AURORA | Centennial League regular season champion Grandview — which capped its league season with a clinching road win over Smoky Hill Wednesday — takes the top seed into the inaugural Centennial League tournament, which begins Saturday.
The Wolves (13-7 overall, 6-1 in league play) take their home floor for a 4 p.m. contest against rival Cherokee Trail (7-13, 2-5), which finished in the No. 8 position in the seedings. The winner advances to a Thursday matchup against either No. 4 Cherry Creek (10-10, 3-4) or No. 5 Arapahoe (10-10, 3-4) with the higher remaining seed playing on its home floor.
On the bottom of the bracket is Eaglecrest (12-8, 5-2) with the No. 2 seed and a 1 p.m. home game against seventh-seeded Mullen (8-12, 2-5), with the winner of that matchup headed to a Thursday contest against the winner between No. 3 Smoky Hill (16-4, 5-2) and No. 6 Overland (7-13, 2-5), which are scheduled to play on the Buffs’ home floor at 3 p.m.
The championship game of the mini-tournament is scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at Arapahoe High School, with the winner earning the league’s automatic qualifying position for the upcoming Class 6A state playoffs. That is preceded by the third-place game at 5 p.m.
Teams that lose in the opening round move into the consolation side of the bracket and work towards placing games Feb. 18 at Arapahoe with the seventh-place game slated for 1 p.m. and the fifth-place game for 3 p.m.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
CENTENNIAL LEAGUE BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
First round, Feb. 11
Centennial League Tournament
No. 7 Mullen at No. 2 Eaglecrest, 1 p.m.
No. 5 Arapahoe at No. 4 Cherry Creek, 2:30 p.m.
No. 6 Overland at No. 3 Smoky Hill, 3 p.m.
No. 8 Cherokee Trail at No. 1 Grandview, 4 p.m.
