Class 6A and 5A playoff capsules: boys

From Boulder, Broomfield and Longmont, 10 teams qualified for the 6A and 5A boys basketball postseason, which starts Tuesday.

Each playoff bracket is made up of 40 teams, with six locals in 6A and four in 5A.

There are a total of 16 teams in both play-in rounds on Tuesday. That’s followed by a 32-team first round on Friday.

In 6A, Boulder, Erie and Legacy are hosting a play-in game. Broomfield, Fairview and Monarch already have their first-round matchup scheduled for Friday, with the Eagles hosting and the Knights and Coyotes on the road.

In 5A, Silver Creek will travel for its play-in game. Mead and Longmont are home in the first round. Frederick is on the road.

Below is a quick preview of each local play-in game, all slated for Tuesday.

Class 6A

No. 39 Vista PEAK Prep at No. 26 Legacy

The Lightning have reached the postseason for a fourth straight season. In each of their past three appearances, they won at least one game.

This winter, Legacy (14-9) finished 8-5 in the Granite Peaks League, tied with No. 17 Fairview, No. 24 Monarch and 5A No. 11 Longmont.

Jaedon Ward (14.2 PPG), who set the Lightning’s school record with 10 3s in a win over Longmont on Jan. 28, is one of the best 3-point shooters in the state. He’s 59 of 148 (40%) from deep this season.

Ari Harpring (13.3 PPG, 6.4 RPG), their 6-foot-8 big man who has only six 3-point attempts, meanwhile, is shooting 56% from the field (131 of 236).

Vista PEAK Prep (9-14) has a balanced offense led by Marquilos Mata (11.7 PPG).

Despite the Bison’s losing record, they are 2-0 against common opponents with Legacy — beating both 6A No. 32 Erie and Fort Collins during the regular season. They’ve also been better on the road than at home this season at 5-8.

No. 35 Pueblo West at No. 30 Boulder

The Panthers (14-9) are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

Cole Morrow (22.8 PPG) is the third-leading scorer in the classification, behind only reigning 6A player of the year Cole Scherer (26.7) of Valor Christian and Regis Jesuit’s Eric Fiedler (23.6). The Panthers senior has scored at least 30 points in six games this winter, including five times in his past 10 games.

This season, the Panthers are 9-0 when Morrow scores 23 or more. On Saturday, the winners of the Rocky Mountain League had their six-game winning streak snapped in a 10-point loss to No. 26 Legacy. Morrow scored 22.

Lake Smith (15.7 PPG) is the Panthers’ next best scorer. This winter, he’s been one of the state’s best at the free throw line, hitting 100 of 120 (83%) attempts.

Pueblo West (13-10) is led by standout freshman Ezekiel Stump (16.7 PPG) and senior big man Andrew Trujillo (11.4 PPG, 13.4 RPG).

The Cyclones largely struggled in their league — finishing 2-6 in the 6A/5A/4A Colorado Springs Metro League — but their resume does have a few nice wins in it, including a 64-54 victory over No. 21 Doherty on Feb. 6.

No. 33 Cherokee Trail at No. 32 Erie

The Tigers (12-11) are back in the postseason for the first time since 2022.

Though just one game over .500, their resume is a good one. Among wins this winter, they beat four 6A postseason teams — No. 24 Monarch, No. 26 Legacy, No. 30 Boulder and No. 34 Rocky Mountain — and two of the better 5A teams in No. 10 Mead and No. 11 Longmont.

Callen Gebhardt (12.7 PPG), Garrett Owen (11.5) and Christopher Smith (11.0) lead a balanced scoring attack for Erie. Owen had 16 points in a 51-50 loss to No. 8 Horizon in its regular-season finale on Friday.

Cherokee Trail (9-14) snapped a seven-game losing streak in its finale on Saturday, beating 5A No. 26 Mullen by 31. Nathan Baack (9.7 PPG), a 6-foot-6 senior, led the way with a career-high 25 points. He shot 4 of 6 from deep and 5 of 5 from the line.

Class 5A

No. 35 Silver Creek at No. 30 Thompson Valley, 6 p.m.

The Raptors (10-13) played half of the season with a lineup featuring practically no varsity experience. And they played pretty well despite it, going 6-4 before returning standout junior Luke Schmeeckle from a major knee injury on Jan. 17.

Under coach Bob Banning, the Raptors haven’t finished a season under .500 since 2012-13, when they went 11-13. And though they’re currently three games under .500 after going through a difficult Granite Peaks League, don’t expect them to be an easy out — especially as they continue to gel with their scoring leader getting back to full form.

Schmeeckle (15.2 PPG) had 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting in Friday’s win over postseason-hungry Skyline, which just missed the cut. Connor Bonsett (9.5) then had a career-high 26 in an overtime loss to Pomona on Saturday, which saw the Raptors rally from a 10-point deficit to start the fourth quarter only to fall short in OT.

Thompson Valley (14-9) has two prolific scorers in RJ Hale (19.7 PPG) and Dominic Shideler (16.8). But the Eagles struggled over the last couple weeks of the season, losing four straight before they beat Roosevelt, 53-50, in their season finale on Saturday.

Since 2006, Thompson Valley owns the series edge over Silver Creek, 15-14. But the Raptors have won the past three, with their last meeting coming in December of 2021.

First-round matchups (Friday)

6A

• No. 22 Overland at No. 11 Broomfield

• No. 17 Fairview at No. 16 George Washington

• No. 24 Monarch at No. 9 Regis Jesuit

5A

• No. 23 Lewis-Palmer at No. 10 Mead

• No. 22 Grand Junction at No. 11 Longmont

• No. 17 Frederick at No. 16 Green Mountain