Another week of prep basketball is in the books and positions are beginning to solidify in the minds of the coaches polled. Below are how teams from the San Luis Valley were ranked in Monday’s coaches polls. For the complete listing be sure to visit CHSAANow.com.

3A

4. Centauri - 73

The Falcons girls squad are right on track. Centauri (14-2, 5-2 IML) sits at the number two spot in the Intermountain League (IML) right now and trail their main competition Pagosa Springs (14-2, 8-0 IML) by a few league games.

In the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) Coaches Poll rankings, the Falcons hold the No. 4 spot and 1 coach even saw fit to ranked them No. 1 overall. Centauri and The Vanguard were the only two teams to take first-place votes from St. Mary’s this week. St. Mary’s has been unanimously ranked No. 1 by all coaches for 6 of 8 weeks thus far.

The Falcons aren’t far behind Pagosa, tying their overall record in the standings and leading for a good portion of the game during their second meeting. Unfortunately, Centauri would not be able to hold on to the lead and Pagosa would go on to win. That loss allowed the Pirates to sweep the season series with the Falcons.

Barring some late-season upsets, it’s looking like the Pirates will take the No. 1 seed in the district tournament. Meaning Centauri will be looking to snag the No. 2 seed. The Falcons will attempt to complete their series sweep of Montezuma-Cortez on Friday then will be the rematch with Alamosa on Saturday. The Falcons would be wise not to overlook Alamosa (13-3, 5-2 IML).

Even if Alamosa didn’t sit at No. 9 in the state and boast a good record, you could almost throw the records out when Alamosa and Centauri face one another no matter the arena.

The last time Alamosa and Centauri met it was a 44-40 game that wasn’t decided until the final minutes. And for the rematch in La Jara this weekend both teams are likely to stage an equally competitive tilt.

9. Alamosa – 35

The Mean Moose (13-3, 5-2 IML) have taken a little tumble in the rankings falling from No. 7 last week to the No. 9 team in the rankings this week. The Mean Moose likely owe the fall to a slow week competition-wise facing two IML teams that combine for an overall record of 8-23. Those two games also come on the heels of Centauri (14-2, 5-2 IML) handing them their third loss of the season on Jan. 31.

Alamosa will end their regular season on a road trip, neither contest looking particularly appetizing. On Friday, Alamosa will be in Pagosa Springs to take on the third-ranked Pirates. Then the Moose will return to the valley for a game against the fourth-ranked Centauri Falcons.

A win by the Moose in the Alamosa-Centauri rematch could serve to muddy the waters with regard to seeding the district tournament.

While seeding is important both Alamosa and Centauri’s goal is likely to take the District title as that is the best way to guarantee that a quadrant of the state tournament is played on familiar grounds.

2A

4. Del Norte- 80

The Tigers (13-2, 3-0 SPL) continue to work their way through a six-game road trip.

It has been a productive week that saw Del Norte best league foes Custer County, Sanford and Center. Monday’s rankings put Del Norte at the No. 4 spot in the rankings with 80 points.

The Tigers can expect a small fall in next week’s rankings as Tuesday night Del Norte was upset by unranked Ignacio 61-56. Despite the loss, Del Norte will continue to hold on the tie for the top spot in the 2A Southern Peaks League (SPL) since the Bobcats reside in another district.

This weekend the Tigers will be given an opportunity to take first place in the SPL outright when they face Sargent. The Farmers (8-6, 3-0 SPL) are the only other team in the SPL that is undefeated in district.

Del Norte will face Sargent Friday evening with tipoff scheduled for 4:15 p.m.

9. Sanford - 26

A home meeting with Del Norte this past weekend was detrimental to Sanford. Host Sanford fell behind in the first half and couldn’t make up enough ground in the second half to complete the comeback relenting a 48-45 game to Del Norte.

With a big district loss on the books, Sanford (10-5, 2-1 SPL) dropped slightly in Monday’s rankings going from the seventh spot to the No. 9 team.

Sanford has already begun their climb back with a 40-24 Tuesday night victory over the No. 5 team in 1A Basketball, Sangre de Cristo.

Sanford will close their regular season with three straight league games. Sanford will host Center and Sargent on consecutive Fridays. If history is a guide Sanford holds the advantage in both games – in late January Sanford downed both the Vikings and Farmers by scores of 41-28 and 36-18, respectively.

Then Sanford will be on the road for their final league game of the year taking on Del Norte on Feb. 22.

1A

5. Sangre de Cristo – 95

The Thunderbirds (11-3, 6-0 SPL) saw their second winning streak of the year fall on Tuesday. Sanford handed Sangre de Cristo a 40-24 loss on Tuesday night.

Following a little slipping in the rankings after their first two losses of the season Sangre de Cristo has been standing steady at the No. 5 spot this week collecting 95 points. The Thunderbirds even collected one first-place vote in Monday’s rankings.

Sangre de Cristo hasn’t moved from last week’s rankings and will look to keep on bettering their position. Though the loss might bruise the ego a little Sangre can take heart in the fact they are still undefeated in the 1A class and their district.

At 6-0 in the 1A Southern Peaks League, the T-Birds are the favorite to earn top seeding in the district tournament. Sangre de Cristo has a busy week with Thursday through Saturday allotted for league games, all three opponents combining for a 7-29 record.

Sangre de Cristo’s final league challenge is slated for next week when they meet Moffat-Mountain Valley (10-3, 6-1 SPL). Moffat is ranked second in the district the lone league loss coming to Cotopaxi in a 44-26 game. Sangre de Cristo faces Moffat on Feb. 20.