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District hoop tournaments start tonight

Phil Sandoval

For area prep basketball teams, the post-season tournament schedule is set.

Action begins tonight with first-round games of the Class 3A, District 2 double-elimination tournament involving Roaring Fork and Basalt.

In the girls tournament, the No. 2 seeded Rams (12-2 league, 17-2 overall) tip off at 6 p.m. against No. 7 Olathe (3-11, 4-15). At 7 p.m., No. 1 seed Basalt (13-1, 16-3) hosts eighth-seeded Gunnison (1-13, 2-17).



Losers of Tuesday’s games fall to elimination bracket contests scheduled for 3:30 and 5 p.m. Friday at Rifle High School. First-round winners advance to semifinal games at 6:30 and 8 p.m. at Rifle High.

The tournament concludes Saturday in Rifle. The top five teams earn state playoff berths.



The 3A district boys tournament also gets under way this evening with a pair of games. Undefeated Roaring Fork (14-0, 19-0) earned the No. 1 seed by winning the regular-season Western Slope League championship.

At 7:30 p.m. tonight, the Rams host No. 8 Olathe (0-14, 0-19) at 7:30 p.m. in Carbondale. Basalt (5-9, 5-14), the No. 6 seed, travels to No. 3 Aspen (9-5, 11-8) for a first-round contest scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

The boys tournament elimination round and semifinal games will be played on Thursday at Rifle High School. Elimination round games are slotted for 3:30 and 5 p.m.; semifinal games will be at 6:30 and 8 p.m.

Championship, third and fifth-place games are on Saturday at Rifle High.

Class 4A girls

The Class 4A, District 7 tournament starts Thursday in Palisade and Grand Junction at three separate venues.

Rifle (12-0, 16-3) is the No. 1 seed in the eight-team girls tournament that includes 4A schools Montrose and Montezuma-Cortez from the Southwestern League.

The Bears draw the winner of tonight’s pigtail game between Delta and Battle Mountain. The first round playoff game will be played at 3 p.m. Thursday at Palisade High School.

No. 4 Glenwood Springs (7-4, 10-8) squares off against No. 5 Cortez (4-6, 12-7) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. That game is at Grand Junction Central High School.

Winners will advance from Thursday’s games to the semifinals at 3 p.m. Friday at Fruita Monument High School.

The first-round loser returns to Palisade for a game at 3 p.m. Friday.

The remaining six teams from Friday’s games vie for five available state playoff slots in games on Saturday at Fruita.

Class 4A boys

No. 5 Rifle (6-6, 8-11) opens the 4A boys district tournament on Thursday with a 4:45 p.m. game against No. 3 Moffat County (9-3, 12-7) at Palisade High School.

At 8:15 p.m., at Grand Junction Central High, No. 7 Glenwood (5-7, 8-11) battles No. 2 Cortez (6-4, 12-7).

The losers from those games play an elimination bracket game at 8:15 p.m. Friday at Palisade High School. The two winning squads move to a semifinal contest at 8:15 p.m. Friday at Fruita Monument High School.

The boys championship, third and fifth-place games are Saturday at Fruita Monument High.

Class 2A

The District 5 tournament, which started last week, resumes Friday with the boys and girls semifinal games at Grand Valley High School in Parachute.

The host Cardinals advanced from Saturday’s first-round games on victories against West Grand and Rangely.

Grand Valley’s girls (14-6), seeded No. 2 among eight teams from the 2A WSL, face No. 6 Hayden (7-8) at 7 p.m. on Friday.

The Cardinal boys (16-4), also seeded No. 2 in their half of districts, play No. 3 Paonia (15-4) at 8:30 p.m. Friday.

Semifinal winners advance to Saturday’s district championship games at Grand Valley High School. The girls title contest is at 1 p.m., followed by the boys at 2:30 p.m.


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