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The HS hoops season kicks off later today so I thought I'd get my predictions in before it was too late. Here's how I see the league shaping up this year: SWL Pre-Season Rankings
1. Fruita Monument Wildcats
2. Grand Junction Tigers
3. Montrose Indians
4. Central Indians
5. Durango Demons
6. Montezuma-Cortez Panthers
Pre-Season All-SWL
1st Team
Tyler Daniels (FMHS) - Senior - G
Taylor Sanchez (CHS) - Junior - G
Casey Burns (GJHS) - Junior - G
Drew Bridges (FMHS) - Junior - F
Brian Davidson (MHS) - Senior - F
2nd Team
Tyler Winder (GJHS) - Senior - G
Nate Yanez (GJHS) - Senior - G
Niko Youngren (MHS) - Senior - G
Johnathan Sierra (MHS) - Senior - G/F
Tyler Kenagy (FMHS) - Senior - F THE BREAKDOWN
1. FRUITA MONUMENT WILDCATS (15-9, 10-0) -- Dave Fox enters his 5th season as the Wildcats head coach as the reigning SWL coach of the year. He also returns the SWL player of the year in Drew Bridges (who looks bigger and more athletic), and first-team all-conference point guard in Tyler Daniels. Daniels is one of three seniors along with Keenan Coit and Tyler Kenagy, who is one of the best all-around players in the league but missed significant time last year with a concussion.
PLAYERS LOST - The Wildcats will miss Steve Goff and TJ Pollock, who were not only great athletes but great leaders. They also have to replace 6'5" center Gustaf Alin who was with the team last year as a foreign exchange student.
2. GRAND JUNCTION TIGERS (15-9, 6-4) -- I almost flip-flopped Junction with Montrose, but went with the Tigers at number two because of their potential. Casey Burns looks bigger entering his junior year and will have to take over as a consistent scorer. Nate Yanez, who transfered to GJHS from Palisade, could emerge as the Tigers best player by the end of the season. He scored in bunches with the Bulldogs last year as a junior. Junction won't benefit from it's great football season right away (because they got such a late start to the hoop season) but psychologically they'll have an advantage late in the season. Between Tyler Winder, Sean Rubalcaba, James Wilkinson, and Jerreon Dennis, the Tigers will be bring that winning attitude to the hardwood.
PLAYERS LOST - Tommy Powers might have been the best all-around player in the league last season. GJHS lost two more starters in Sam Morgan and Jesse Smith, who was their best post player.
3. MONTROSE INDIANS (18-8, 7-3) -- With Nate Robertson, the Indians are definitely right up there with Fruita Monument. But Montrose's leading scorer suffered a foot injury on the football field this fall that will keep him out until the spring. They do, however, return Brian Davidson (signed to play at Air Force), Niko Youngren and Johnathan Sierra. One of the few additions will be first year head coach Martin Maloney. He spent 13 years as an assistant at Montrose, left last year, but returns as the Indians third head coach in three years.
PLAYERS LOST - Montrose's major strength is that they return almost their entire team. Starting guard Shadrach Jensen was the only senior on last year's team.
4. CENTRAL WARRIORS (9-14, 3-7) -- This could be a stretch at 4th, but Taylor Sanchez looked like he was on another level when he ran the ball at quarterback this fall. He's probably the best athlete in the league. Unfortunately, the Warriors will only go as far as he can carry them. They lost most of their scoring and will have to rely on some of their younger guys. Scott Brennan and Zach Padilla saw significant time off the bench last season, but will have to emerge as consistent scorers.
PLAYERS LOST - (...this could take a while...) Taylor's brother Vandon Sanchez and forward Josh Wells led the scoring attack. Spencer Hicks also ran the offense and was close to a double-digit scorer. Holden Reed and Matt Champlin also graduated.
5. DURANGO DEMONS (9-12, 4-6) -- I'll be honest: I don't know nearly as much about Durango or Cortez because I didn't get to see them more than once or twice. But the Demons were middle of the pack last year and have some decent athletes, most notably Joe Keresey who played QB for their football team. The Demons are also under the direction of first year head coach Alan Batiste who played his college ball at Fort Lewis and assisted there for a year.
PLAYERS LOST - The Demons lost a lot of size in 6'6" center Austin Rochford and a lot of scoring in Jordan Gillen
6. MONTEZUMA-CORTEZ PANTHERS (4-18, 0-10) -- Not much to say here except that the Panthers didn't win an SWL game in 2009-10. Their closest contest was a 7-point loss to Durango, and then a pair of 8-point losses to Durango and Central.
PLAYERS LOST - Aaron Presnell, Kamron Tate, and Scheis Anderson.
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I'm going to make an effort to blog about HS hoops every week. So get used to it.
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