Updated November 23, 2009 with Mountain Home summary
About the 2010 Hoops Preview
The Hoops Preview has transitioned from a printed magazine to an online publication. For this year’s version, I collected team summaries from coaches and, thanks to Paul Kingsbury, was able to post them here on IdahoSports.com. Basically, I sent out questionnaires to coaches of the girls teams in the 4A and 5A Southern Idaho Conference as well as the boys coaches of 4A and 5A conferences around the state (if you are not in one of these categories and filled out a form, it was likely for another publication).
We did what we could to get these forms filled out and returned to us, knowing that most of these coaches are also teachers, parents and often coaching other sports as well. You can understand why some of the forms weren’t turned back in. If you see a team with an asterisk, it means I didn’t get a form and did the best I could. But, since this is the web, I can update these at any time so let your coach know I have a form for them, if they would like better and more accurate information in this preview.
After the forms were turned in, I translated them into a readable summary. I also did some digging to find additional details such as statistical information, all conference and state teams, etc. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out www.idahoops.com for all kinds of information. That website was a big assistance in putting these together.
If your team or conference wasn’t listed here, I apologize. If you are willing to help me compile data, stories and coverage for next season, please let me know and I’ll get in touch with you.
When this project started years ago by KIVI, there was a nice budget to pay the writers and an entire staff to track down forms, get stats, follow up and crank out stories. Now that the economy has crashed out, there is no budget (other than the money I spend on mailing out forms) and no staff. It’s just me, doing this for free because I love high school basketball. I hope you do too!
Conference overview
The early favorites in the 4A Southern Idaho Conference appear to be Middleton and Bishop Kelly with both Mountain Home and Nampa fighting for a top spot. Middleton returns a ton of talent while BK should be motivated for pay back. It looks like somewhat of a rebuilding year for Skyview, whom graduated a ton of seniors. Kuna may be the dark horse from the 4A SIC. The fan’s vote was overwhelmingly for Middleton.
Two players are mainly standing out in the pre-season as potential SIC Player of the Year; Middleton’s Ariah Gonzales and Bishop Kelly’s Julia Muguria. Nampa’s Marina Quintana is a sleeper.
Unlike the 5A SIC, who play all of their games against other SIC teams, the 4A SIC gives fans a chance to see how the conference will fair against the rest of the state as they play six out-of-conference games. These games should provide some interesting match ups early in the season, prior to the state tournament.
Based on the feedback that I got from coaches, here is how the conference may finish out (click on the team to go to their summary)
#1 Middleton
#2 Bishop Kelly
#3 Mountain Home
#4 Nampa
#5 Emmett
#6 Skyview (tie)
#6 Kuna (tie)
#8 Columbia
Bishop Kelly High School
My guess is that on the Bishop Kelly campus, there is one thought on the minds of all the Knights: redemption.
Following a 20 win season in 2008 (they finished second at state) and head coach Derek McCormick’s first season, the 2009 team finished the regular season with a 13-1 conference record and the #1 seed in the 4A Southern Idaho Conference district tournament. But, after beating Columbia in the first round, an improved Nampa team beat them by 1 and a scrappy Emmett team beat them by 2 to end their season.
Now, Coach McCormick and his four returning lettermen will try and rebound and return to the state tournament. The team will be led by 5-9 senior wing Julie Muguria. Muguria was selected to the all conference team in 2009 and was on the second team in 2008. She is the only member of the team that also saw action in the Knight’s trips to state in both 2007 and 2008.
Looking to crack this year’s starting line up are senior Sarah Hessel (5-7 wing) and juniors Erin Kelly (5-3 point guard) and Michelle Violette (6-0 post). Hessel was brought up to the team for their 2008 state tournament but didn’t see any action. If the Violette name sounds familiar it might be because she is the sister of former Knight (and former Gonzaga Bulldog, former Idaho Stampede and current Toshiba Brave Thunders) Cory Violette.
With several new players, Coach McCormick knows that the team may start a little slow, as they acquaint themselves to the motion and multiple set offense. There is also a bit of a learning curve on defense with a mix of man and zone.
*Columbia High School
Brian Thompson is back as the head coach of the Columbia girls. It looks like they may have four returning lettermen in Lindsey Wakelam, Jeanette Diaz, Gloria Zamudio and Maren Mansfield. They lost a lot of experience from last year, with six of the girls graduating.
The Wildcats open the season against two of the better 5A SIC teams (Centennial and Capital) but also have all three teams on their schedule that they beat last year with Fruitland (they will play them twice), Caldwell and Rocky Mountain.
*Emmett High School
Last season, head coach Shelly Roberts took over a program that graduated 90% of their players. Now, in Coach Roberts second year, it looks like there will be some returning lettermen in Danielle Woehler, Katie Watkins and Brandi Bork.
To improve the win-loss record, the Huskies will need to decrease their point differential. According to Idahoops.com, they were giving up nearly 53 points per game while only scoring 36 points per game. I think that the returning experience this year should help that.
Kuna High School
Head Coach Faith Sacht has things going in the right direction for the Kuna Kavemen and the future may be even brighter. Even though the girls only won three games last year, you really have to consider that the 2009 season was a whole new program at Kuna. Coach Sacht was in her first year at the school and she only three players that had ever experienced varsity action.
This season, with a year under her belt and five returning lettermen, including three returning starters, Coach Sacht is likely to continue her program’s improvement.
Those three starters will also provide the senior leadership. Julian Law (5-9 post), Abby Ericson (5-7 wing) and Ashleigh Arizana (5-5 wing) are all back along with senior Ashleigh Doughty (5-9 post) and sophomore Kaitlynn Caldwell (5-4 point guard). Also look for freshmen Kaitlynn Vincent to have an impact, as the 6-0 youngster can play all five positions.
The Kavemen will try and push the pace on offense and when they can’t get transition buckets, they will utilize their height and shooters. Defensively they will try and get into opponents with an in your face man to man, trying to force turnovers.
Regardless of the number of wins, Coach Sacht will emphasize hard work and having fun. It’s a tough conference but these girls seem headed in the right direction.
Middleton High School
If you are a fan of Middleton, you have to like what head coach Andy Jones has done for the program the last few years. As near as I can tell, he has taken the Middleton team to the state tournament each of the last six years, including a state championship in 2008, a third place finish in 2007 and a second place finish last year.
Last year’s team returned no starters. This year’s team brings back four starters and three other lettermen to try and get Coach Jones his third state championship (he also had one in 2001 with Caldwell) and their second in three years.
All four returning starters are seniors. Brittany Leasy is a 5-5 point guard that averaged 5.5 points and 3.3 assists per game. Emily Hammand is a 5-7 sharp shooting guard that averaged 7.6 points and Lacey Young is a 5-9 forward that averaged 6.7 points. The team’s all around player is Ariah Gonzales. Gonzales is a 5-10 post that averaged 5.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game and whom some are considering one of the top players in the league. Last season she was selected to the all-state second team.
Also back this year and vying for a starting spot are returning lettermen Jenni Foreman, a 5-5 senior guard, and juniors Maddie Laan (5-10 forward) and Kendra Limb (5-10 point guard). Both Laan and Limb averaged 5.2 points last year while Laan also grabbed 4.9 rebounds.
New to the team but expected to have an impact are senior forward Gen Gustin, junior forward Kenna Hopkins and sophomore point guard Taylor Simmons.
One thing you have to love about the Vikings is that they are going to push push push the ball on offense. Last year they averaged nearly 50 points per game. When they don’t score in transition, Coach Jones will likely look for and isolate mismatches that his versatile team can create.
I also really like Middleton’s schedule. Never afraid to travel, the girls will only have eight home games, traveling to Burley and Jerome in one weekend and then participating in the Nyssa Tournament a month later in Oregon.
Mountain Home High School
The Tigers have proven that they belong amongst the elite in the 4A SIC, finishing in the top 4 or better the last two seasons and qualifying for the state tournament last season by upsetting the #3 seed Skyview in the district tournament.
This season head coach Brent Keener welcomes back several players from last year’s state team including 6-0 senior post Shelby Posey, 5-9 senior guard Blas Lord, 6-0 senior forward Charde Huntington and 5-11 junior guard Dakota Barrie. Posey averaged 8 points and 9 rebounds per game last year and Barrie averaged 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists per game.
Also back are juniors Rachel Warila (5-7 guard) and Jessica Lierche (5-8 guard) and sophomore Angie Rios (5-6 guard). Plus, the Tigers will probably utilize newcomer Arlene Futch (5-5 sophomore guard).
Mountain Home has seven players that can score and with a good inside-outside balance, the girls can run or set up in the half court. Defensively they also pose challenges and can run both man and zone.
The girls have a ton of potential, but with only 2.5 teams going to state from this tough conference, it is critical that they understand the urgency of winning every conference game. But what may be the most interesting question is this: if the girls were to win big games, will they perform their now famous rendition of "Evolution of Dance"?
Nampa High School
In basketball and sports, confidence is everything. And last year at Nampa, head coach Cameron Long was not short in that department. The program had continued to improve each year and the coach had a feeling the Bulldogs would be heading to state. Which is exactly what they did.
A 7-7 conference record was good enough to get them a #5 seed in the district tournament and two upsets in the tournament, first over #4 Mountain Home and then over #1 Bishop Kelly, took the team to state where they won the consolation championship. It was the first time the school had been to the girls state tournament since 2002.
But now that the excitement of a successful year has died down, we wait to see if the Bulldogs can pull a repeat performance. Most coaches are putting them somewhere in the middle of the conference, which is where they ended up last season.
Marina Quintana, Amy Keonig, Tara Roberts and Mackenzie Leinum are the only returning lettermen from last year’s team. All four are seniors. Quintanna, a 5-0 guard, averaged 7 points per game and Keonig, a 5-11 post, averaged 3.1 rebounds and an astounding 3.7 blocks per game!
Bulldog fans can also expect to see some inside impact players. Two 6 foot seniors will join the team, Sara Inman and Bre Schrode.
*Skyview High School
The Hawks look like they will be taking a fresh start this season. While head coach Cindy Pasta will be back for her 14th season with the school, but all eight of her impact players from last season have graduated.
The Hawks are always well coached, and Coach Pasta will certainly do a good job of teaching her players and putting them in position to be successful on the floor. However, the SIC is tough and the girls will have to get up to speed fast if they want to compete for a shot at the state tournament.
*I did not get a form turned in from these teams. This could be for several reasons (email got blocked, post office misplaced it, my fax was out of ink, etc.). If you would like to get your team's information updated, please let your coach know that I have a form that they can fill out.
