Season Preview: Colorado Springs Metro League (5A/4A)

With the 2019-20 girls basketball season closer than you might think, let’s take a look back/forward at how things shook out and what to look forward to in each of Colorado’s conferences. Here’s a snapshot of the Colorado Springs Metro League. &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #3366ff;"><strong><u>How it all shook out in ’18-19</u></strong></span> The conference title in 2018-19 was shared by Doherty and Fountain Fort-Carson and it was as close of a race as there was in the state, Though the latter had a better overall record, both teams split their head-to-head matches, with each team defeating the other by exactly two points. Those scores were 55-53, 56-44. That’s crazy close. &nbsp; <span style="color: #3366ff; font-size: 14pt;"><strong><u>Which playoff team advanced the farthest?</u></strong></span> Liberty, Doherty and Fountain-Fort Carson all reached the second round of the playoffs. Unfortunately, each of them lost in the second round. It was a pretty rough finish to a pretty solid season for several teams in the CS Metro. &nbsp; <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #3366ff; font-size: 14pt; text-decoration: underline;"><strong>A few returning players to watch</strong></span></span> <strong>Lydia Marshall, 2020, 5-8, G, Liberty</strong> Back for her senior year after being voted CHSAA all-state honorable mention, Marshall is the most obvious player to watch in the Colorado Springs Metro. She was third in the league with 13.4 points per game as a junior, and also averaged 6.3 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.8 assists. Marshall also had a productive summer and looked good at the Basketball Colorado/Mountain Hoops Fall Showcase. &nbsp; <strong>Jordyn Gutierrez, 2021, 5-9, SG/SF, Pine Creek</strong> Last winter was a good one for Gutierrez, who was fourth in the conference with 11 points a game as a sophomore. She also grabbed nearly four rebounds a game. Pine Creek struggled last season but the Eagle have Gutierrez back to lead a group of young players who played meaningful minutes in ’18-19, so maybe a comeback is in the offing? &nbsp; <strong>Payton Sterk, 2022, 5-10, G, Doherty</strong> Right now, Sterk is the No. 11-ranked player in the PGH Colorado 2022 rankings and she has all the tools to move up that list with a strong solid season. As a freshman last winter, she was sixth in the league in scoring. That’s a good start to a high school career for a long and athletic guard who is still developing as a distance shooter. &nbsp; <strong>Danae Christensen, 2020, 5-11, PF/C, Fountain-Fort Carson</strong> The Trojans won the most overall games of any team in the conference last season and did so with since-graduated senior Samiyah Worrell leading the league with 19.5 points a game. Replacing that production will now fall to Christensen, who averaged 11.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in ’18-19, and a group of other solid returners that includes Torie Bass (2021) and Tauja Durham (2020) in the mix. &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #3366ff;"><strong><u>A quick, early look to ’19-20</u></strong></span> Doherty and Fountain-Fort Carson are probably the safest picks to duke it out for the league title once again in ’19-20, with the slight edge going to the latter because of the depth the Spartans have returning. Doherty brings back 11 of the 12 players from last season’s roster including Sterk, Aujanne Latimer (2020, 7.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg), Makenzie Noll (2021, 7.2 ppg) and Caylee Dewitt (2020, 6.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg). Coronado has an interesting 2021 class coming up this season and several other teams could surprise, but Doherty and Fountain-Fort Carson are the early favorites.