No. 16 Green Mountain (16-9) vs. No. 25 Sand Creek (20-6)

Time: 10:15 a.m. Friday

Players to watch: GM — Simon Lunsford, 6-4, sr. (17.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg); Sam Mielenz, 6-3, so. (13.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg); Jake Swanson, 6-4, jr. (10.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg). SC — Elijah Brotherns, 6-1, sr. (13.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.4 spg); Mathew Starks, 6-2, sr. (9.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.6 spg); Josh Kotto, 6-3, sr. (8.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.7 apg).

What to know: A pair of Cinderellas meet in a Great 8 matchup few saw coming. Green Mountain clinched its first Great 8 trip in 16 years with a 55-42 upset of No. 1 Lutheran in the Sweet 16. Sand Creek beat eighth-seeded Severance (47-40) and ninth-seeded Cheyenne Mountain (59-57) in succession after emerging from the play-in round. The Scorpions’ last win came on a frantic finish that saw Jaylen Brantley sink the go-ahead bucket on one end and Elijah Brotherns make the game-saving block on the other.

No. 21 Falcon (17-8) vs. No. 4 Montrose (19-6)

Time: 1:15 p.m. Friday

Players to watch: FA — Tyler Cox, 6-4, sr. (12.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg); Jeremiah Potts, 5-10, sr. (11.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.3 apg); Aiden Wood, 6-3, jr. (8.5 ppg, 2.4 apg, 2.2 spg). MO — Kaleb Ferguson, 6-5, sr. (16.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.1 spg); CJ Rocco, 6-4, jr. (8.2 ppg, 1.3 bpg); Brody Cooling, 6-2, sr. (4.4 ppg, 3.9 apg).

What to know: The other pair of glass slippers in a topsy-turvy 5A bracket belong to Falcon, which turned a 4-4 December into its first state quarterfinal trip in seven years with wins over No. 12 Eagle Valley (62-56) and No. 28 Mountain View (63-56). Now they face a Western Slope power in Montrose — a program that’s reached the Great 8 three times in five seasons. The Red Hawks allow just 36.68 points/game and appeared to have righted themselves after closing out the regular season 3-4.

No. 2 Mesa Ridge (24-1) vs. No. 7 Standley Lake (20-5)

Time: 5:30 p.m. Friday

Players to watch: MR — Bryce Riehl, 6-1, sr. (17.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.6 spg); Zander Iwanski, 6-3, sr. (11.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg); J’marius Jones, 5-11, jr. (6.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.8 apg). SL — Derrek Sims, 6-1, sr. (15.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.7 apg, 3.0 spg); Asher Serlen, 6-8, so. (14.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.9 bpg); Titus Schrecengost, 5-11, so. (11.9 ppg, 4.7 apg, 3.7 spg).

What to know: Mesa Ridge’s 5A three-peat bid is alive and well, with the Grizzlies entering the Coliseum on a 24-game win streak behind the talents of all-everything guard Bryce Riehl. Only two of those wins came against Great 8 qualifiers, however. Up next is a Stanley Lake squad that’s entering uncharted territory. The Gators have had just two winning seasons since 2012 (the other was last year’s 14-10 campaign) and this is their first trip to the Great 8 in at least two decades. Might as well start against the best.

No. 6 Windsor (19-6) vs. No. 3 Dakota Ridge (19-6)

Time: 8:30 p.m. Friday

Players to watch: WI — Madden Smiley, 6-3, jr. (20.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.3 apg); Brady Kingsley, 5-9, jr. (12.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg); John Backhaus, 6-4, sr. (11.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg). DR — Ethan Berninger, 6-5, sr. (22.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.7 apg); Nathan Esau, 6-4, sr. (14.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 3.7 apg); Cody Rominger, 6-2, sr. (8.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg).

What to know: Windsor is looking to go one step further after falling just short in the 5A title game against Mesa Ridge last winter. Junior Madden Smiley has scored in double-figures in all but one of the Wizards’ 25 games and reached the 20-point plateau in both of their playoff wins. Dakota Ridge has a deadly scorer of its own in senior Ethan Berninger, who’s reached 30 points three times in the Eagles’ last five games and is shooting 40% (70 of 176) from 3-point range. The Eagles have lost in the Great 8 two years in a row.

No. 1 Air Academy (24-0) vs. No. 8 Durango (19-6)

Time: 4 p.m. Friday

Players to watch: AA — Tatyonna Brown, 6-2, sr. (19.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg); Lydia Flowers, 6-0, sr. (13.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.3 spg); Kinley Asp, 5-11, jr. (13.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 4.3 apg). DU — Claire Goodwin, jr. (13.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.0 spg); Mariah Maestas, 5-7, sr. (8.1 ppg, 2.3 spg); Ellie White, sr. (6.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg).

What to know: The Coliseum has been a site of heartbreak for Air Academy, with the Kadets squandering double-digit leads in season-ending losses to Northfield (2024) and Roosevelt (2023) the last two years. Now they enter the penultimate weekend eyeing redemption, with Kansas commit Tatyonna Brown and D-I recruit Kinley Asp leading 5A’s lone unbeaten. Durango survived a rock fight against Montrose (32-23) to reach the Great 8 for the second time in three years, but needs to hit another level vs. AA.

No. 5 Green Mountain (23-2) vs. No. 4 Roosevelt (22-3)

Time: 8:45 a.m. Friday

Players to watch: GM — Kantyn Pearson, 5-9, jr. (13.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.7 apg); Ella Cockrum, 5-6, so. (12.2 ppg, 2.2 spg); Addie Evans, 5-11, so. (8.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.2 spg). RO — Kyla Hollier, 6-1, jr. (26.1 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 3.8 spg); Ryanne Bahnsen-Price, 6-0, sr. (17.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 3.0 apg); Payton Terry, 5-7, sr. (6.9 ppg, 4.8 apg, 3.3 spg).

What to know: Two-time defending 5A champion Roosevelt, led by the D-I tandem of Kyla Hollier and Ryanne Bahnsen-Price, brings its suffocating defense back to the Coliseum eyeing a three-peat. Each of the Riders’ three losses this season came to teams playing in the Coliseum, the last a 65-44 setback at No. 6 Mullen on Jan. 6. Nobody has come within single digits of them since. Although Green Mountain, winners of 22 straight and in the Great 8 for the fourth time in six years, is almost certain to test that.

No. 2 Mead (22-3) vs. No. 7 Frederick (19-6)

Time: 11:45 a.m. Friday

Players to watch: MD — Madi Clark, 5-8, so. (12.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg); Darby Haley, 5-6, sr. (10.6 ppg, 2.8 apg); Elena Gomez, 5-10, jr. (9.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.5 spg). FR — Zoe Wittler, 5-6, sr. (13.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.3 spg); Rylee Gallegos, 5-3, sr. (7.9 ppg, 3.3 spg); Izzy Howard, 5-9, so. (7.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.3 spg).

What to know: Mead is back in the Great 8 for the fourth straight season, and this might be the Mavericks’ best shot at a title yet. Madi Clark has gone up a level since last year’s breakout freshman season, and the Mavs are 21-1 against Colorado competition. The lone setback was a Granite Peaks League loss to 6A No. 3 Broomfield. The last time these two teams met, Mead dominated from start to finish in a 54-19 home victory on Jan. 17. Translation: the Frederick Golden Eagles have their work cut out for them.

No. 6 Mullen (16-9) vs. No. 3 Windsor (21-4)

Time: 7 p.m. Friday

Players to watch: MU — Makenzie Jones, 5-11, so. (16.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.1 spg); Tatum Jones, 6-2, sr. (10.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg); Keaton Arangua-Egbert, 5-8, sr. (6.9 ppg, 2.5 apg). WI — Reyleigh Hess, 6-0, sr. (15.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.7 bpg); Nola Greenwald, 5-11, so. (11.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg); Gracie Worlsey, 5-11, so. (10.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.0 bpg).

What to know: Few teams are more battle-tested in 5A than the Mullen Mustangs, who went 6-3 in the rugged 6A Centennial League and 1-4 in games against 6A/5A Great 8 qualifiers. The last time the Mustangs were one classification below the largest in Colorado, they won three straight contested state titles — the last two capped by wins over Windsor in the championship round. Karin Nicholls’ Wizards have reached the Great 8 in the three seasons since, and now they have the size to match up with Mullen.

* Stats taken from maxpreps.com