East Idaho has been the top dog for the past several years. And when I say East Idaho I mean Preston. So who is it going to be this year?
Sounds as if Burley should be one of the strong teams again. I'm sure Preston will be on top of there game also. Century has one of the better players in the area, and Twin is always tough. Not sure what type of representation district 4-5 get, but there will be 3 very talented teams in that conference. Will there be any surprise schools this year?
SE Idaho District 6, I see wide open. IF returns the most, everyone else has significant losses. Hillcrest returns 2 or 3, Skyline the same, Blackfoot lost a big crew of seniors, although they have a good crew coming back, Bonneville lost Sorensen and doesn't return much, and I believe Shelley lost a bunch as well. I see Twin, Preston, and Century being the top 3 for district 4/5 and they get 3 full teams. Starts next week, can't wait!!
Century returns Sr. point Deshun Harwell and 6'7" Post Max Rogers 6'5" Titan Flieshman a soph and
Gunther and company will make Century formidable. Not sure if they have the depth at the guard line to be overwhelming but they are a favorite along with Minico Twin and Preston. Don't know about the transfer kids I have heard about at Burley and their eligability but they don't appear to have the bigs with their returnees. Twins achilles is they are very slow across the board with that incredable height and could be overpowered athletically. Not sure if Preston has the bigs to get across the finish line. The other teams in the conference may not beat any of these teams with the exception of Mountain Home who is an unknown in the ten team district 4 and 5 great basin conference.
Tomorrow basketball is starting across the state. Rocky Borah and Meridian along with Madison and Rigby and others in 5a. Preston Twin Century Minico Bishop Kelley Vallivue and Middleton in 4a with the top in district 6 also in the mix. Fruitland returning their whole roster in defending in 3a. Lapwai and Valley missing only 3 players between them possibly a rematch in 1A div 1. North Freemont also returns their whole team in 2a. Genesis Prep a foregon conclusion a disgrace overwhelming everyone in 1a div 2.
Not up on the boys teams as much as the girls, because I have daughters not sons playing now. That said I will put in my two cents after watching Century and Minico play Bonneville and Aberdeen in a Jamboree the other day. Century has some good pieces in Harwell, and Rodgers ,Titan Fleischman will be a beast some day, but he is a sophmore with more refinement needed. His freshman brother might be even better in time, but not ready to help the varsity yet. Their success will depend on the other players progression throughout the season. They ran away from Bonneville in the second quarter, but Bonneville looks a little weak. Minico ran away from Aberdeen, but looked ragged and undisciplined against a terrible team. I would say Century looked to be a little bit ahead of Minico at this point simply because they played better team ball. Harwell is very calm, but maybe a little too unselfish at times. The athletisism looked pretty even for these two with both ahead of Bonneville.
Was able to watch Twin and Ridgeview yesterday and the year of development has reenforced the bruins in my mind as probably a clear favorite in the 4a ranks. Their 6'10 post Brizee just looks really
strong and smooth, coupled with his counterpart Ball and 6'5 two guard Duggan it is going to be nearly impossible to defend the interior pass especially with a very good point guard 6'3" Ystueta who shot lights out from the 3 and with Duggan are formidable from long range. Their football player Hudson Klundt is out till maybe January and was walking in a boot. Gage Plew looks to be in the 6'3" range as well. They play Middleton Vallivue Idaho Falls and Preston in succession which will tell us just how good they are. Twin was up by over 30 at the end of the third even with coach Harr subsituting liberally to that point.
I have to agree with you about TF - going to be a hard team to beat this year
I think Canyon Ridge and Mountain Home are the two teams to beat in East Idaho 4A.....