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Vallivue High School
School Info
Conference: 5A Southern Idaho Conference
Classification: 5A
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Head Coach: Ryan Lundgren
Years as Head Coach: 1st Season
Previous Experience: Four years as Director of Player Development under Coach Rice - Boise State Men’s Basketball
One year Head Boys’ Varsity Assistant - Boise High
Three years Head Sophomore Coach at Bishop Kelly high School
Record Last Year: 2-20
State Titles: 2001, 2008
Assistant Coaches:
S: Chad Mann / Mario Bettencourt / Pete Longgood / Jeff Reifman / Carl Wilson / Eddy Mora
Returning Athletes:
Nate Johnson – Senior Guard
RJ Wade - Senior Center
Dillon Bean – Senior Guard
Tyas Kitchen – Junior Forward
Landon Cain – Junior Guard
Hunter Sedillo – Junior Center
Jordan Moran – Junior Guard
Colton Yasinski – Junior Forward
“Key Players” lost from last year:
Bryce Schroeder – Senior Guard – Leading Scorer from last season
Incoming “impact” players:
Steele Hadlock – Sophomore Guard
Amoro Lado – Freshman Guard
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Team Preview:
Written by: Ryan Lee
Vallivue is coming off a disappointing 2-20 season, a season where the Falcons only beat one team in the 5A Southern Idaho Conference (Columbia). During the offseason Vallivue went through a coaching change after fifth year head Coach Scott Moore departed to Capital to coach the Eagles.
The Falcons decided to hire Ryan Lundgren, who has had coaching experience in the past, but came from Coach Leon Rice’s staff at Boise State. Coach Lundgren served as the director of player development under Coach Rice.
When I asked Coach Lundgren what he wanted to change during his first season as head coach he said, "Before we can start winning games we have to change the culture of Vallivue Basketball. We have to start believing and working hard during the offseason and come together as a team during the season. We worked extremely hard this summer, and I believe the kids are starting to see the value of hard work. We have had a consistent group of guys that wake up and want the gym open to practice. I can already see the culture changing during my short time as head coach."
The Falcons will have a good group returning this season starting with three seniors in senior guard, Nate Johnson, senior center, RJ Wade, and senior guard, Dillon Bean. The three seniors will be joined by a hand full of juniors in junior forward, Tyas Kitchen, junior guard, Landon Cain, junior Center, Hunter Sedillo, junior guard, Jordan Moran, junior forward, Colton Tasinski, and a couple of underclassmen in sophomore guard, Steele Hadlock and freshman guard, Amoro Lado. These boys have had a busy summer where they worked extremely hard to get better. Their main focus as a group is to play together and hold each other accountable on and off the court.
Offense: With a guard heavy lineup Vallivue will have to play a lot of small ball this season and draw bigger teams away from the hoop. Coach Lundgren is looking to his young guys to produce with only having three seniors on the roster. "Offensively, we want to have good spacing and good ball movement so we can open the floor up for our guards to drive and create open looks."
An area of improvement that will need to improve is turnovers. Last season, the Falcons committed 22 turnovers a game.
Defense: Defensively, Vallivue has made great strides in the offseason, and they feel as a team this is an area they can compete on a nightly basis. Over the summer they played great against the other teams in the conference and had great energy on the defensive end of the floor. Coach Lundgren wants them to continually improve and help each other when their defense starts to break down.
Wrap-Up: The motto for the Vallivue Falcon’s this season is WE not ME. They adopted this motto during the preseason when some members of the Air Force came to visit and bonded with the team. The guys understood after that visit that the guy on their right and on their left are more important than themselves. Once the team can all buy into each other, then that is when they will be building something special.
Coach Lundgren has the Falcons flying in the right direction, but he knows they have a lot of adversity in front of them. Vallivue might struggle early on in the season, but as they continue to work hard as a team they should show great strides as the season goes on. Look for these Falcons to be one of the most improved teams in the conference this season, and be playing their best basketball as district playoffs roll around.
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