Big Four

Seemingly, the top four seeds in the Class 5A girls basketball state tournament were set by midseason. Three-time defending champion Highlands Ranch, Regis Jesuit, ThunderRidge and Horizon are overwhelming favorites to converge on Boulder for the state semifinals. A favorite among the four? Highlands Ranch has won six titles this decade and is aiming for its fourth in a row.

Alice Barron Region

* Who's hot: Top-seeded Regis Jesuit finished the season with 10 straight wins, while Continental League companion Chaparral won its final six. . . . Legacy finished on an 8-1 burst, including an upset of previously unbeaten Horizon in the regular-season finale. . . . George Washington finished on an 8-1 tear, the loss a 46-45 decision to Denver East that ended up deciding the Denver Prep League title. . . . Dakota Ridge went 7-1 down the stretch, while Poudre finished 6-2. . . . Green Mountain pulled off a few upsets en route to closing the season with four straight wins.

* Who's not: Perhaps it wasn't good to be a "Mountain" school the past few weeks. Mountain Range lost its final seven games, while Mountain Vista dropped 11 of its final 14. . . . After starting 9-0, Durango went 5-9 the rest of the way. . . . Fairview stumbled to a 1-6 finish.

* Bracket buster: Despite a limp to the finish, sixth-seeded Durango still has senior point guard Katerina Garcia. Not only is she one of the state's top-10 players, but she has ample experience in the tournament, having been a starter since her freshman season.

* Prime-time players: Regis forward T'Keyah Shealy paces the balanced Raiders with 13.7 points a game, while point guard Mariah Williams adds 11.9 points and 6.5 assists. . . . Chaparral's 6-foot-2 Sam Martin averages 17.5 points. . . . Green Mountain point guard Adaugo Osuala has 15 points and six steals a game. . . . Dakota Ridge guard Janelle Baal has found her three-point range lately and brings a 12.4-point scoring average and 45 three-pointers into the postseason. . . . Durango's Garcia averages 22.7 points. . . . Palmer's Taylor Torres scores 14.9 points a game.

* Buzzer beater: An All-Continental League final four is unlikely to happen again this year, with Regis and Chaparral sharing this side of the bracket.

Kaye Garms Region

* Who's hot: Could Horizon instead qualify as cold? Um, no. The Hawks won their first 22 games but lost to Legacy in the final game of the regular season. . . . Arapahoe enters the postseason with eight wins in its past nine games. . . . Grand Junction Central went 11-1 in the stretch run. . . . Ralston Valley won its final six to win a tiebreaker for the Jefferson County League title. . . . Fort Collins went 6-1 and Pine Creek 5-2 during the past few weeks.

* Who's not: After a 9-3 start, Littleton won only two of its final 11. . . . Ponderosa went 2-6 down the stretch after jumping into the rankings with an 11-2 start. . . . Smoky Hill has dropped nine of its past 13. . . . With an opportunity to win Jeffco, Chatfield lost three of its final four.

* Bracket buster: With momentum on its side, perhaps Natalie Geist- led Fort Collins can wreak some havoc as the No. 5 seed.

* Prime-time players: Arapahoe's Amy Barczuk has continued to do everything, averaging 22.6 points, eight rebounds, six assists and 5.7 steals. . . . Grand Junction Central's Amy Kame has produced 21.6 points a game. . . . Horizon's Meagan Malcolm-Peck leads the Hawks with averages of 17.6 points and 7.6 rebounds. Twin Brenna Malcolm-Peck averages 15.3 points and point guard Cherae Medina 15.1. . . . Talented Douglas County senior Katie Hilbig averages 15.8 points. . . . Ralston Valley's Kirstin Johnson plays a solid all-around game (10.9 points, 7.7 rebounds. 3.1 steals). . . . Maddie Craver leads Littleton with 14.5 points a game.

* Buzzer beater: Will the loss end up being positive in the long run for Horizon, which knows it is not invincible? Arapahoe appears to be the only team that could give the Hawks trouble on this side.

Carol Callan Region

* Who's hot: Top-seeded ThunderRidge reeled off winning streaks of 11 and seven games this season. . . . Monarch won its final six games and 11 of its past 12. . . . Air Academy went 16-2 after starting the season 1-4. . . . Denver East won its final nine games, including an 8-0 march through the Denver Prep League. . . . Doherty had won 10 straight until dropping a one-point game to Liberty in the final regular- season game. . . . Arvada West finished 6-2 and Sand Creek 5-2.

* Who's not: Columbine entered the final week of the regular season on an eight-game winning streak but stumbled in the final two games with an opportunity to secure the Jeffco League title. . . . Grand Junction won only two of its final 10 games. . . . Overland has dropped its past four games.

* Bracket buster: If Columbine reverts to the form of its extended winning streak, the bracket sets up nice for the sixth-seeded Rebels to make a bit of a run.

* Prime-time players: The ThunderRidge trio of Rachel Messer, Carlie Needles and Brooke Jelniker each average a little less than 15 points a game. . . . Arvada West senior Mikey Kenney scores 16.2 points a game and converts free throws at an 82.7 percent clip. . . . Gateway's Amanda Hughes leads the Olympians with 22.6 points a game. . . . Deidra Smith scores 20.4 points a game for Overland. . . . The Columbine tandem of Randee Hayes (17.3 points) and Demitra Apergis (14.1) keeps opponents off balance. . . . Monarch's Emily Wood shoots 84.4 percent from the free-throw line and averages 13.6 points. . . . Denver East's Shae Kelley, who transferred to Regis and then back, averages 13.3 points.

* Buzzer beater: It's difficult to see ThunderRidge getting bounced from this side of the bracket, although the Grizzlies can get frustrated against very good defensive teams.

Sharon Wilch Region

* Who's hot: Highlands Ranch has not lost an in-state game since Feb. 6, 2007, at Regis (the Falcons beat Regis in the semifinals that season after going 0-2 against the Raiders in the regular season). The Falcons enter the tournament with 14 straight wins. . . . Grandview had won 11 of 12 before dropping the finale to Arapahoe 70-63 in a game that decided the 5A portion of the Centennial League. . . . Brighton finished 7-2, with the losses narrow defeats to Legacy and Monarch. . . . Rocky Mountain finished 6-1, Montbello 5-1 and Heritage ended the regular season on a four-game winning streak.

* Who's not: Cherry Creek and Loveland each skidded to a 2-4 finish. . . . Fruita Monument dropped its final three games.

* Bracket buster: If hot-and-cold Cherry Creek can be the former, the fifth-seeded Bruins have an opportunity to make things interesting on the bottom side of the bracket.

* Prime-time players: Highlands Ranch center Jenessa Burke averages a team-best 18.1 points and playmaking guard Meagan Fulps 15.5. Burke has had a 35- and 36-point output this season. . . . Lakewood guard Erica Hicks' numbers - and Lakewood's as a whole - are down this season, but the senior still puts up 16.9 points a game and has made 45 three-pointers. . . . Heritage's Kim Lockridge averages 15.6 points and 7.4 rebounds. . . . Quincey King leads Loveland with 16.6 points a game. . . . The following players lead their team in scoring: Montbello's Tamekia Hunt (14.7), Brighton's Jordane Kniss (14.6), Grandview's Sullivan Ziegler (14), Rocky Mountain's Kora Spotton (13.8) and Fountain-Fort Carson's D'Shara Strange (13). . . . Rampart's Nicole Kinzer (11.6-point scoring average) is a key piece of the Rams' balanced attack.

* Buzzer beater: If anyone is going to stand in the way of a Highlands Ranch fourpeat, it doesn't figure to be a team on this side of the bracket.

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