AURORA | Five Aurora teams sat out the first round of the Class 5A girls state basketball tournament, but get their chance to take part Friday.
Third-seeded Regis Jesuit, fourth-seeded Grandview, ninth-seeded Vista PEAK, 15th-seeded Cherokee Trail and No. 16 Rangeview all earned the right to play at home in the second round and await lower-seeded winners of opening round games.
First up is Cherokee Trail (14-9), which has a 5:30 p.m. contest against No. 18 Lakewood (13-11) in a contest in the Bobbi Brown-Vandenberg Region of the 5A bracket. The Cougars meet the Tigers for the first time and seek to win their playoff opener for the second straight season under coach Tammi Traylor-Statewright.
Colorado State signee Makayla Hemingway paces Cherokee Trail with an average of 15.6 points per game, while senior Dominique Rodriguez checks in at 13.5 points per contest. On the opposite side is a Lakewood team led by senior Nadia Trevizo-Medina, who had a team-high 22 points in her team’s 70-42 opening round win over Rock Canyon.
Scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off is Rangeview, which plays host to No. 17 Chaparral (16-8) in a game that pits the two closest seeds against each other. Coach La Monte Weddle’s Raiders (17-6) hope to win a playoff game for the fourth straight season, which would yield a second straight trip to the Sweet 16.
Rangeview features a pair of double-digit scorers in sophomore Ny’Era West (16.8 points per game) and junior Brianna Linnear (13.4 ppg) — who are both adept 3-point shooters — while the Wolverines have a single player that averages more than 10 points per contest in sophomore Avery Bang, who went for 16 points in a first round win over Grand Junction that padded her average of 11.9 points per game.
A trio of 7 p.m. games feature Vista PEAK (21-2) at home to No. 24 Thornton (20-4) in the only game of the night that features two 20-win teams, 20-3 Grandview (last season’s 5A state runner-up) welcoming No. 36 Arvada West (14-10) and Regis Jesuit (19-4) seeking to stay unbeaten in Colorado when No. 30 Liberty (15-9) comes calling.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2020 CLASS 5A GIRLS STATE BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS (2ND ROUND)
Feb. 28
Lakewood at Cherokee Trail, 5:30 p.m.
Chaparral at Rangeview, 6:30 p.m.
Arvada West at Grandview, 7 p.m.
Liberty at Regis Jesuit, 7 p.m.
Thornton at Vista PEAK, 7 p.m.