Centennial vs. Continental Challenge to return for second year

After a successful debut last summer, Heritage High School is bringing back the Centennial vs. Continental Challenge boys basketball tournament.

In a message from Heritage head coach Jentry Byleveld, who started the tournament last season, the two powerhouse conferences — which combined to have seven of the final eight teams in the Class 5A state tournament, three of the Final Four teams and the state champion in Overland — will get together June 17-19 at Heritage in Littleton.

Sixteen teams will be in the field, which won’t be exclusively from the two leagues this time, however, as Lakewood was added to make up for the absence of the Continental League’s Castle View and Highlands Ranch, who each made coaching changes in the offseason.

Byleveld believes adding Lakewood will keep the tournament — which features a round robin format of league vs. league — will “keep this the most competitive summer tourney in the state.”

The tournament schedule isn’t finalized yet, but play is set for 8 a.m.-4 p.m. each day.

The Continental League earned bragging rights at last season’s tournament as all eight of its teams finished with at least a .500 record and ThunderRidge came through a perfect 6-0 to lead the way, while four other teams — including Regis Jesuit, which had Aurora’s best mark — posted 5-1 marks.

Eaglecrest posted the best record among Aurora’s Centennial League teams at 4-2, starting off 4-0 before dropping its last two contests.

Summer teams are often missing several key players and coaches, but can still give a glimpse of some of the new talent on rosters. Some of the key role players on Overland’s state championship team played in last season’s tournament.

— Sports Editor Courtney Oakes