Class 5A Preview: Chaparral
2014: 18-8, 6-4 in Continental League, lost in Elite Eight 52-47 to ThunderRidge
Top 100 players: Dominic Coleman (No. 36 in 2016).
Key Returners: Coleman; Spencer Sheaman (7.3 points, 4.8 rebounds per game last season); Steve Mott (2.8 points per game in five varsity appearances)
Key Losses: Chris Moody (17.3 points per game); Jake Holtzmann (17.2), Chase Coon (10.4).
Outlook: Tellus Truesdale, who took over as Chaparral’s new basketball coach for Rob Johnson in May, says it doesn’t take too much digging to see why his team might have some growing pains on the offensive end this season.
All he has to do is look at last season’s stat sheet to see that the team lost 44.9 of the 64.2 points per game it scored last season. Yes, Jake Holtzmann, Chris Moody and Chase Coon have all moved on to the next level, leaving a void behind.
“I was definitely double-checking to see if some of those guys were still going to be around,” Truesdale joked.
In reality, Chaparral will be starting with a new system and a band of new contributors.
“We have a long ways to go to get where I’d like to be,” Truesdale said. “We’ve started doing some lifting and skill work in the fall, and guys are giving great effort … we’re just working on 100 percent buy-in.”
Truesdale, a former Valor Christian assistant, is embracing the challenge of building new relationships with his new group. He began in the summer with a service-project that let his players know the team would be about more than just basketball, and that life lessons would be taught in abundance.
“I was glad to have chance to do something early on and set that standard of, ‘Hey, this is who we’re going to be and what we’re going to be about,” he said. “To me it’s bigger than just basketball. We want to teach these guys how to be men.”
On the court, several players will be asked to grow up fast. Perhaps the player most prepared to take on a major scoring role vacated by last year’s three stars is senior Dominic Coleman. After being unable to play with Chaparral early in the summer due to an ankle injury, Truesdale has been impressed with the athletic guard during fall league action.
“I had heard from some of our assistant coaches that he was a guy who could help us with some of that scoring drought,” Turesdale said. “He’s played well. And I had heard he had a good summer before that, in July doing the AAU thing. For him, you look at him and he’s pretty skinny, so we’re trying to get him in the weight room and get a little weight on him.
Coleman did in fact have a strong summer on the grassroots circuit with Colorado Connect, and could be primed for a breakthrough season. He’s averaged about 20 points per game through a couple weeks of fall league action.
“From what I’ve seen, he can get to the basket, get his own shot,” Truesdale added. “I think consistently being able to hit that long-range shot is going to be able to take him to that next level, where I know he wants to be. From what I’ve seen in the fall league, he handles the ball well, he’s able to get his own shot off the dribble, and he’s long too, which helps.
“He’s able to get his shot off against most guards, and big guys aren’t usually quite quick enough to stay with him. When he gets that consistency in the long-range game, he’s going to be able to attack even more when guys close out tight. He’s got a nice mid-range game, too, which you don’t always see with a lot of high school kids.”
In addition to Coleman, Chaparral will also lean on 6-foot-6 senior Spencer Sheaman, who could be a force in the post this season after averages of 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds last season.
At the point guard spot, Truesdale is working with Steve Mott, who played mostly on JV last season, to run the offense.
“That’s where I played, so I put a lot of pressure on my point guards,” Truesdale said. “I feel like that should be an extension of the coach on the floor. So I’ve been in Stevie’s ear a lot, just telling him, ‘This is what I want. This is where I expect you to be.’ He’s taken that on really well.”
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