Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Preston
2. Pocatello
3. Century
Players to Watch
Hailey Meek, Preston
Riley Ward, Preston
Hallie Pearson, Pocatello
Alexia Tinno, Pocatello
Taylor Smith, Century
Written by: Brandon Baney
In its first year since being displaced by the schools in the Great Basin Conference, Southeast Idaho's three 4A schools found that life in a smaller conference comes with problems. Chief among them was the fact that the league received one bid to state, and had two teams capable of hoisting the first place trophy at state.
Century went 18-6 while Preston finished 17-8. Century ended up sweeping four matchups with the Indians (two in the regular season, two at districts) and rode that momentum all the way to the 4A championship game, where they fell to Blackfoot 50-46.
Century's four wins over Preston came by a total of just 18 points, as the Indians came up painstakingly short all four times. However, the Diamondbacks were hit hard by graduation, while Preston returns most of its core from a year ago. That was enough for league coaches to tab Preston the favorite for the 2021-22 season.
Preston did say goodbye to Kylie Larson, but welcomes back Hailey Meek, Riley Ward and Mickayla Robertson. Head coach Ryan Harris is counting on that trio to bring the other newcomers like Akazia Knapp, Amber Anderson, and Emma Kunz along this season. "We were a good defensive team and we need to continue that," Harris says. "We also have to improve our turnovers and rebounding."
Pocatello has had a couple of down seasons, but league coaches feel that a young team could finally break through this year. The Thunder were picked to finish second behind Preston in the preseason poll.
Sunny Evans returns as Pocatello's head coach for her third season. "I have several freshmen with the potential to earn opportunities to make an impact at the varsity level," Evans says. "It is a big jump but it is possible they will contribute right away."
While those freshmen acclimate themselves to the varsity game, Evans will rely on seniors Hallie Pearson and Alexia Tinno, and sophomores Elle Hokanson and Taylor Bunderson. All four saw varsity playing time a year ago.
If Pocatello is to climb out of third place this year, it will stem from their strong defensive play. "At times, we were solid defensively (last year)," Evans says. "That is something the girls take pride in and will always be an area of emphasis. I hope to build on the expectation of being a strong defensive team."
Even though the Thunder were picked to finish ahead of crosstown rival Century, Evans knows these games aren't played on paper. "Century and Preston have had prolonged success, which is really hard to do. I have a ton of respect for what those programs have accomplished," Evans says. "We have our work cut out for us to break through in the conference."
As for Century, their graduation losses were significant. Tenleigh Smith is now playing for Idaho State University, while Preslie Merrill and Ashton Adamson also graduated. One thing Century does have in their favor is size. Tenleigh's younger sister Taylor Smith stands 6'0" tall, while Eloise Sandy (6'0") and Marissa Allen (6'1") also bring height to the Diamondbacks.