Rye, Pueblo West, Pueblo County girls basketball teams brace for postseason play

Jeff Letofsky, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
·2 min read

Mar. 7—Only three Pueblo-area girls basketball teams will likely see their seasons extended next week when the postseason begins.

All three are District 70 schools.

Rye, Pueblo West and Pueblo County high schools will likely move on to the playoffs when the Colorado High School Activities Association releases its postseason brackets on Monday.

Pueblo-area schools Centennial, Central, Dolores Huerta, East, South and Swallows likely won't qualify for the postseason this season.

South will likely come the closest out of that group, as current projections have the Colts four spots out of the 32-team field as the No. 36 team in 4A.

CHSAA will determine the high school basketball fields using a combination of data that includes RPI, the CHSAA coaches poll, MaxPreps and Packard rankings.

In the past, league champions received an automatic bid, with the rest of the fields determined by RPI ranking and then seeded accordingly.

But now, the four data points are collected and averaged, each carrying an equal 25 percent weight, to create an overall ranking.

The Thunderbolts have been one of the top teams in the Class 2A ranks all season and will claim a high seed for the playoffs.

Rye is 13-1 overall and won the Santa Fe League with an 8-0 record, disposing of Peyton 61-30 on Thursday night to wrap up the regular season.

The Thunderbolts are focused this season after a disappointing finish to their 2019-2020 campaign, upset in the Great 8 by Sanford 46-31 after coming into the state tournament undefeated at 24-0. Last season, the tournament was cancelled before a champion could be crowned due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"We have a definite goal. It's a mission," Rye coach Kermit Spencer. "Anything less would be very disappointing. There's a lot that goes into it and a lot that can happen.

"There's a little bit of nervousness, that's expected. We're certainly not scared. We know what we can and can't do."

The Cyclones won the Class 4A South-Central League but will move up to the Class 5A ranks for the playoffs. Pueblo West finished 10-4 overall and 9-1 in the S-CL and will likely be a lower seed, hitting the road for the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.

Pueblo County (8-5, 6-3), which finished its regular season Friday with a 53-45 win over Widefield, has been on the Class 4A bubble for the 32-team field most of the season. The Hornets are projected to finish right at No. 32, meaning they would be on the road in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs the No. 1 seed.

Chieftain interim sports editor Jeff Letofsky can be reached by email at jletofsky@chieftain.com or on Twitter @jeffletofsky