The little guys with big games have slipped through to the Sweet 16 round in Class 5A boys basketball.

Four teams that played first-round games, meaning they were seeded fifth or lower, will be playing at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland or World Arena in Colorado Springs today. Most of the high seeds survived the second-round games of the 48-team tournament, but a fair number of teams seeded fifth through seventh pulled off upsets.

Seventh seed Mountain Vista (14-10) pulled off the shocker in the Wilson Region, beating high-powered Palmer 78-69 in the Terrors' home gym. It will meet Cherry Creek in the 2:30 p.m. opener at World Arena.

The Golden Eagles got a great performance from forward Kyle Behrens, who had 25 points and 17 rebounds. Palmer was seeded No. 2 and had a top scorer in Reggie Jackson, but couldn't make a run at Mountain Vista.

Cherry Creek, the No. 3 seed, will present matchup problems for Mountain Vista because of 6-foot-7 Taylor Montgomery and 6-10 Trey Eckloff. At 6-4, Behrens is the Golden Eagles' tallest player.

"From what I've seen, they're centered around Montgomery," Mountain Vista coach Brandon Brookfield said. "But having a kid 6-10 who can block shots really causes problems. We don't live and die by the three(-pointer). We try to get to the foul line."

Cherry Creek's guard play made the difference in a 57-46 win against Gateway.

The other Wilson Region game pits No. 1 Aurora Central (24-0) against No. 4 Poudre (17-7) at the Budweiser Events Center. The Trojans have a fabulous twosome in Colorado State recruit Stephen Franklin and point guard Sean Cunningham. Poudre looks to 6-5 junior Dallas Elmore to score and rebound, and just about everything else.

It really shouldn't be a surprise that Mullen will meet Montbello in Loveland in the Casey Region. The Mustangs are defending 5A champions and have 6-1 guard Devin Aguilar, one of the finest players in the state.

But Mullen (14-10) has had its problems this season and only garnered a No. 5 seed.

"Part of it was searching for the right lineup, the right chemistry," Mustangs coach Porter Cutrell said. "We probably played 10 guys and we wanted to get a lot of guys involved."

Mullen beat No. 4 Mitchell 60-55 in the second round. The Mustangs allowed the Marauders' leading scorer, Andreas Braxton, to score 24 but they were able to overcome it.

The Mustangs did get a surprising 18 points from Spencer McCullough, who didn't score even half that in Mullen's previous six games.

The Centennial has four surviving teams, the best of any league. Last year, the final four in 5A was an all-Centennial affair.

But now Mullen, a fifth-place league finisher, is going up against Montbello, an imposing tri-champion from the Denver Prep League.

The other Casey game will be the battle of the Ridges. Second seed ThunderRidge, the Continental League champion, meets Wheat Ridge, the Jeffco titlist. This should be an interesting matchup, as ThunderRidge's lineup of four big players who can shoot means the Grizzlies work the ball for open shots inside. Wheat Ridge proved it can hit three-pointers, especially from Lucas Nelson and Wayne Wallace, while Ryan Routzon is athletic.

In the Ball Region, Monarch, the sixth seed, and Brighton, the fifth, both prevailed against teams that have had previous state success.

Monarch rode the hot hand of Sabatino Chen, who usually sets up his teammates. Chen scored 26 points, complemented nicely by 19 from Ryan Magiera to beat No. 3 Grandview 54-50. Brooks Baj-car is a third standout for Monarch.

More than any other 5A team, Monarch might have been overlooked in the seeding process. The Coyotes beat Chatfield this season and played Wheat Ridge to the buzzer. Coach Ken Niven also piled up 17 victories during the regular season, more than the other teams forced to play in the first round.

Monarch will face Arapahoe and scoring ace Levi Knutson at the Budweiser Events Center.

Brighton, along with Monarch, offers that difficult combination of three star players to defend. Brighton coach Dan Lliteras has received valuable minutes from Chris Deans, Kit Hensel and Martell Jackson, who all average from 13 to 19 points a game. Deans and Hensel are outside shooting specialists.

Doherty 6-10 center Garrett Fiddler will finally get an equal-size matchup when he goes against Jackson. The Spartans also have V.J. Holmes, who works well inside.

Doherty sold out its past four home games and is sure to have the crowd and noise advantage when this game tips off at 7:30 p.m. at the World Arena.

The Truscott Region features Josh Cassaday of Smoky Hill, one of the toughest players in the state to defend. At 6-6, he can shoot over defenders from the perimeter and also is deadly on the drive. Besides looking to Cassaday, Buffaloes coach Ken Shaw also has a gifted all-around player in Scott May and a good penetrating guard in Leon Whittington.

Chatfield doesn't have the size to match up with Cassaday, but coach Steve Schimpeler has the Chargers play at a pace that suits their name.

Chatfield, the fourth seed, had a 93-83 second-round win against Douglas County. The Chargers have scored more points that any other tournament team, not surprising when Brian Kenshalo and Ryan Beigie are the shooters.

In the final matchup, No. 2 seed Denver East takes on Eaglecrest. Denver East whipped Chaparral 71-59. Donell Wells (24 points) and DaVaughn Thornton (20) led the scoring. Eaglecrest justified its No. 3 seed with a 68-61 win against a good Green Mountain team. The Raptors don't have any huge scoring threats, but Gage Wooten and Josh Henry are capable.

pearcea@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5352

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