State Championship Contenders 5A
What a season it has been thus far! As teams are gearing up for their holiday tournaments, it is pretty safe to say that we are officially mid-way in the season. Since we are about halfway through the season, I thought it would be appropriate to look at the potential state championship contenders. Please be advised that these are my own opinions, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Here are the state championship contenders for 5A:
1. Ironwood (Current AZ Preps Rank: 1)
From talking with other coaches and writers, Ironwood has widely taken 5A by surprise. Many coaches and fellow writers were very shocked to see Ironwood’s early season success that landed them at the #1 spot. This team is for real, beating McClintock (currently ranked 4th) by 30 points and Casteel (currently ranked 9th) by 33 points. They are averaging 81.5 points per game, while only allowing 54.5 points per game.
2. Apollo (Current AZ Preps Rank: 3)
Apollo has one of the best players in the 2019 class, in Emmanuel Taban. They also have one of my favorite prospects in the class of 2021, in Paris Woods. Apollo is very well coached and is one of three undefeated teams in 5A (Ironwood, Apollo, Gilbert). They have a ton of athleticism and a lot of fire power that could put them in a really good position to win the 5A State Championship.
3. Gilbert (Current AZ Preps Rank: 2)
This Gilbert team is very well coached. I have seen them play in one game and you could immediately tell how well they are coached. They play pure team/fundamental basketball and run their sets perfectly. It is a big testament to that coach for getting his players bought in as well as they are, they could be a dangerous team come tournament time due to their fundamental play.
4. Millennium (Current AZ Preps Rank: 6)
Millennium is a team that I see as a problem for a lot of other teams, due to their size and athleticism. They are very young but if they can keep their composure during the state tournament, they will be very scary. DaRon Holmes has been playing amazing and provides so much for that team, being a 6’9 athletic freak.