Contender Profile: 5A Eaglecrest
Welcome to our new Contender Profile series. Starting today, and running through the start of the postseason, we will be taking a closer look at teams that have emerged as title contenders in various classes, examining what makes them tick…
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Continue ReadingWelcome to our new Contender Profile series. Starting today, and running through the start of the postseason, we will be taking a closer look at teams that have emerged as title contenders in various classes, examining what makes them tick and what gives them a chance to lift the trophy at the end of the season. Today: Eaglecrest.
Eaglecrest Raptors
Head coach: John Olander
Record: 15-0 (Entering Wednesday)
Scoring leader: Colbey Ross (20.9)
Rebound leader: Nate Bokol (5.3)
Assists leader: Ross (4.2)
The Skinny
Eaglecrest is one of two remaining undefeated teams in Class 5A, alongside Rangeview, and is the No. 2 rated team in our Prep Hoops Colorado team rankings. This is a team that prides itself on staunch defense, averaging nearly 12 steals per game.
We got a look at the Raptors against stiff competition on Monday night when they beat top-10 5A club Denver East by double digits. Eaglecrest limited the Angels’ attack by playing disciplined team defense predicated on disrupting pass lanes. Olander likes to extend his zone defense, forcing teams to initiate their offense several feet behind the 3-point. This has the two-pronged effect of limiting good 3-point looks (nearly every perimeter attempt sharpshooter Jack Buckmelter and company attempted was well behind the line) and prevents the opposition’s post players from establishing deep inside position. The only time Denver East was able to get 6-8 big Daytone Jennings deep looks where on broken plays or when he was able to pull down an offensive rebound, opportunities that were few and far between. Thus, the Raptors were able to make up for size disadvantages (they had only one player as tall as 6-4 playing Monday) by making it difficult for East to play offense on its own terms.
Eaglecrest does a great job at closing passing windows, fronting players inside the 3-point line and forcing opponents to pass from further away then they’d like to. This is what helps them produce a rash of turnovers that create’s offense the other way.
In theory, every team would be able to employ such a strategy, but few have the Raptors depth. Olander had nine players play significant minutes in the first quarter alone Monday. Guards like Victor Garnes, Xai’Vion Jackson, Jalaughn Jackson, Elijah Wilson and forwards Josh Walton and Ikenna Ozor have all been instrumental in allowing Olander to rotate fresh players he can count on to thrive within a the team’s system.
Superlative Leader
Look at the teams that bring home championships, and they often have an elite player (or two) who helps separate his squad from the pack. The Raptors certainly have that player in Colbey Ross, a 6-1 junior point guard who has garnered a swath of mid-major Division I offers. Ross had 38 points against East, nailing five 3-pointers and playing with a calm poise his team feeds off of. There were several instances on Monday when frustration began to boil over, and Ross would be the one there to calm down teammates and keep them focused. There is great value in that kind of presence.
“Leadership is my main thing, and I’m still improving on it,” Ross said. “I think it’s shown through this whole season that I’ve been able to be a better leader.”
Last season, Ross was the team’s leading scorer as a sophomore, but he had three other double-digit scoring seniors, including older brother Elijah, who could carry the load from a vocal leadership perspective.
“We lost nine seniors, and my brother, he was a great leader,” Ross said of Elijah, now a freshman at Division II University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. “I’m still learning from him.”
On the court, Ross has always been a highly accomplished scorer. While athletic, he doesn’t have elite burst, but he makes up for that with great feel for changing pace and playing with toughness on the attack. He’s also worked to become a much more effective 3-point shooter, and it’s clear that work has paid off as he’s shooting 40 percent from behind the arc.
“My outside shot, I know it’s still improving, but if I’m doing good with that it helps the team do well,” Ross said.
Why They Will Be Champs
The Raptors have shown during an undefeated run, thus far, through a challenging schedule, that they can succeed against teams with varying styles, as comfortable in a run-and-gun shootout as they are in a more halfcourt-oriented affair. That experience will serve them well during the slog of the playoffs, when you have little time to prepare for teams you haven’t seen much before.
Potential Roadblocks
The Raptors are not the biggest team in the state. In the games they have been the most challenged, an opposition’s big has been able to puncture the defense. Such was the case in their recent 55-51 victory over Cherokee Trail, when versatile 6-5 big David Thornton tallied 25 points. Still, as explained above, the Raptors have done a fine job addressing their size limitations with the disciplined way they approach team defense.