4A First Round Preview: Larry Brunson Region

<p>It’s playoff time! The Colorado Class 4A state tournament is set to kick off with the first round on Wednesday. A total of 16 games will be played, and they will determine who will face each of the four teams that received first-round byes in each of the four regions.</p> <p>Let's take a look at each first-round matchup in the Larry Brunson Region: </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>First-round byes:</strong> No. 2 Longmont, No. 7 Glenwood Springs, No. 10 Harrison, No. 15 Pueblo Central.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 31 Mountain View (11-12) vs. No. 34 Discovery Canyon (10-13), Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.</strong></p> <p>The winner of this game gets defending champion Longmont in the next round, which is, well, a brutal reward for winning a playoff game. Both of these teams have been beaten by Longmont already this season, and pretty badly. But before that even becomes a problem,  these teams will square off with a pair of solid scorers leading the way in Discovery Canyon junior Daryn Whisman (16.2 ppg) and Mountain View senior Trey Bruschke (14.8). Not getting to full strength until late in the regular season, Mountain View could be a sneaky No. 31 seed.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 18 Skyline (15-8) vs. No. 47 Durango (9-13), Wednesday, 7 p.m.</strong></p> <p>The Skyline Falcons are back in the postseason for the third straight season and they’ll host a Durango team that traveled a long way to Longmont. Six-foot-5 senior Al Hurworth (10.8 ppg) and the Durango Demons will have their hands full with a Skyline club that features a one-two punch of springy junior guard Gage Robertson (16.0 ppg) and tough but skilled 6-foot-6 forward Austin Robison (14.4). Both teams played hard at the defensive end and thrive in low-scoring games as two of the 4A teams that gave up the fewest points in the state this season.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 26 Golden (12-11) vs. No. 39 Pueblo Centennial (9-14), Wednesday, 6 p.m.</strong></p> <p>The Pueblo Centennial boys are headed to Golden and they’re bringing one of Colorado’s highest scorers with them in the form of senior Antonio Rodriguez (18.7 ppg). Golden will counter with senior Ilja Bubukin (14.4 ppg) and a balanced group that is solid at the defensive end. It will likely take a big night from Rodriguez for the Bulldogs to pull this one off. Likewise, if Golden and lock him up, this one could get out of hand quickly.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 23 Alameda (17-6) vs. No. 42 D’Evelyn (8-15), Wednesday, 7 p.m.</strong></p> <p>Alameda allowed an average of just 48.6 points per game during the regular season and that could be pose a problem for a D’Evelyn team that scored more than 50 points in just 13 of 23 regular-season games. Luis Miera (15.7 ppg, 5.6 apg) paces the Alameda offense, which also boast a trio of other double-digit scorers in Dominic Creazzo (12.7 ppg), Isaiah Lawson (10.7) and Derik Gutierrez (10.2). The D’Evelyn boys have experience on their side after reaching the Sweet 16 last winter.  </p>