If you like tournaments where a dark horse comes out of nowhere, favorites fall and the bracket gets completely scrambled, well, the Class 5A girls basketball tournament isn't for you.

If you like to see the best teams still alive entering the semifinals, it certainly is.

All four No. 1 seeds have taken care of business, and the real fun begins tonight at the Coors Events Center in Boulder, where Highlands Ranch and Horizon clash in one semifinal and Regis meets Legacy in the other.

A possibility exists for an all-Continental League championship (if Regis and Highlands Ranch win) or an all-Front Range League final (Horizon and Legacy), but the teams are more concerned with their own status.

The Highlands Ranch-Horizon matchup is a rematch of last season's state championship game, won by Highlands Ranch 62-50. Horizon has played in the past two title games, losing both. The Hawks lost to ThunderRidge in 2004-05.

"This is the year we want it so bad, I mean, wow, we want it bad," said Horizon guard Nikki Trujillo, who scored 21 points in the Hawks' 57-52 overtime win against ThunderRidge in the quarterfinals. "We've been to the championship twice, lost both times, and we're sick of losing. We want to get there first, and then win it."

If Horizon (22-4) is to get there, the Hawks will have to overthrow a Highlands Ranch squad that is playing perhaps its best ball of the season. The Falcons were in vintage form in a 74-55 rout of Arapahoe in the quarterfinals.

"I think we've picked up our game and we've picked up our defense," Highlands Ranch coach Caryn Jarocki said. "That's what we need this time of the year, and, hopefully, that will separate us."

The marquee players of each team, Horizon's Hannah Tuomi and Highlands Ranch's Jaclyn Thoman, each believe experience will be a key.

"I think this year we're playing with more experienced young players," said Tuomi, a rebounding machine who will play at Vanderbilt next season. "We don't have many girls who haven't been there."

Said the Boston College-bound Tho-man, whose team is after its fifth title in eight seasons: "We've been there. I know Horizon has and Regis has in 4A, but we're more experienced in that area."

The Regis-Legacy matchup will pit two teams with no experience in the 5A semifinals. Regis, though, is in its third final four in its three seasons as a program - the first two were spent in Class 4A.

Regis coach Carl Mattei and his players agree the 5A tournament is more enjoyable.

"I think so," said Raiders forward Mindy Nielson, who will play at Brigham Young next season. "It also has helped being 30 minutes away from where you need to be instead of driving down to Pueblo. . . . It's good to play against the best and we're glad we're in 5A."

Regis (25-1) enters as the favorite, having won 22 in a row and having gone 21-0 against in-state competition. The Raiders, though, will have to overcome the tournament's most dynamic player in Legacy's Melissa Jones.

In three tournament games, Jones, who will play at Baylor, is averaging 31 points, 10 rebounds, 5.3 steals and two blocked shots. Despite flulike symptoms, she scored 37 points in a 64-55 win against Air Academy in the quarterfinals.

The Lightning (23-3) will have its hands full with Regis, which looked like a well-oiled machine in an 82-47 pasting of Rocky Mountain in the quarterfinals.

"Our team has grown a lot since we've played together for almost a year now," Nielson said. "We had a lot of young kids last year who didn't know what to expect, but now that we have some experience under our belt, it'll help a lot."

Highlands Ranch (23-3)

• Season recap: Defending state champion; second in the Continental League.

• Top players: Alyssa Fressle (17.1 points), Jaclyn Thoman (15.3 points, 76 percent free-throw percentage) and Jade Davis (11.7 points).

• Tip-ins: Highlands Ranch has not faced semifinals opponent Horizon since last season's championship game, in which a 62-50 win gave the Falcons their fourth title in seven seasons and kept the gold ball in the Continental League for the seventh consecutive season. The Falcons have won 13 of 14. Their only two in-state losses this season were against Regis, including a loss in the Raiders' tournament. Only five of the Falcons' wins have been by 10 points or fewer, including an 84-79 win against Legacy in the opener.

Horizon (22-4)

• Season recap: State runner-up last season; tied for first in Front Range League.

• Top players: Hannah Tuomi (20.7 points, 12.2 rebounds), Nikki Trujillo (14.0 points, 2.8 steals) and Lacy Herz (8.6 points, 6.8 rebounds).

• Tip-ins: Horizon, which has lost the previous two state championship games, finished with a flourish by winning 18 of their past 19. The Hawks have not faced semifinals opponent Highlands Ranch this season but split two games with Legacy and lost 64-48 against Regis early in the season. Coach Mike Carey has been vastly successful since moving to Horizon from Ranum. His daughter, Jamie Carey, a former Horizon and University of Texas standout, is a Hawks assistant coach, as is former Ranum player Isabel Mendoza.

Legacy (23-3)

• Season recap: Tied for first in Front Range League; first appearance in final four.

• Top players: Melissa Jones (21.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.5 steals, 4.2 assists), Quincey Noonan (13 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4 assists) and Mara Cosgrove (9.8 points).

• Tip-ins: Legacy has won 11 in a row since losing to Horizon on Jan. 25. The Lightning avenged the loss to the Hawks in the regular- season finale, trumping Horizon for the first time in seven seasons. Legacy has not faced semifinals opponent Regis but lost 84-79 in the opener to Highlands Ranch in a game the Lightning seemed to control until the final 2 minutes. The Lightning was short-circuited last season when Jones suffered a hand injury and missed much of the stretch run. Jones has scored more than 30 points in four of the past six games.

Regis (25-1)

• Season recap: State runner-up in Class 4A last season; first in Continental League.

• Top players: Mindy Nielson (13.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.1 steals); Mariah Williams (11.3 points, 5.8 assists, 3 steals); Meghan Winters (11.3 points) and Diana Rolniak (5.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.6 blocks).

• Tip-ins: The Raiders lost to La Jolla (Calif.) on Dec. 12 in an out-of-state tournament and since have reeled off 22 consecutive wins. The Raiders, in their third season as a program, spent their first two seasons in 4A, where they advanced to the semifinals in 2005 and the championship game last season, when they lost 37-36 to Mullen in the final seconds. Regis has not played semifinal opponent Legacy but has defeated league rival Highlands Ranch twice (both times at home) and toppled Horizon by 16 points Dec. 7.

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