4A First Round Preview: Richard Tate 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 Richard Tate Region: </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>First-round byes:</strong> No. 4 Holy Family, No. 5 Mead, No. 12 Palisade, No. 13 Lincoln.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 29 Northfield (11-8) vs. No. 36 Palmer Ridge (8-15), Wednesday, 7 p.m.</strong></p> <p>Northfield’s physical tools allowed the Nighthawks to score and rebound their way out the DPL make them a threat. They also spread the ball around, with junior Nahsyah Bolar leading them with 11.7 points per game and three other players averaging eight or more points a night. Palmer Ridge plays a much more low-scoring game – averaging 48 points – and likely will want to try to keep the game from turning into an up-and-down shootout.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 20 Montrose (14-9) vs. No. 45 Kennedy (10-13), Wednesday, 7 p.m.</strong></p> <p>The Indians from Montrose reached the Sweet 16 as a No. 16 seed last season before getting knocked out by No. 1 Pueblo South. Despite graduating Kade Terrell, last winter’s leading scorer, the Indians returned the bulk of that team and had high hopes to repeat this season. Well, their chance has arrived and it certainly won’t be easy to get back to the third round. They have a freshman, Luke Hutto (11.7 ppg), leading them in scoring and the Indians run a shallow rotation so everyone has to pitch in. After bowing out in the first round of last year’s state tournament following a five-point loss to Sierra, the Kennedy Commanders will test the Indians as they have been planning a first-round victory for a while as well.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 28 Air Academy (12-11) vs. No. 37 Skyview (10-13), Wednesday, TBA</strong></p> <p>Skyview’s Robbie Bauderer (6-8, 275) is a force when he’s out there and the Wolverines are a tough defensive club. They don’t score a ton of points either, averaging 48.6 on the season. Facing an athletic Air Academy team, Skyview will have to be on point and likely will have to slow the game down to keep it close. Air Academy’s Justin Graham leads the Kadets with 15.3 points a game and Austin Graham blocks 2.5 shots a night as one of four Kadets averaging over eight points per game.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 21 Rifle (14-9) vs. No. 44 Coronado (7-16), Wednesday, TBA</strong></p> <p>Neither of these teams participated in last year’s postseason so this game will be a bit of uncharted territory for both clubs. Coronado junior Ladarius Mays appears to be ready for the big stage, averaging 17.4 points a night and pairing with teammates Brycen Scherr (11.3 ppg) and Bryce McKee (10.6) to lead the Cougars. Junior Trey Lujan averages 13.5 points per game to lead Rifle and the Bears have been putting the clamps on during the regular season, giving up an average of just 44.7 points to their 23 regular-season opponents.</p>