Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Need to set up your free e-Newspaper all-access account? click here.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
West Valley Preps' 2017-18 Boys Basketball Preview
Posted
Compiled by Richard Smith
West Valley Preps
Several local boys basketball teams began play this week during preseason tournaments, but the 2017-18 high school basketball season officially starts Monday. West Valley Preps asked the local coaches for their outlook on the season.
How many years have you coached boys basketball? 13 years of coaching. 6th year at Cactus.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? We have good athletes returning this year and group that will play hard. Speed should be a strength.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? We do not have a lot of size. We will need to rebound well and be able to guard the paint.
Who are your team leaders? R.J. Smith, Josh Steffen, T.J. Rucker and Ben Seale will be big contributors. R.J. and Josh are seniors, T.J. and Ben are sophomores.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season? We need to control tempo of games and player hard and compete every single night. We will have to rebound well and finish shots we need to finish.
CENTENNIAL COYOTES
5A Northwest Region
2016-17 Record: 8-17 overall, 6-2 region
Coach: Randy Lavender (first year as Centennial coach)
Top Returnees: Koby Jones, Sr. 6-3 F (14.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg); Trenton Washington, Sr. 6-4 PF (9.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
How many years have you coached boys basketball? This will be my third year as head coach at the high school level. I have been an assistant coach at the junior college level and coached overseas.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? The best attribute to the team is having a group of kids who are willing to work hard and getter better as the season starts.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? The team will need to have patience and will need to continue to improve as they are learning a new offense as well as a new defense.
Who are your team leaders? The team leaders are Payton Nelson and Koby Jones as they are two of the players who played the most from last year’s team.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad who could make an impact? Two new players to the team are Sophomore’s David Tiebow and Malcolm Daniels who have a chance to make an impact this year and in the future.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season? To reach the state playoffs the team needs to trust one another on defense and have the confidence that they can play with any team as long as they play within our team philosophy. Also with a little luck anything can happen!
DEER VALLEY SKYHAWKS
5A Desert West Region
2016-17 Record: 18-8 overall, 8-2 region (Lost 5A play-in game to Maricopa)
Coach: Jed Dunn (10th year as Deer Valley coach)
Top Returnees: Bryce Davis F, 6-6 Sr.; Deven Breckner PG, 5-9 Sr.
How many years have you coached boys basketball? This is my 10th year at Deer Valley and 16th as a head varsity coach.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Our depth.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success?They will need to decide if they all care enough to play hard.
Who are your team leaders? All are expected to lead.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad who could make an impact? Freshman Jackson Leyba.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season? Things need to matter way more at this point .. they need to care on every play.
DYSART DEMONS
4A Black Canyon Region
2016-17 Record: 18-8 overall, 8-2 region (Lost in first round of the 4A playoffs to Shadow Mountain)
How many years have you coached boys basketball? I have coached basketball for 11 years, three at Dysart high school
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Our best attribute entering this season is our speed and our experience.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? We will need to improve on our unselfishness and our ability to take care of the ball.
Who are your team leaders? Our team leaders and returning starters are Eli Childs, Raphael Alvarado, Charles Proby, and Benson Atem.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad who could make an impact? Newcomers this year are Jayden Martinez, Louis Hamman, Kobe Ganados, Wenar John, Kuol Majak.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season? For us to make state this year we will need to buy into playing unselfishly and putting the team first.
GLENDALE PREP GRIFFINS
2A Central Region
2016-17 Record: 16-9 overall, 5-3 region (Lost to Alchesay in 2A first round)
Coach: Kyle Navarette (Fourth year as coach)
Top Returnees: Luke Allen, Sr. 6-2 F; Malcolm Santelli, Sr. 5-11 SG
How many years have you coached boys basketball? 12 years
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? They believe they can win….tasted it after years/culture of losing.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success?Remaining Confident…Executing/On court communication…Need a leader on the court. Doing what I say (the coach wrote with a smiley face next to it).
Who are your team leaders? Our team leaders are returning guards 5 Seniors (Pearce Nally, Noah Roundy, Carson von Aspen, Jackson Holliday and Brandon Shawel).
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad who could make an impact? Not sure yet.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season? Play as a team- sounds generic and simple... Don’t watch other guys, but anticipate what needs to happen and then execute accordingly.
IRONWOOD EAGLES
5A Metro Region
2016-17 Record: 17-10 overall, 7-3 region (Lost in 5A quarterfinals to Apollo)
Coach: Jordan Augustine (third year as head coach)
How many years have you coached boys basketball? This is my third year as the varsity coach at Ironwood High School. I was the JV coach for one year, and an assistant at Arizona Christian University for 2 years.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Length, athleticism and work ethic.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success?We will have a lot of guys playing more meaningful varsity minutes than they did last year. They will need to figure out how to execute at the varsity level and find their role.
Who are your team leaders? Tyrese Eugene, Ajang Aguek, Dominic Gonzalez and Daniel Ruiz
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad who could make an impact? JJ White, a freshman, Will Howell, Jamel Shaw, and Aaron Rice (sophomore who played JV last year).
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season? We need to focus on getting better everyday and let the results take care of themselves.
JOY CHRISTIAN EAGLES
2A Metro West Region
2016-17 Record: 7-21 overall, 1-9 region
Coach: Geoff House (Second year as Joy Christian coach)
How many years have you coached boys basketball? 28th year coaching: first year at Kellis High School
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? The team best attribute this season is that we are a veteran team with great leadership.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? My team needs to improve on the defense end and play at a faster pace.
Who are your team leaders? Cody Crowther, Jacob Fajardo and Camrin Taylor
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad who could make an impact? Daniel Lopez (10th), Kyle Stills (10th), and Jeremy Martinez (12th).
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season? To reach the state tournament this year my team needs to believe in each other, trust the system, and know that they can win against every team they play.
Liberty's Jacob Edahl (#14) drives to the basket against Sunnyslope in a 5A semifinal Feb. 22 at Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix. Edahl is now a junior and the Lions starting point guard. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]
LIBERTY LIONS
5A Northwest Region
2016-17 Record: 21-8 overall, 7-1 region (Lost to Sunnyslope in 5A semfinals)
Coach: Mark Wood (11th year as head coach)
Top Returnees: Quentin Gulliford, Sr., 6-5 G/F (8.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.8 spg), Jacob Edahl, Jr. 5-9 PG (8.2 ppg, 3.1 apg)
How many years have you coached boys basketball? Twenty total, 12 as the head coach of Liberty — since it opened, four as head coach at Cactus, and four as an assistant/JV coach at Cactus.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? We are tough.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? Play according to our philosophy: play tough, play smart, play together, have fun.
Who are your team leaders? All of our men are leaders and play leadership roles. Quentin Guliford, Jacob Edahl, Ryan Pavia, Elijah Moye, Jacob Patterson and Braxten Croteau return and will bring a lot of experience from last year’s state semi final team. They will look to raise the ceiling even higher having had a taste of that run. We also return Kade Heddings who’s out with a knee injury and status is unknown as of right now. Regardless of what happens with the extent of the injury, he still plays a significant role on the team.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad who could make an impact? Josh Ursery has to sit half the year over the AIA transfer rule. (Ursery is a junior who played his first two seasons at Valley Vista) He’s working extremely hard every day though and when he becomes eligible, he will come in and give us even more fire power and will provide an important role in our press. Ryan Armbuster, Tanner Ayars, Jace Accurso, and James Davis all were in the program last season, but not varsity. They’ve been tremendous additions working very hard and selflessly this off-season and will make an impact.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season? We aren’t focused on a destination honestly. We are focused on the process of becoming our best. Daily we have seen improvements in our guys’ toughness, chemistry, and fundamental skill development. Our focus is getting to a point where we are at our best and we feel that the result of that will be a destination we will be pleased with.
MOUNTAIN RIDGE MOUNTAIN LIONS
6A Desert Valley Region
2016-17 Record: 15-13 overall, 7-3 region (Lost to Corona del Sol in first round of 6A playoffs)
Coach: Eli Lopez (seventh year as Mountain Ridge coach)
Top Returnees: Tanner Ray, Sr., PG 5-8; Chris Hermes, Sr., F 6-5
How many years have you coached boys basketball? Eighth year as head coach (seventh year at Mountain Ridge).
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? We are a fast team.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? Our team is younger than normal this season, and we lack experience at the varsity level. Therefore we need to improve on being successful in all game situations that may occur.
Who are your team leaders? Chris Hermes, Tanner Ray, Jabari Sutherland, Jacob Morales.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad who could make an impact? Matt Jensen, Gino Ciccaglione, Riley Lopez.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season? We need to win the games that we should be able to win. That will require us to play smart, defend well, and execute on basic plays.
Paradise Honors junior forward Jared Perry finishes a layup against Glendale Prep in January 2017. Perry is a returning senior, who led the Panthers in scoring and rebounding last year. [Jacob Stank/West Valley Preps][/caption]
PARADISE HONORS PANTHERS
2A Central Region
2016-17 Record: 17-5 overall, 5-3 region (Lost to San Carlos in first round of 2A playoffs)
Coach: Zach Hettel (third season as head coach)
Top Returnees: Jared Perry PF, 6-8 Sr. (12.7 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 3.1 bpg); Junior Madore SG, 5-9 Sr. (12.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg)
How many years have you coached boys basketball? Eight years at the high school level, five years in Arizona.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Depth. Deepest team I’ve had in my five years coaching in Arizona. We have the ability to throw out so many different lineups. We can go big with our smallest guy on the floor being 6-2, or we can go small and throw a ton of shooters out there, we can turn the tempo up or slow it down.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? Unwavering focus and desire to get better every day.
Who are your team leaders? Sohn Sims and Jared Perry are our senior leaders. Sohn tore his ACL before basketball season last year so he’s ready to have a big season. Jared is looking to improve on how he ended last season. Both are growing into their leadership roles as we are asking them to do more now that Adrian Van Cleaf has graduated.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad who could make an impact? Jalen Scott is a freshman guard that will play right away. Very talented kid. Josh Hawkins, Ian Jackson, Jon Jackson, and Daishawn Davis-Mays all transferred from ACA that closed their high school. Josh, Ian, and Jon provide a lot of length and athleticism that we haven’t had a lot of in the past. Lot of untapped potential in all three of them. (Note: Due to their previous school’s closing, all four players are eligible from the start of the season)
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season? We have to get better every day. Grow together, play for the we not me. If we can do that, this will be a special year. On the court we preach tempo. We control the tempo, whether we speed it up or slow it down. If we play at the pace we want to play at we can play with just about any team in the state. Regardless of classification.
PEORIA PANTHERS
4A West Valley Region
2016-17 Record: 10-11 overall, 6-4 region
Coach: William Roberts (Third year as head coach)
Top Returnees: Lahad Adehim, Sr. 6-4 F (12.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg), Kaleb Brown, Jr. G (10.6, 3.6 rpg, 2 apg)
SHADOW RIDGE STALLIONS
5A Northwest Region
2016-17 Record: 3-22 overall, 1-7 region
Coach: Robert Bohon (third year at Shadow Ridge, former Willow Canyon coach)
Top Returnee: Hunter Tillet, Sr. 6-2 G (5.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg); Zack Clark, Sr. 6-3 F (7.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg).
How many years have you coached boys basketball? 27 years of coaching experience.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? We have a good mixture of size and experience.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? Playing to use our strengths and using defense to control the game.
Who is your team leader? Senior Class (Hunter Tillet, Scott Metcalf, Zach Clark, Elijah Webb, Ryan Oglesby, Jabril Parker)
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad who could make an impact? JaQuan Moore (soph), Anthony Garza (sop)
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season? Improve each day of practice and each game.
SUNRISE MOUNTAIN MUSTANGS
4A West Valley Region
2016-17 Record: 7-18 overall, 3-7 region
Coach: Gary Rath (Third year as head coach)
Top Returnees: Logan Shinault, Sr., 6-3 F (11.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg); Cody Fowler, Sr., 6-1 G (7.1 ppg, 1.7 apg)
How many years have you coached boys basketball? Third year as varsity head coach, six years before that the varsity assistant, all years at SMHS.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Depth, experience from last season.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? Cut down on turnovers, increase our points per game (42 ppg last season)
Who are your team leaders? Our captains: Seniors Logan Shinaut and Cody Fowler, and Junior Jake Prusinski
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad who could make an impact? Sophomores Brandon Taylor and Tanner Mayer
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season? Cut down on turnovers, increase our points per game (42 ppg last season), along with finding a way to win the close games — last season we lost six games by 5 or fewer points.
VALLEY VISTA MONSOON
6A Southwest Region
2016-17 Record: 9-15 overall, 4-6 region
Coach: Adrian Orona (sixth year as Valley Vista head coach)
Top Returnee: Josh Holloway, Jr, SG (9.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg).
WILLOW CANYON WILDCATS
5A Northwest Region
2016-17 Record: 8-18 overall, 1-7 region
Coach: Joseph Colletti (first year at Willow Canyon head coach)
Top Returnee: Isaiah Ramirez, Sr. G (10.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg); Kevin Kilgore, Sr. 5-9 PG (11.9 ppg, 2.8 apg).
How many years have you coached boys basketball? This is my eighth year coaching HS basketball and my first as varsity coach and first at Willow Canyon.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Ownership. The men in our program are beginning to play for one another. This is shown in their sacrifice for each other on and off the court. We are beginning to embody our core values of Trust, Toughness and Togetherness. The players understand that this is their program and are owning their development and growth. This is an important step in the process of their journey as players.
What will your team need to improve for the season to be a success? Our season will be a success if we continue to focus on the process of serving one another and working towards being one of the toughest teams in the state. The focus for each player is daily incremental growth. We must trust each other on defense every possession and sell out for the next man.
Who are your team leaders? Everyone in our program is a leader.
Who are newcomers to the varsity squad who could make an impact? We have 13 varsity players. Each player has a unique role within our program and we are excited to see how they each impact their team’s growth throughout the season.
What needs to happen for your squad to reach the state tournament this season? We are focused on building the right process to earn the right to play into February year in and year out. As a coaching staff, we believe this program is moving in the right direction. There are many things to be excited about when it comes to Willow Canyon men’s basketball.
Liberty's Jacob Edahl (#14) drives to the basket against Sunnyslope in a 5A semifinal Feb. 22 at Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix. Edahl is now a junior and the Lions starting point guard. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption] 
Paradise Honors junior forward Jared Perry finishes a layup against Glendale Prep in January 2017. Perry is a returning senior, who led the Panthers in scoring and rebounding last year. [Jacob Stank/West Valley Preps][/caption] 
