Boys Basketball

YWKC - Otis has a 2-game edge over Idalia and Hi-Plains. The Bulldogs still have games against Idalia and Hi-Plains. Should the Bulldogs get upset on both of those, there would be a 3-way tie for the regular season crown. If Otis wins both, as they did the first time they played both those teams, then Idalia and Hi-Plains would be tied for 2nd with the same overall record. No idea on how a tiebreaker would work. Those are unquestionably the three best teams and it would take nothing short of a minor miracle for them to not be the three teams to qualify for Regionals. The only remaining question is what team will be the final team to advance to the semifinals/finals rounds in Burlington on February 25 and 26.

North Central - Thanks to a Weldon Valley win over Fleming on Friday night and Peetz in turn beating Weldon Valley on Saturday, the Peetz Bulldogs are guaranteed the top overall seed in the 1A District IV Tournament with their 8-1 league record. Fleming still has the edge for the 2-seed but needs a win against Briggsdale (2/16) and Prairie (2/18) for a 7-3 league record to ensure that. Prairie can still garner the 2-seed with wins over both Peetz (2/11) and Fleming (2/18) to finish 7-3 in league play. If they lose either, or both, of those games, that brings a wide variety of scenarios into play. Weldon Valley can finish no better than 5-5 in league, and the same goes for Briggsdale. Weldon Valley's conference run will finish this Friday when they host Pawnee, a game they should win. Briggsdale still has Pawnee this Thursday, a game they should win, and Fleming next Friday, a game they lost the first go-around. If projections stand, Weldon Valley winishes 5-5, Prairie finishes 4-6 and Briggsdale finishes 4-6. Depending on results the rest of the way, it goes to the overall record for the tiebreaker. Projections put Briggsdale at 10-9 while Prairie projects at 9-10. See below the LPAA wrap for 1A District IV projections.

Lower Platte - Thanks to a win by Wray over Holyoke on Friday, the Eagles now have the inside edge to the top seed in 2A's District II. But the district is wide open, as evidenced by the Eagles and Dragons' closeness in that game. Either of those teams could take it and if Sedgwick County or Wiggins get hot, they could take the league as well. Wiggins gets a better first round matchup thanks to their decisive win over Sedgwick County on Friday. We could get a preview of Wiggins' league matchup when they tangle with Akron Thursday. As for the 1A side of this conference, Caliche holds the edge over Haxtun thanks to a win back in December. But that was December and this is February. The two teams meet on Februay 19 to decide who is the 3-seed and who is the 5-seed in 1A's District IV.

1A District IV (projected first round matchups in bracket order - February 22 at NJC) - Peetz vs. Pawnee, Weldon Valley vs. Haxtun, Fleming vs. Prairie, Caliche vs. Briggsdale

2A District II (projected first round matchups in bracket order - February 23 at higher seed) - Wray vs. Merino, Sedgwick County vs. Frontier Academy, Holyoke vs. Union Colony Prep, Wiggins vs. Akron

Patriot League - Yuma and Brush are both 7-1 in the league and will meet on Thursday in Brush. The winner looks to win the regular season crown. Likely is the key word because Yuma still has a game against University (9-7 overall) and Brush still has Platte Valley (13-3 overall) following their tangle. Should either lose those games, things open wide up. So we'll go with the easy explanation on that and say Thursday's winner will be the champ.

Northern Conference - Sterling officially clinched the regular season title by beating Silver Creek on Friday. They will start the conference tournament at home on Thursday against either Skyline or Thompson Valley. If both the Falcons and the Eagles lose as expected on Tuesday, it will be Thompson Valley, which beat Skyline and holds the tiebreak for the 16th and final spot in the conference tourney. Their second round game on Saturday will be against either Berthoud or Silver Creek. Fort Morgan doesn't have it all figured out yet. They're currently part of a 4-team mess for 11th place. They know they're on the road but don't know where they're going. I'm not even going to try and break the tie, it's that messy. We'll let the ADs in charge do that!

Girls Basketball

YWKC - Hi-Plains and Otis are both still alive to win the regular season championship and will meet for that title on February 19. But it isn't as simple as winner-takes-all. Hi-Plains pummelled Otis by 22 back in early January. Otis is going to need to hope for a loss to either Arickaree or Liberty this weekend to make that game a truly winner-take-all game. Either way, the Patriots and Bulldogs are the top two teams. Woodlin and Idalia will meet in a similar situation the same night Hi-Plains and Otis meet. The Mustangs and Bulldogs are in a winner-take-all situation for 3rd, with the Mustangs in the advantage because of their win over Idalia in early January. They also have the better overall record and don't have to play Otis (Idalia does). Regardless, Hi-Plains, Otis, Woodlin and Idalia will be the top four teams and should have no problem being the top three teams out. The biggest question is which three?

North Central - Pawnee and Briggsdale are tied for the league lead. Both sport 7-1 records. They'll meet on Thursday to decide who is going to be league champs...maybe. If Pawnee wins, they're league champs assuming they beat Weldon Valley. If Briggsdale wins, they're league champs assuming they beat Fleming. The catch is, Briggsdale beat Fleming by just 1 when they played the first time. Pawnee beat Weldon Valley by 55. If Briggsdale wins, then loses to Fleming, there's a 3-way tie for first between Briggsdae, Fleming, and Pawnee. Tiebreak would go to overall record, which projected out would seed out Pawnee (17-2), Briggsdale (16-3), and Fleming (15-4). Behind those three it's a mess to try and figure out. But using my best guesstimation, Weldon Valley projects out at 3-7, Prairie projects out at 2-8, and Peetz projects out at 1-9. The key game to cleaning up this lower-half mess will be when Peetz and Prairie meet on Thursday. Should Peetz beat the Mustangs, they'll take over the 5-seed. See below the LPAA wrap for 1A District IV projections.

Lower Platte - Merino has the edge in taking the LPAA regular season crown given that they sit at 5-0 with two games remaining. Those two games, however, are against their closest competitors in Wray and Akron, who sit a game back. Wray and Akron also tangle next Tuesday so a lot of shuffling could be going on. Wray won the first time those two teams met by 2. Sedgwick County, who sits two back of Merino in 4th, still has a game remaining against Wray as well and could further shuffle the picture. Holyoke and Wiggins are out of the top of the league race and will meet on the 16th for seeding in the District II Tounament. As for the 1A side goes, Caliche and Haxtun tangle on February 19 to determine who is the 3-seed and who is the 5-seed. Caliche won by 14 back in December.

1A District IV (projected first round matchups in bracket order - February 23 at NJC) - Pawnee vs. Peetz, Fleming vs. Haxtun, Briggsdale vs. Prairie, Caliche vs. Weldon Valley

2A District II (projected first round matchups in bracket order - February 23 at higher seed) - Merino vs. Wiggins, Sedgwick County vs. Union Colony Prep, Wray vs. Frontier Academy, Akron vs. Wiggins

Patriot League - The Brush Beetdiggers are on top of the league thanks to a stellar season. Their lone remaining speedbump looks to be against Eaton on Tuesday. Should they win that, they're unquestionably the league champs. Yuma, on the other hand, isn't so fortunate. They put themselves in a great position beating Lyons over the weekend and now are virtually assured of a home game to kick off the league/district tournament. But their problem may come in the late rounds as Yuma needs to assure 6th place or better to get into the 3A State field. They've lost to every team in front of them but still have games remaining against two. They'll face Brush (1st) and University (6th) before heading to postseason play. The University matchup on the 16th is key. If they can win that, it's a much better chance for Yuma to make the 32-team field.

Northern Conference - Things work out easily isn't something always said in the 17-team league. But Sterling and Fossil Ridge meet in the Tiger Den in a very simple game. Win and you get to host on Thursday. Sterling and Fossil Ridge are tied for 8th with no chance of either dropping lower than 9th or moving higher than 8th. Therefore, Sterling and Fossil Ridge will meet on both Tuesday and Thursday this week. The winner on Tuesday hosts the Thursday tilt. Sterling needs to win Thursday's tilt regardless, or they're in a must-win position during the second and third round games of the conference tournament to get into the 4A State field. They have to finish 10th or higher to ensure a berth in the bracket. Fort Morgan is in a must-win on Tuesday night when they host Greeley Central. Win and you're in the tournament as the 15th place team. Lose and you're season's done. Rarely would a team say they'd love to play a 18-1 team but for the Mustangs that means they're season is going on so I'd say they'll take it!