Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Camas County
2. Carey
3. Dietrich
4. Castleford
5. Richfield
6. Sun Valley Community School
7. Hansen
8. Hagerman
Players to Watch
Breken Clarke, Camas County
Dawson Kramer, Camas County
Tristen Smith, Camas County
Ethan Roland, Castleford
Eric Taylor, Castleford
Carsn Perkes, Carey
Conner Simpson, Carey
Cody Power, Dietrich
Jett Shaw, Dietrich
Tom Gibson, Hansen
Luke Dalton, Richfield
Clay Kent, Richfield
Hudson Lucero, Richfield
Sid Tomlinson, Sun Valley Community School
Written by: Brandon Baney
Year in and year out, there is no tougher grind than trying to navigate through the Sawtooth Conference. Last year, six of the seven members of the conference won at least 11 games. And, six of the seven members posted winning records.
Predictably, the preseason ballots turned in by league coaches were all over the place. Camas County earned the slight nod as the league favorites. The Mushers edged out Carey by a single point for the top spot in the poll, while the Panthers nudged past Dietrich by one point as well for second place.
Camas County head coach Jamon Frostenson welcomes back three All-Conference performers from a year ago: senior forward Breken Clarke, senior post Dawson Kramer and sophomore guard Tristen Smith. That trio will pair with sophomore post Emmett Palan to give the Mushers a top four that rivals any in the conference. While many are focused on the offensive potential of that quartet, coach Frostenson is occupied with his team's play at the other end of the floor. "(Last year) we started playing better defense as the year progressed," he says. "We're going to increase our defensive ability and intensity yet again this year."
Carey, long used to being the top dog in most athletics, will be moving up to the 1AD1 level after this season. Can the Panthers make a return trip to state in their final year of 1AD2 competition? That effort was aided by the transfer of Carsn Perkes, the Sawtooth Co-MVP from a year ago. After spending his first two seasons at Richfield, Perkes transferred to Carey this summer and quarterbacked the Panthers to the 1AD2 state title game this past football season. He'll pair with sharpshooter Conner Simpson to give Carey a nice one-two combo offensively.
Dietrich had the best showing among Sawtooth teams last year. The Blue Devils advanced all the way to the state championship game before falling to Garden Valley in the title match. Dietrich said goodbye to the Sawooth Co-MVP Brady Power, a three-time All-State selection who finished his high school career with over 1,600 points. Also one are All-State selection Rhys Dill and the Sawtooth Defensive Player of the Year Manny Cabrera.
Veteran coach Wayne Dill still has a good nucleus to build around, though. Senior Jett Shaw and junior Cody Power both return to the backcourt, and will be joined in the starting lineup by junior forward Hayden Astle, and junior posts Case Robertson and Payten Sneddon.
That group will have to coalesce quickly if Dietrich is to survive a rigorous schedule. "We play the toughest Division 2 schedule in the state," coach Dill says. "Close to half of our games will be played against Division 2, Division 1 and 2A schools that at some point this season will be ranked." He added, "Our schedule includes Carey, Richfield, Camas County and Castleford, all of which are in our conference and legitimate state tournament participants."
Castleford enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in football this past fall. The Wolves, relatively unheralded entering the season, advanced all the way to the semifinals where they fell to eventual champ Kendrick. Eric Taylor and Ethan Roland were key members of that football team, and will lend their talents to the basketball team as well.
Richfield was the third team from the Sawtooth Conference to make it to state a year ago, joining Carey and Dietrich. The Tigers defeated Council in a state play-in game and Timberline (Weippe) in their state tourney opener, before falling to Dietrich in an all-Sawtooth semifinal. Clay Kent and Luke Dalton are retuning All-Conference performers for Richfield this season.
The most intriguing school in the conference will be Sun Valley Community School. The Cutthroats only played three games last year due to strict Covid-19 protocols; all three came at districts.
"We really came together as a team by the end of last year," head coach Clay Wawner says. "We did not have a large sample size to go off of, but it was fun watching the guys get to compete and use the things we had been working on in practice."
Although the graduated Caelin Bradshaw will be missed, Wawner welcomes back six seniors to this year's team: guards Wilson Baker, Braden Buchanan and George Murray, forwards Jack Colgate and Charlie Stewart, and center Sid Tomlinson.
Hansen enjoyed an 11-10 overall record a year ago, but a 1-5 mark in the conference relegated the Huskies to sixth place. Head coach Jesus Guerrero will have to figure out a way to replace Jonathan Camarillo. "He was a 4-year varsity player and 3-year varsity starter," Guerrero says. "He was our go-to guy and leader for the last 3 seasons."
Ready to step in and fill those shoes is senior guard Tom Gibson, who earned All-Conference honors last season. He'll be joined by senior swingman Jacob Pittman and junior post Salvador Camarillo as players to watch in Hansen this year.
Hagerman struggled to a 1-15 record a year ago. They will be led by first-year head coach Micah Pope.