AURORA | As usual, Centennial League boys basketball has been a rollercoaster ride with the biggest hill to climb ahead in the Centennial League Challenge.
Regular season league play ended Wednesday with some surprising results that required some tiebreakers to determine seeding for the Challenge, which begins Friday.
Despite a loss to Mullen in its finale, Eaglecrest (14-5) garnered the top seed and will play host to No. 8 Cherokee Trail (7-13) at 7 p.m. Friday in a shift of venue from the regular season, when the Raptors won 65-57 on the Cougars’ home floor Jan. 24.
Overland (12-8) ended up as the No. 2 seed and will welcome No. 7 Grandview (6-14) for a 6 p.m. Friday contest. The Trailblazers went on the road for a 51-48 win over the Wolves Jan. 27.
Smoky Hill (14-6) — which owns wins over Eaglecrest and Overland, but lost three league games by a combined total of 11 points — is the No. 4 seed and will be at home at 7 p.m. Friday against No. 5 Mullen (11-9), which it defeated 62-53 on Jan. 23.
Cherry Creek (11-9) will play host to No. 6 Arapahoe (10-10) at 7 p.m. Friday in a rematch of a game it won by 12 points on Jan. 17.
The tournament continues with second round play on Feb. 15 — higher seeds in each matchup will host — and concludes on Feb. 17.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
