Richard Smith

West Valley Preps

Since he stepped on campus, Bryce Davis has been at least one of the big men for Deer Valley.

But the basketball program took off this year after his classmates and guards accelerated their growth.

Fellow seniors Deven Breckner, Ari Danzy and Keyvaughn Williams are bigger, stronger and smarter. The guard trio is a big reason the Skyhawks enters the playoffs Wednesday with a 23-3 record and the No. 1 ranking in 5A.

“A lot of us got stronger. We used to be little kids out there,” Breckner said. “We grew and hit the weight room.”

The maturity of their approach has improved too. It was noticable during much of an 18-8 season last year.

But when No. 23 seed Maricopa stunned the Skyhawks on their home floor during a 5A play-in game, the four junior starters had to face the realization that the state playoffs were going on without them.

Again.

“Right after that game everybody got right to work. We know we shouldn’t have lost that game,” Williams said. “It felt like we were so close to winning big games. It taught us a lot, to not underestimate anybody. It motivated us a lot.”

Deer Valley senior Keyvaughn Williams (#5) drives to the basket against Glendale Dec. 6, 2017 at Glendale High School in Glendale. [Jacob Stanek/Independent Newsmedia][/caption]Deer Valley’s class of 2018 certainly took its lumps on the way to the top. In their freshman year — 201415 — Davis was brought along slowly thanks to the presence of senior big men Rees Plummer and Edward Hardt. But Breckner and Danzy often were thrown right in the fire as starting guards and shared duties on the point.

Coach Jed Dunn said the drowning of junior Quentin Hoffman in the summer of 2014 forced both freshman guards into larger roles than he would have liked. Fortunately they learned from it.

Playing freshmen on varsity can hurt a player’s development, especially mentally, so its really important in my opinion to constantly be working with them especially with their mental progress. They both are extrememly poised in the games. They understand the importance of things down the stretch now whereas before they didn’t,” he said.

The team finished 16-12 and just missed the Division I playoffs. Williams joined the varsity the next year and joined his three classmen in the starting lineup as the squad dropped to 11-14.

“Without our freshman and sophomore years, I don’t think we’d be here right now,” Danzy said.

While those years set them up, the Maricopa loss kicked the senior leaders into overdrive. They began preparations for this year almost immediately, determined to not end their careers wondering what if?

Their hard work paid off immediately in the Sunnyslope Hoopsgiving Tournament. The host Vikings entered the year as heavy 5A favorites, with the entire 2017 state championship team returning.

But the Skyhawks swept through Westside rivals Ironwood, Apollo and Liberty to reach the finals, where they knocked off Sunnyslope 55-52 on this home court.

“That was the statement for our season and we’ve gone from there. That boosted our confidence,” Breckner said.

Deer Valley's Deven Breckner (#3) drives to the basket against Sunnyslope on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at Deer Valley in Glendale. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]Other than a 54-30 Dec. 18 home loss to Sunnyslope in the rematch and defeats against Mesa Mountain View and Pleasant Grove (Utah) in the VisitMesa.­com Basketball challenge the team has rolled. Victory margins have grown and opponents are trying to be unpredictable.

“We get a lot of different defenses too — zone, man, somebody boxed and one’d Deven one time,” Williams said.

“They don’t press though,” Danzy said.

Breckner and Danzy alternate ballhandling duties at would start at point guard for most teams in the state. Williams can handle as well.

Davis is flanked in the frontcourt by tons of lengthy forwards — juniors Jalen and Jaret Allen, Ethan Cashion, Dez Melton and Brandon Savage.

Soaring to No. 1: Davis drives Deer Valley’s push for playoff success

The versatility allows for a squad that is virtually interchangeable.

“I feel like we’re a positionless team. Everybody in our lineup can play,” Danzy said.

While this is Deer Valley’s deepest team in this era, Davis admitted he is most comfortable with his fellow senior guards.

They have developed a chemistry that only years of playing together can provide.

“They’re always ready and always cutting. I can rely on them to get open and make the right play. I trust them more than I trust myself,” Davis said.

While the offense continues to improve, Deer Valley remains built on defense.

Thus far the combination of quick, veteran guards and long-limbed forwards has proved a nightmare for opponents. The Skyhawks allow 50 points a game.

“As long as we get stops, we don’t really care what we do on the offensive end,” Williams said.

Dunn said Williams is by far the most vocal of the seniors, and is known as “the mayor,” by the Skyhawks.

More than anything else, the coach said he has been dreading senior night because it means saying goodbye to this group — but he knows their friendship is just beginning.

“All four of them are amazing young men to me. We have been through a lot together and I love them with all my heart. The cool thing is they all went to school with two of my daughters. Kobie was older and more of a big sister to them and now Avery is younger and the little sister to them,” Dunn said. “There’s been times when I came home and Ari was on the couch watching a movie at my house just chilling. Most of the time as coaches you don’t get to coach a kid for four years, so it has been an unbelievable blessing to be a part of their High School career all four years.”

Deer Valley's Ari Danzy (#1) drives to the basket against Sunnyslope on Dec. 18, 2017 at Deer Valley in Glendale. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]