Players to Watch:
Burton Park, Firth
Jed Hill, North Fremont
Sterling Bybee, Ririe
Hesston Hoggan, Salmon
Blake Briggs, West Jefferson
Written by: Keller Sherman
The Nuclear Conference was a tight race last season. While North Fremont ultimately came out on top, Ririe and Firth were right there behind the Huskies. Some key departures from Ashton have some believing that there could be a drop-off for North Fremont this season, however they will be ready to prove why they still are one of the best programs in the state in recent years.
North Fremont made its presence known at the state level finishing 3rd place at state and having two players named to all-state teams in Jordan Lenz, who was also the conference player of the year, and Max Palmer. However, both of those players are now gone in addition to AJ Hill. Two key returners for the Huskies are Hank Richardson and Dax Cherry as they look to make it four straight conference titles.
West Jefferson will have three returning starters this season. The Panthers have Blake Briggs, Creed Jacobs, and Jaren Rojas back. Briggs was a first team all-conference honoree along with Rojas who was an honorable mention. Dylan Burtenshaw and Keston Newman have graduated leaving some holes to fill, especially on the defensive side. Second year head coach Kelvin Krosch talks about how Burtenshaw’s departure is a major blow as he states “Dylan set the tone on the defensive side each game! His presence and energy will be hard for us to replace this year!”
Even with those two key losses, there is plenty of reason to believe West Jefferson can reload. Cooper Hall and Bo Peterson were mostly JV players last season, but did see some varsity playing time. “Cooper will be asked to be a lockdown defensive player for us this year. Cooper has the capability of being a shutdown defender. Cooper can give us some additional scoring that we need from this position to be competitive this year! Bo played mainly JV for us last year, but has grown into a leader for us on both ends of the court. He has great court vision and is very unselfish and willing to share the ball with all of his teammates. We are expecting big things from Bo on both ends of the court this year!” Krosch said of his incoming players.
The offense thrives in its ability to move up and down the court. By controlling the game and forcing opponents to play on West Jefferson’s terms, Krosch believes the team has an advantage. Even with an offense that , he does expect to see more baskets go in. Poor three point shooting and not getting it done at the rim proved costly at times.
The defense plays extremely hard as well. Opponents do not score easily on West Jefferson. Teams must earn every made basket and the program emphasizes defensive energy and effort for the entire game. There is one weakness on the defensive side of the ball that Krosch expects to be fixed. Allowing offensive rebounds has to stop. The Panthers gave up too many second chance opportunities last season.
As Krosch enters his second year in Terreton, he has already seen his players buy into the culture he is creating. His expectations on both sides of the ball have been made clear and he believes a great defense translates into a great offense. The Panthers are ready to make some noise this season, but must improve on rebounding.
Ririe returns Sterling Bybee, Houston Brown, and Ethan Miller. After falling just short of a trip to the state tournament last season, dropping a tight game to Firth in the district semifinals, West Jefferson’s head coach expects them to be hungry to get back to the state tournament. He believes that with the talent and size they bring back, they are ready to go on a run and surprise people.
Firth made it to the state tournament last season, but was unable to do much as the Cougars went two and out. With West Jefferson on the rise plus North Fremont and Ririe expecting to be good as is usually the expectation, they will have their work cut out for them to get one of those two coveted berths the conference has to state. Burton Park and Kyle Jacobsen will be key players on a roster that will be absent Austin Jacobsen and Sam Park. Other young talent coming in includes Britton Hansen, Wyatt Nelson, and Broc Matthews.
Salmon will hope to have a say in the conference race as well. The Savages bring back Hesston Hoggan, but will be without some key players. Top scorer Colton Kirby, captain Hunter Bingham, and Bob Bowen have graduated. Tristan Cooper and Colton Platz are new and will hope to have a major role on the court.
On offense, Salmon will utilize fast play and its good shooters. The defense excels at length, speed, and decision making. Second year head coach Eric Platz hopes to see more turnovers forced as he looks to make the Savages a factor in the conference race. Having a young roster has Platz excited about building for the future and Salmon will be able to make some noise if his players can build trust within one another and with their coach.
The Nuclear Conference is deep and all five teams have a case to go on a run. From the consistent North Fremont to on the rise West Jefferson to contenders Ririe and Firth to young and coming Salmon, this should be a fun conference race that will have a lot of drama up until the final days of the season.