Preps: Basalt football to play at No. 1 seed in first round of playoffs
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
The Class 2A state football brackets were released Sunday, with Basalt High School tasked with playing the top seed in the first round of the 16-team tournament.
The No. 16-seed Longhorns will play at No. 1 Strasburg at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, on the Front Range. Strasburg is located roughly 40 miles east of downtown Denver.
Basalt finished the regular season 6-3 overall after Friday’s 49-21 win at Aspen in the finale. BHS earned an automatic spot in the postseason for being the 2A West champions, going 4-0 in league play. After a 2-3 start, the Longhorns enter the playoffs having won four straight games.
Strasburg earned the top seed with a perfect 9-0 mark in the regular season. The Indians’ best win is arguably a 33-31 victory at Elizabeth on Oct. 3; the 7-2 Cardinals are the No. 4 seed and will host No. 13 Pagosa Springs in the first round.
Basalt and Strasburg haven’t played since at least 2004, which is as far back as the MaxPreps archives currently go. The winner of Saturday’s game will play either No. 8 La Junta or No. 9 Eaton in the quarterfinals.
The only other 2A West team to make the postseason is No. 12 Delta. The Panthers (7-2) will play at No. 5 Brush (9-0) in the first round on Saturday.
Other first-round games include No. 2 Wellington vs. No. 15 Alamosa; No. 7 Resurrection Christian vs. No. 10 Denver West; No. 6 Kent Denver vs. No. 11 Lamar; and No. 3 The Classical Academy vs. No. 14 Florence.
Aspen, which did not make the playoffs, finishes the fall 2-6 overall under first-year head coach Bryce Sandoval.
The Class 3A brackets will be announced next weekend. Glenwood Springs (5-4) hosts Palisade (7-2) at 7 p.m. Friday in the regular-season finale. The Demons were No. 23 in the CHSAA seeding index as of Sunday afternoon, with Palisade at No. 3.
State XC brings end to season
State cross country was held on Saturday in Colorado Springs.
The highlight was Basalt senior Towler Scott, fresh off another regional championship, who finished seventh in the 3A boys race in 16 minutes, 26.2 seconds. Max Miller, a junior from The Vanguard School, won the 3A title in 15:55.
Aspen’s top finisher was junior Jack Diaz, who was 20th overall in 17:03.7, a spot ahead of Coal Ridge sophomore Lucas Von (21st, 17:03.7).
The Classical Academy won the 3A boys team title with 110 points, followed by runner-up Salida (113). Aspen was 18th of 20 teams with 389 points. BHS did not have enough runners to qualify for a team score.
TCA also won the girls team title with 24 points, followed by runner-up Manitou Springs (85). The Aspen girls (243) were ninth and Basalt 13th (305) among 20 teams.
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Individually, Aspen junior Annabelle Case was 41st overall in 21:03.1 to lead the Skiers. Basalt was led by freshman Scarlett Jones, who was 48th in 21:16.6. AHS freshman Molly McPhee (49th, 21:17.3) and AHS junior Edyn Roy (50th, 21:18.6) were just steps behind.
Eaton junior Delaney Reuter won the girls 3A title in 17:41.8.
Regional volleyball brackets out Monday
The regional volleyball brackets will be released on Monday.
Aspen closed out its regular season on Saturday with a 3-0 sweep at Moffat. The Skiers finish 18-5 overall and were sitting at No. 11 in the finalized CHSAA seeding index as of Sunday afternoon, meaning it’s likely AHS will host regional play this coming weekend.
At No. 48, Basalt’s season is likely over. The Longhorns went 6-14 in the regular season. Roaring Fork finished at 9-13 overall, but were only No. 43 in the seeding index, meaning it’s also highly unlikely the Rams make the postseason.
Roaring Fork soccer still kicking
Roaring Fork boys soccer is one of just 16 teams remaining in the Class 3A state tournament. After a 3-2 win over Rocky Mountain Prep in the first round, the No. 16 Rams (10-4-2) will play at No. 1 Colorado Academy (10-3-3) at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the second round.
The winner faces either No. 8 The Academy or No. 9 The Classical Academy in the quarterfinals.
After a 3-1 win over No. 26 Holy Family in the first round, No. 7 Coal Ridge hosts No. 10 Atlas Prep at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the second round. Western Slope League champion Steamboat Springs hosts No. 14 KIPP Denver Collegiate at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the second round.
Neither Aspen nor Basalt made the postseason in soccer.
The fall prep season has already ended for boys golf, boys tennis, and softball.
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