Preseason Coaches Poll
T-1. South Fremont
T-1. Sugar-Salem
T-1. Teton
Players to Watch
Kaimen Peebles, South Fremont
Ryken Clay, Sugar-Salem
Christian Gordon, Sugar-Salem
Toby Pinnock, Sugar-Salem
Jarom Heuseveldt, Teton
Written by: Brandon Baney
The Mountain Rivers Conference was ruled by Teton a year ago, as the Timberwolves went 20-5 and won the third place trophy over Snake River at state.
However, the Timberwolves said goodbye to the conference MVP in Hyrum Heuseveldt, along with other talented playmakers like Luke Thompson, Xander Vontz and Connor Kunz.
That's the bad news for Teton coach Rob Heuseveldt. The good news? Everyone else experienced significant graduation losses as well.
South Fremont, 12-10 a year ago, lost Bridger Erickson and Tag Bair to graduation. Sugar-Salem, who went 8-18, are without their starting backcourt of Crew Clark and Kyzon Garner.
So the question remains? Who will win the Mountain Rivers Conference in 2021-22? There was no consensus answer among league coaches. In fact, the only consensus reached was the fact that this year's race will be wide open.
Every team returns at least one established starter and All-Conference performer to build around. Teton has junior guard Jarom Heuseveldt, South Fremont returns senior guard Kaimen Peebles and Sugar-Salem will feature senior center Toby Pinnock.
Sugar-Salem also returns a pair of Honorable Mention All-Conference players in Ryken Clay and Christian Gordon. On the surface, it appears that could tilt the scales in the Diggers ' favor. Head coach Shawn Freeman says that's not a clear-cut formality at this point. "Teton lost a lot, but they have some good talent coming up," Freeman says.
At the end of the day, the Mountain Rivers Conference will be fun, unpredictable and ever-changing in 2021-22. Don't be surprised if the regular season champion is not the district tournament champion. All three teams will have plenty of time to find their footing before league play begins, and with all three teams evenly matched, anything could happen in February and March.