3A Playoffs: Great 8 Preview (Top Half)

<p>With the first round and sweet 16 finished up this week for 3A after back to back days of action, we preview the top half of the bracket and look into the Great 8 which will take place Thursday at The University of Denver.  We will preview the bottom half of the bracket and the teams in a different article coming up.  </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>(1) Resurrection Christian vs. (9) Lutheran </strong></span></p> <p>The Cougars are the number one seed in the 3A bracket and they deserve it, they are a perfect 24-0 on the season and have handled business in the first two rounds.  Lutheran will be a different test for them though, the two teams played earlier in the year with Resurrection Christian getting the one point win in a tight battle 66-65 at Lutheran.  The Cougars are led by [player_tooltip player_id="770335" first="Reece" last="Johnson"] who is averaging: 18.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.2 SPG during his senior campaign.  He finished with 21 points in their first game against Lutheran, the 6’3 guard can get it done in a number of different ways and has several nice complementing players around him like, Isaac Jessup.  The 6’3 senior is second in scoring on the team behind Reece at 16.6 PPG, he is also averaging 5.1 RPG, 4.5 APG, 4.9 SPG.  He can score from all three levels, leading the team in three point shooting this year, shooting 44% (61/138) and 74% from inside the arc 96/130).  He finished with 17 points in their victory earlier in the year.  Another senior that is a nice calming factor for the Cougars is [player_tooltip player_id="915348" first="Jackson" last="Romero"] the four year varsity player leads the team in assists at 5.2 APG and is also averaging: 9.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 3.2 SPG.  This should be a great matchup, with both teams having a number of different pieces that can hurt the opponent.  For Lutheran at 21-3, of course they are led by 6’11 standout freshman [player_tooltip player_id="921100" first="Baye" last="Fall"] who is averaging a double-double on the year, 19.9 PPG, 10.6 RPG to go along with 3.6 BPG.  Junior Mamadou Sow is another player that can get it done for them in all levels, he is putting up 12.4 PPG as well as 6.2 RPG and is often overshadowed by Fall.  He is a skilled big man at 6'7 that can handle the ball and can score in a number of different ways.  Another junior for Lutheran that is key, guard [player_tooltip player_id="916960" first="Tommy" last="Apodaca"] who is averaging a team high 7.0 APG to go along with 8.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.1 SPG, he had 16 points in the first game against Resurrection Christian.  Sam Hoops is another threat on the floor for them, third in scoring on the year at 10.8 PPG, he has decent size at 6'3 and averages 3.7 RPG, 2.2 APG and 1.4 SPG.  This game will tipoff at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.  </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>(5) Centauri vs. (4) Manual </strong></span></p> <p>In the second game in the top half of the bracket, Manual the defending 3A champions with take on Centauri in a battle against the four and five seeds.  Manual is led by senior star guard [player_tooltip player_id="915297" first="Jaden" last="Stoffell"] who is putting up 25.4 points per game this season and 2.5 APG, 2.2 RPG.  He is a player that can fill up the score book at any given time, he can score from all three levels and is crafty around the rim.  He had 32 points, including eight threes in the first half of their first round playoff win over Ridge View Academy and would finish with a season and career high 41 in the game.  It's only fitting to have an underclassman under Stoffell to learn under him and Manual has just that in [player_tooltip player_id="618880" first="Jordan" last="Reed"].  The 6'2 sophomore is averaging: 14.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.0 APG on the year, he has scored double figures in both playoff games so far and looks to continue his strong play against Centauri.  Manual also has a junior in Abel Maes who is averaging 9.6 PPG on the year, shooting 45% from deep (22/29) and does a nice job playing with Stoffell and Reed.  Centauri, a fairly young team also did their job in the first two rounds taking care of business as the higher seed in each.  They are 21-2 on the year and have a number of different players who contribute.  Baron Holman a sophomore leads the way for them, averaging: 12.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.2 APG, 4.7 SPG and Alec Holeman a four year varsity player is second in scoring at 9.3 PPG with 3.6 RPG.  Trey Crowther a junior is third on the team in scoring at 8.3 PPG to go along with his 3.5 RPG.  Their defense will be the key in this game, as Manual averages almost fourteen more points a game then Centauri.  This game will tipoff at 5:30 on Thursday evening.     </p>