Holy Family will host Jefferson Academy as part of the opening rounds of the small-school girls basketball postseason this weekend.

The fourth-ranked Tigers are one of eight Class 4A home sites for the first and second rounds on Friday and Saturday. They host a group of four that includes the 13-seed Jaguars along with No. 20 DSST: Cedar and No. 29 Coal Ridge.

If both Holy Family and JA win as a Round 1 favorite on Friday, they’ll face each other Saturday with a spot in the Great 8 on the line.

Peak to Peak is also home this weekend, earning 4A’s final home site at No. 8. The Pumas are led by McDonald’s All-American Alexandra Eschmeyer. Their group includes No. 9 D’Evelyn, No. 24 Moffat County and No. 25 Denver West.

Lyons is No. 24 in 3A and is at No. 8 Strasburg. It opens the postseason against No. 9 Roaring Fork on Friday.

A look at each team’s path to Saturday’s Sweet 16 and next week’s Great 8.

Class 4A

No. 4 Holy Family

Where they start: The Tigers are the hosts. At home this winter, they’re 10-3.

Other teams there: They face No. 29 Coal Ridge on Friday at 5 p.m. The winner will face whoever advances between No. 13 Jefferson Academy and No. 20 DSST: Cedar.

What to know: The Tigers (14-8) are a much different team than what has been seen the previous two seasons, when they won the 4A state title in 2023 and finished runner-up to Riverdale Ridge and superstar Brihanna Crittendon in ’24.

Even so, they’ve again been one of the best teams in the classification.

During nonconference play, they beat both No. 6 Delta and No. 8 Peak to Peak. In the 6A/5A/4A Granite Peaks League, they finished tied with 6A No. 24 Erie at 8-5 as the only 4A squad among its 14 teams. Only 6A No. 3 Broomfield, No. 20 Monarch, 5A No. 2 Mead and No. 7 Frederick finished better.

Junior Gracie Ward (13.9 ppg) leads a talented 3-point barrage. She had a career-high 23 points in her last game of the regular season — an 82-33 win over 4A No. 24 The Classical Academy. And in it she hit 5 of her 8 attempts from 3-point range, where she’s 46 of 143 this winter.

Classmate Alexcia Oaxaca (11.3 ppg), meanwhile, has scored 16 points in three of her past four games. She went a perfect 4 of 4 from deep in that win over TCA.

No. 8 Peak to Peak

Where they start: The Pumas are hosts. They’re 9-4 at home this season.

Other teams there: They face No. 25 Denver West on Friday at 5 p.m. The winner gets No. 9 D’Evelyn or No. 24 Moffat County.

What to know: Few have come close to what Peak to Peak’s Alexandra Eschmeyer has already accomplished in her high school basketball career.

In four years with the Pumas, the 6-foot-5 Stanford commit has 2,000 points, 1,204 rebounds and 386 blocks.

To put that in perspective, she’s currently 14 points shy of cracking into the top 10 in career points in the CHSAA record books. She’s sixth in rebounds and tied for seventh in blocks.

Her 78 career double-doubles are two away from tying former Mesa Ridge standout Kylee Shook for the all-time mark in Colorado. Shook went on to play at the University of Louisville before getting drafted by the New York Liberty in the 2020 WNBA Draft.

The Pumas (17-6) won three straight at the end of the regular season. Behind Eschmeyer in points this season for them are sophomore Neve Gustafson (7.8 ppg) and freshman Tessa Hirt (4.1).

No. 13 Jefferson Academy

Where they start: The Jaguars are at Holy Family.

Other teams there: They face DSST: Cedar at 6:30 p.m. Friday. With a win, they’d get either No. 4 Holy Family or No. 29 Coal Ridge in Round 2 on Saturday.

What to know: The Jaguars (18-6) have their most wins in a season since they finished 18-6 in 2019-20.

They’re led by senior Elsa Nygren (11.1 ppg, 8.7 rpg), who has two double-doubles over her past three games.

Behind her, the Jags finished fourth in the 4A/3A Metro League, trailing only 3A No. 3 Denver Christian, 4A No. 12 Kent Denver and No. 8 Peak to Peak.

Against their league’s top two finishers — the Thunder and Sun Devils — they lost by a combined six points over the two games. Against Peak to Peak, they lost by 14.

Jefferson Academy has reached the state round of 16 in each of the past four seasons, excluding the pandemic year in 2020-21.

Class 3A

No. 24 Lyons Lions

Where they start: At Strasburg.

Other teams there: They face No. 9 Roaring Fork at 3 p.m. Friday. Whoever wins gets either No. 8 Strasburg or No. 25 Meeker on Saturday.

What to know: The Lions (16-6) didn’t get much help from the CHSAA formula used to decide the state’s postseason fields.

Despite their most wins in a season since 2016-17, when they finished with 19, the Lions suffered from playing teams in lower classifications inside the Mile High League.

They’re just a 24 seed. But, perhaps, a dangerous one.

They enter the postseason on the back of five straight wins. This winter, they’ve been led in points by sophomores Ava Vasquez (10.2 ppg, 13 rpg) and Leora Hagan (8.4 ppg).

Vasquez, who is also a standout catcher for the school’s softball team, has dominated in the paint this season, with 10 double-doubles and four over her past five games.

Diving into her numbers, Vasquez scored at least 10 points in 11 of her 22 games and has double-digit rebounds in each of her last 17. Her 13 rebounds per game, meanwhile, is third-best in the class.