Conference Preview 1ADII Sawtooth Conference
COACHES POLL:
1. Lighthouse Christian
2. Dietrich
3. Carey
4. Murtaugh
5. Hansen
6. Camas County
7. Castleford
8. Richfield
9. Hagerman
10. Community School
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Casper Block, Lighthouse Christian
Collin Holloway, Lighthouse Christian
Kolby McClure, Murtaugh
Hunter Smith, Carey
Trey Smith, Camas County
Tyler Mussee, Lighhouse Christian
Brigham Park, Carey
Brady Powers, Dietrich
Joseph Castolli, Hansen
As many might expect, Lighthouse Christian enters the year as the favorite, and for good reason.
The Lions are the defending 1ADII state champions and bring back much of their team, including Sawtooth Player of the Year Casper Block and floor generals Collin Holloway and Tyler Mussee.
Unseating the champs won’t be an easy task, but Dietrich looks poised to give Lighthouse a run this year. While the Blue Devils didn’t have a particularly strong 2018-19 campaign, they return Second-Team All-State swingman Brady Power and forward Ragyn Robertson, who was all-conference. Veteran coach Wayne Dill is back at the helm for the 18th season and is hoping to return Dietrich to the top, a pinnacle they reached in 2016 when they were state champions.
“Our improved skill level and scoring ability are encouraging. Jett Shaw adds another consistent scorer to go along with Brady Power (20.0 ppg), Raygn Robertson (13.0 ppg) and Kyler Robertson (10.7 ppg), plus they all play good defense,” Dill said. “Payden Zimmers has grown and is improved in his inside game. Rhys Dill, Manny Cabrera and Felipe Vargas give us added skills and depth. We go fast. I tell my teams when you’re going as fast as you can go, you’re still going too slow for me. We play good, sound defense and we handle presses well. We are not very tall, and will have to improve our rebounding in order to get the ball out and go.”
Carey and Murtaugh are a couple of other teams with a chance to push the top. Hunter Smith and Brigham Park will lead Carey while Kolby McClure will be the driving force behind Murtaugh.
On the other end of the spectrum, hoping to make a jump will be Hagerman. Cody Nelson’s squad isn’t coming off a great season, but they do return three seniors in AB Salas, Bryant Osborne and Derek Herrington. Projected to finish ninth, Hagerman has the opportunity to play spoiler to some of the top teams while also trying to build themselves with a veteran group that saw no players depart after last season.
“We return everybody. This year we are a big team again. We just have to be able to win the rebounding battle better. We have Bryant and Derek who are two of the bigger kids in the conference,” Nelson said. “They just have to play tough and a lot is riding on their shoulders. With this group of kids, we have to slow it down. We are not a very fast team. I hope that we can use some of our size to our advantage. We have no excuse to lose the rebounding battle this year.”