanford is seventh with 31 points.
The Ignacio boys and girls will open the season at home Thursday against Dove Creek. The girls game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
The Bayfield boys enter the season ranked No. 9 in Class 3A. The Wolverines went 15-7 last season and 9-1 in the Intermountain League and won the district tournament title for the first time in 25 years. The team lost only one senior from last year’s team and will return a wealth of talent, though many of the players didn’t begin practice until Monday because of the football team’s run for a title.
The Wolverines earned 25 points in the poll to finish two behind Lutheran and three ahead of Strasburg. Sterling ran away with the top spot with 109 points behind 10 first-place votes. Faith Christian earned 92 points, and Kent Denver earned one first-place vote and 58 points to come in third. Resurrection Christian (48) and Denver Science of School and Technology-Stapleton (35) rounded out the top five. Alamosa, Bayfield’s key opponent in the IML, entered the season No. 7 with 31 points.
The Wolverines have a brutal opening weekend on the schedule against No. 3 Kent Denver at 7:30 p.m. Friday before a 12:30 p.m. Saturday game against The Pinnacle. Bayfield’s fourth game of the year is against No. 1 Sterling at 1 pm. Dec. 9 at Buena Vista. BHS will also play Alamosa twice, so the Wolverines will play preseason top-10 teams four times in the regular season. That should help the all-important Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) that is used to determine playoff seeding.
The Bayfield girls, who went 6-14 last year and 2-8 in the IML, will open the season at 4 p.m. Saturday at Mancos.
The Durango girls will open the year Friday against Rifle in Carbondale at Roaring Fork High School. Rifle earned the 12th-most points in the 4A girls preseason poll. The Demons will finish the tournament against Steamboat Springs on Saturday. The Demons went 17-8 last season and 6-2 in the 5A/4A Southwestern League. Durango won a game in the state tournament before falling to Pueblo South in the second round.
Durango’s boys will go to Shiprock’s tournament to open the year, beginning with a game at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The Demons lost the majority of its Sweet 16 team from a year ago and are rebuilding with younger players. Last year, the Demons went 21-5 overall and 6-2 in the 5A/4A Southwestern League. Durango earned the No. 4 seed in the playoffs.
All of last year’s results are history now. It’s time to see what this year’s teams can do.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
