AURORA | A capsule look at the three Sweet 16 matchups in the 2022 Class 5A girls state basketball playoffs involving teams in games scheduled to be played on Tuesday, March 1:
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2022 CLASS 5A GIRLS BASKETBALL SWEET 16 MATCHUPS
No. 19 Pine Creek (16-9) at No. 3 Grandview (14-9), 6 p.m.
BREAKDOWN: Pine Creek and Grandview meet in the Class 5A postseason for the second consecutive season, as the Wolves prevailed over the Eagles in the opening round of the 2021 playoffs. …Pine Creek has earned victories over No. 46 Brighton (44-28) and No. 14 Fort Collins (42-40) in Alice Barron Region play to reach the Sweet 16. Coach Janean Jubic’s Eagles picked up the two postseason wins following a three-game losing streak to end the regular season. …Pine Creek is led by freshman PG LeeKaya Burke-Perryman, who has averaged 19 points per game in the two postseason contests, which boosted her average to a team-high 14.5 for the season, while she also leads the way with 3.2 assists per game. Junior Brynae Stewart has averaged 13.2 points per game and been in double-figures in both playoff games, while she is also the team’s leading rebounder at 6.9 per contest. …Grandview — which has advanced to at least 5A’s Final Four in six straight seasons — has won nine straight games since a 5-9 start that included three elite tournaments outside of Colorado. The Centennial League champions had a first round bye and coach Josh Ulitzky’s team opened the postseason with an 86-31 win over No. 30 Pueblo West. Senior Lauren Betts scored 20 points to pace the Wolves, while freshman Sienna Betts had 17, senior Marya Hudgins 15, senior Amaya Charles 11 and sophomore Gabriella Cunningham 10. … For the season, Lauren Betts — a 6-foot-7 Stanford University signee — leads the team in scoring average (16.9 ppg), rebounding average (10.3 rpg) and blocked shots (3.3), while the Santa Clara-bound Hudgins checks in at 15.7 ppg and Sienna Betts at 10.5 ppg along 9.2 rebounds and a team-best 3.6 assists per contest. …WINNER GETS: The Pine Creek-Grandview winner punches its ticket to the Denver Coliseum for a March 4 quarterfinal contest against the winner of the quarterfinal between No. 11 Ralston Valley and No. 6 Cherry Creek.
No. 9 Regis Jesuit (15-8) at No. 8 Chaparral (17-6), 7 p.m.
BREAKDOWN: Regis Jesuit and Chaparral meet for the second time this season, with the Raiders laying claim to a 66-61 victory in Continental League play Jan. 21. Combined, the teams had seven players score in double figures in the contest, as sophomore Coryn Watts racked up a game-high 20 for Regis Jesuit, which also got 17 from senior Madden McHugh and 14 from sophomore Hana Belibi. Chaparral’s leading scorer was senior Avery Bang with 17 points, followed by senior Payton Bang with 16 and senior Brie Murphy and sophomore Reagan Lentell with 11 apiece. …Regis Jesuit plays in the postseason for the first time under a coach other than Carl Mattei, who was replaced by Jordan Kelley in the offseason. Following a first round bye, Kelley got her first postseason victory in the second round when the Raiders held off hard-finishing and 24th-seeded Arvada West for a 47-44 victory. Watts paced Regis Jesuit with 14 points, while junior Sophia Meyer added 12 and Belibi 11 in addition to 12 rebounds. …For the season, Watts has the slight edge on Belibi for the lead in scoring average on the team (14.3 ppg to 13.7), while Belibi’s 8.1 rebounds per game lead the way, while McHugh’s 4.8 assists per game pace the Raiders. …Chaparral also received a first round bye and coach Tony Speight’s team followed that with a 62-34 second round win over No. 25 Denver South. …For the season, Avery Bang is the Wolverines’ statistical leader in points per game (15.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg), while she is followed by Payton Bang in both (12.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg), while Lentell has averaged 7.8 points and Murphy a team-best 3.2 assists per game. …WINNER GETS: The Regis Jesuit-Chaparral winner moves into the March 4 quarterfinals, where it will meet the winner of the quarterfinal game between No. 17 Air Academy and top-seeded Valor Christian at the Denver Coliseum.
No. 15 Rangeview (18-5) at No. 2 Highlands Ranch (19-4), 7 p.m.
BREAKDOWN: Rangeview and Highlands Ranch meet for the first time in postseason play in at least the last two decades. …After two seasons of losing in the Sweet 16, Rangeview broke through to the Great 8 last season before falling to eventual state champion Valor Christian. Coach La Monte Weddle’s Raiders had a bye in the first round and then outlasted 18th-seeded Denver East — which it had faced two times during the regular season as well — 53-45 in the second round to extend a streak of at least one postseason victory for the program to six straight seasons. Senior Ny’Era West led the way for Rangeview with 22 points, while senior Amya Winfrey had eight and senior Genesis Sweetwine six. …For the season, West has averaged 14 points per game to lead the team, while the 5-foot-7 guard is also the leading rebounder with 8.0 per contest. Sweetwine has averaged nearly 11 points per game and paces the team in assists with 2.8 per contest, while the 6-1 Winfrey contributes 1.2 blocked shots per game and senior Zane Bullock averages 3.4 steals per game. …Highlands Ranch, the Continental League champion, comes into the Sweet 16 contest with 15 consecutive wins to its credit. Coach Caryn Jarocki’s Falcons had a first round bye and then topped 31st-seeded Cherokee Trail 71-43 in the second round as senior Emily Hovasse scored a team-high 21 points (boosted by five 3-pointers), senior Taylor Ray added 14 and junior Katie Johanning 10. …For the season, Hovasse has drained 72 3-pointers and leads the team with an average of 16.9 points, while senior Alex Pirog is next at 12.7 ppg with a team-leading 10.8 rebounds per game. Just outside of double figures in scoring is freshman Tori Baker (9.7 ppg), while Johanning dishes out a team-best 5.0 assists per contest. …WINNER GETS: The Rangeview-Highlands Ranch winner earns a spot in the March 4 quarterfinal round at the Denver Coliseum where it will face the winner of the quarterfinal between No. 10 Fruita Monument and No. 7 Doherty.