The second round of the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) 5A Boys Basketball State Championship took place Friday night in Aurora, with several closely contested games.
Among the notable outcomes, No. 28 Palmer Ridge upset No. 5 Cheyenne Mountain with a narrow 52-51 victory. No. 14 Green Mountain also advanced after a dramatic finish against No. 19 Mullen, winning 60-58. In that game, Green Mountain was trailing by one point before Sam Mielenz scored on a layup following a backdoor cut to give his team a 59-58 lead with just over four seconds remaining. After Mullen turned the ball over, Mielenz added a free throw with 1.3 seconds left to secure the win.
Top-seeded Palisade narrowly avoided an upset by defeating No. 33 Pueblo County, 47-45. The game was decided when Carter Hayward made two free throws with under three seconds remaining to break a tie, and Pueblo County’s final three-point attempt bounced off the rim as time expired.
The third round of the tournament is scheduled for Tuesday at home sites, followed by quarterfinals at the Denver Coliseum on Saturday, March 7 for Class 5A teams. Semifinals will take place on Thursday, March 12 and the championship game is set for Saturday, March 14.
Second-round results from games played Friday included:
– Palisade defeating Pueblo County, 47-45
– Grand Junction beating Discovery Canyon, 68-36
– Severance overcoming Pueblo Central, 81-41
– Eagle Valley topping Coronado, 52-41
– Regis Groff winning over Palmer, 57-43
– Rampart defeating Dakota Ridge, 51-37
– Lewis-Palmer outscoring Evergreen, 76-53
– Pueblo South besting Air Academy, 60-50
– Lutheran winning against Montrose, 65-45
– Windsor getting past Standley Lake, 73-63
– Mesa Ridge defeating Falcon, 70-63
– Silver Creek prevailing over Harrison, 49-44
– Green Mountain rallying past Mullen, 60-58
– Golden taking down Longmont, 59-42
– Frederick beating Roosevelt, 56-35
– Palmer Ridge edging Cheyenne Mountain, 52–51
First-round matchups earlier in the week saw victories from teams including Evergreen over Mountain View (64–46), Palmer against Montbello (93–59), and Palmer Ridge versus Thompson Valley (54–37).
Looking ahead to Tuesday’s third round at home sites:
No.1 Palisade will face No.16 Frederick; No.2 Grand Junction plays No.18 Golden; No.3 Severance matches up with No.14 Green Mountain; and other contests include Eagle Valley vs Silver Creek; Regis Groff vs Windsor; Rampart vs Lutheran; Lewis-Palmer vs Pueblo South; and Mesa Ridge vs Palmer Ridge.
The state championship continues next week as teams compete for a spot in the semifinals and finals later in March.
