The 2023-24 winter prep sports season tips off Monday, as teams were allowed to begin official competition exactly two weeks after the opening of practices.
Boys and girls basketball, boys and girls wrestling, girls swimming and ice hockey all get underway for local teams with three weeks worth of action before the Colorado High School Activities Association mandates a break from competition from Dec. 24, 2023, to Jan. 1, 2024.
Some Aurora boys basketball teams held Foundation Games — which do not count in the standings — prior to the official start on Nov. 27. Boys basketball teams in Classes 4A-6A are allowed to play 23 contests in the regular season, which comes to an end on Feb. 17 ahead to the start of the playoffs on Feb. 20 (girls) and Feb. 21 (boys).
Postseason games will be played at home sites through the Great 8, which is contested at the Denver Coliseum Feb. 29 (6A) and March 1 (5A) with the Final Four scheduled for the same venue March 5-7. Girls basketball teams have the same number of allowed contests and follow the same schedule.
For basketball only, the Gateway girls are Aurora’s lone program in the 4A classification, while the Gateway boys will be in 5A along with the Aurora Central and Vista PEAK Prep boys and girls and Hinkley girls with the Hinkley boys in 6A along with boys and girls teams from Cherokee Trail, Eaglecrest, Grandview, Overland, Rangeview, Regis Jesuit and Smoky Hill.
Aurora’s lone returning winter champion from 2022-23 is the Grandview girls basketball team, which claimed the 6A crown and is in search of a third straight title in the largest classification. The Regis Jesuit boys made the deepest run among city teams last season as they advanced to the 6A semifinals before losing to Fossil Ridge.
The boys and girls wrestling seasons both feature a maximum of 12 tournament and 10 duals matches per wrestler with a season that runs through Feb. 3. Regional state qualifying tournaments take place Feb. 9-10, while both boys and girls will contest state tournaments (all classifications) Feb. 15-17 at Ball Arena. Eaglecrest’s Adonias Cantu and Regis Jesuit’s Garrett Reece return after they lost in boys state championship matches last season, while four other placers are back. All three of Aurora’s girls wrestling finalists graduated, while sixth-place finisher Rachel Allred of Vista PEAK Prep is expected back.
The girls swimming season is made up of a maximum of 11 competitions plus league championship meets with state meet standards possible in each competition. The regular season ends Feb. 3 with the Class 5A state meet to follow in a staggered format Feb. 6-10 at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center. Regis Jesuit finished as the 5A runner-up last season and returns a slew of diving and swimming placers, including 100 yard breaststroke state champion Charlotte Burnham. Grandview and Smoky Hill also expect to return championship finalists.
Ice hockey teams can play 19 contests ahead of the end of the regular season on Feb. 17, while the opening round of the playoffs must be finished by Feb. 23. Semifinals are scheduled for March 2 at South Suburban Sports Complex, with the state championship games in 4A and 5A set for March 5 at Magness Arena at the University of Denver (4A at 5 p.m., 5A at 7:30 p.m.). Regis Jesuit lost in the semifinals last season, while the other team with local players, the Cherry Creek co-op team, lost in the quarterfinals.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
