4A Playoffs: Contenders and Sleepers from Quadrant 1 & 2

<p>Playoff brackets were released on Monday morning, and it was broken up into four quadrants, with 32 teams in total making the playoffs. Here, we focus on two quadrants and what teams stand out to us at first look. </p> <p><strong><em>Teams in Quadrant 1: Windsor, Durango, Aurora Central, Palisade, Erie v. Pueblo East, Pueblo South, Thomas Jefferson</em></strong></p> <h2><strong>Quadrant 1: Contender</strong></h2> <p>Windsor is the No. 1 team in all of 4A with the season that they just had, and they have the personnel to win it all. The Wizards are led by a senior duo of [player_tooltip player_id="916987" first="Ben" last="Hageman"] and [player_tooltip player_id="966339" first=" Jaden" last=" Kennis"] who are two of the most consistent forces in 4A and what is best about this offensive duo is they might be the two best perimeter defenders as well. Hageman plays all 5 positions for Windsor and has sacrificed his own personal gains for the betterment of the team. He is the team’s most important player and has plenty to prove in this playoff run. He fills up the stat sheet and creates mismatches with Windor’s small-ball lineup. Kennis has to score and be the defensive presence he’s known to be, and the Wizards will need [player_tooltip player_id="1138311" first="Kobe" last="Greene"] to continue lighting it up from deep. This group is balanced and answers many questions with their play, the only issue will be if they go up against a team with massive size, but I think they have that covered as well. I expect Windsor to be there when it is all said and done.</p> <h2><strong>Quadrant 1: Sleeper</strong></h2> <p>Erie is my sleeper for the region, and when looking at their schedule, they are not only battle-tested but have faced off against the top teams in the state and held their own. They have a deep group of players with solid senior leadership mixed with younger players who understand what is needed. [player_tooltip player_id="1139427" first="Kayan" last="Hargrave"], [player_tooltip player_id="1138316" first="Kevin" last="Loy"], Jordan Nguyen and both [player_tooltip player_id="1138303" first="Cole" last="Rademacher"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1138308" first="Tristan" last="Rademacher"] will apply pressure to opposing teams and try and force the tempo. Erie makes teams play them a certain way and counter everything that opposing teams throw at them. The Tigers have been a bit inconsistent in games, but one thing you can expect is for their team to show up and compete no matter who is in front of them. This Erie team is a darkhorse in the quadrant and will give teams their best effort.</p> <p><em><strong>Teams in Quadrant 2: Mead, Canon City, Holy Family, Grand Junction, Lewis-Palmer, Elizabeth, Thompson Valley, D’Evelyn</strong></em></p> <h2><strong>Quadrant 2: Contender</strong></h2> <p>Lewis-Palmer is the contender in the conference, and this is probably the toughest Quadrant to be in with all of the competition and teams that could possibly win it. The Rangers are my pick as the team to beat in the conference as I was bullish on them to begin the season. The reason for that; immense depth. Lewis-Palmer answers every question. They have scorers, rebounders, size, and the ability to all lock in on defense and shut a team down. Lewis-Palmer is finally healthy and, with that, has been the team that has got it together. Eddie Speller Jr. has been a force on the block and is putting up massive numbers. He is at 17.4 points a game and also putting up 7.5 rebounds to go along with it. He is accompanied by a backcourt of [player_tooltip player_id="965754" first="Colin" last="Westfall"], Cam Lowe and [player_tooltip player_id="1050938" first="Noah" last="Ragsdale"] that know how to put the ball in the basket and play with an edge. If he and [player_tooltip player_id="1138292" first="Brady" last="Jones"] can control the paint and do everything with their size, this team has a chance to not only win the conference but hoist the trophy.</p> <h2><strong>Quadrant 2: Sleeper</strong></h2> <p>Mead is the sleeper coming out of the quadrant, and that sounds wild. Mead finds themselves in a position they haven’t been in for two seasons; the forgotten. The Mavericks went through a bit of a slump after their impressive winning streak that exceeded 30+ wins but is still one of the best teams in all of 4A. Mead was the team to beat and preseason No.1 for a reason and are No. 5 in the playoffs, which is a great spot for them to be in. Junior sharpshooter [player_tooltip player_id="918902" first="Elijah" last="Knudsen"] is ready to get the team back into contention and has been carrying the scoring load all season long. When he gets himself into a rhythm, there are not many things that you can do with him as he is cooking from behind the arc, [player_tooltip player_id="918899" first="James" last="Shiers"] is taking care of the paint and attacking the boards and [player_tooltip player_id="921097" first="Nick" last="Basson"] is mixing it in everywhere else. Mead has a solid bunch of competitiors that appear to have the chip on their shoulder again that was missing as they felt that they were in a groove. With a new sense of how they are, I expect them to bounce back and put everyone on notice that they are still the team to beat.</p>