Five Surprising 5A Teams To Begin The Year
The 2018-19 season has been a delight as taking a look at the Colorado high school landscape and conferences there are so many teams vying for the top spot with everyone wanting to take home the gold ball. While there…
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Continue ReadingThe 2018-19 season has been a delight as taking a look at the Colorado high school landscape and conferences there are so many teams vying for the top spot with everyone wanting to take home the gold ball. While there are teams that we have come accustomed to sitting amongst the top of their respective conferences there are teams that are having surprising and incredible seasons, here are five teams that have really surprised.
Mountain Vista
For a team that is coming off of a 15-10 record to start out the year 10-0 with the top overall spot in 5A, this is the surprise team of the year. The Golden Eagles were expected to have a better season, but now they have their hopes on a bigger vision –possibly winning it all. Mountain Vista is led by their two Seniors, Simon May (11.5 points & 8.7 rebounds) and also guard Ben Grusing (17.5 points & 4.4 rebs) has upped his game to a level which shows the off season work that he put in this offseason and brought into the year. The duo has been as solid as any wing combination in the state and have been very consistent for the year. They are aggressive on the boards and are the emotional leaders for a group poised to make a deep run. They have had additional contributions from Senior Corban Gamble (8.7 pts, 3.7 rebs) and also junior standout Rhys Pulling (10.0 ppg, & 3.1 rpg) and have a deep unit that is willing to lay it all on the line. They are defensively entuned and when that all comes together it makes this a tough group to beat.
Arvada West
Arvada West is not a team that is coming off of a bad year as they finished 15-9 last year on the season and headed into this season as a team that needed players to step up specifically in the scoring department as two of their top three players graduated leaving only leading scorer Josh Rogers. Well others have stepped up giving the team much needed balance but Josh Rogers has entered his name as a dark-horse candidate for player of the year. He is up to 21 points a game and leading his team to an 8-1 record on the season with nobody else scoring double-digits on the team. He is also the second leading rebounder on the team at 5.9 a game and showing that he does it all. He scores from all three levels and makes those around him better and they have showed up as well. His surrounding cast – strong. The stats do not say enough about how close this group is and how they rally around each other. They have Oliver and Ethan Lindeblad both averaging seven points a game and have been solid throughout the year. Ethan is leading the team in rebounding and has been great around the rim. Junior Taylor Kline is having a strong year and is the second leading scorer on the team and has been consistent all year. This is a bunch that will surprise many this year and I expect their strong play to continue. Looking forward, the Wildcats have a tough schedule and many tests, if they are able to win a few of those battles, they will surely be in the top-10 by seasons end.
Aurora Central
You want to talk about a team truly surprising, Aurora Central truly fits the bill. The Trojans finished last year with a 9-14 record and already at the beginning of January have surpassed last year’s mark and is looking to make a push at the Metro League title. There is no reason that the Trojans do not finish in the top-3 in the league with their recent play as they are led by Seniors Malachi Owens at 15.9 points but he has really changed the outcome of games with his intensity on the defensive end as he has really played the passing lanes. He is up to 3.9 steals a game and looks to be one of the better guards in the league. He gets everyone involved and keeps his composure. Alongside him is Senior Kaleb Atherly who is becoming a stock booster and jumping onto our radars. He is averaging an impressive double-double on the season of 15.4 points and 13.2 rebounds a game and should be taken seriously. Jabea Tilong and Messiah Ford are the X-factors for this team and moving forward this team will have to keep up their play and show that their 8-1 start to the season is for real.
Castle view
We expected Castle View to be good this year, but we have to admit – not this good. The Saber cats are off to a 9-2 start of the year and is led by Top-5 in the state talent Chase Hettinger. Hettinger is who we pinged as the best player in the state for grassroots circuit so we were high on him heading into the season and he has not failed to impress putting up a whopping 24.4 points a game which amongst the top in the state. He can score from anywhere on the floor and is a highlight reel in the open court as well. He is a player that might be relied on more than anybody else in the state and is a favorite for Mr. Basketball this year so every single win they go through counts towards him increasing his chances. A reason for their quick jump however is the emergence of other leaders. Senior big man Bryson Lindsey (14.0 pts, 6.0 rpg) and Michael Poux who is at 12.3 rebounds a game have helped carry some of the load and have showed up this year. They also have great guard play in Carson Moorhead and David McKean who are bought in, I believe both sacrifice their own game to benefit the team and those are the type of players that every team needs. Castle View has been the most pleasant surprise to start out the year.
Pine Creek
What a change that can happen in a year. Pine Creek headed into the offseason with questions on how they will bounce back after a disappointing 9-15 season and fast-forward into this season and they have answered all of those plus more as they are 8-1 on the season with the best record by far in the Colorado Springs Metro league. Grant Wilkinson (17.3 points, 8.1 rebounds) and Peyton Westfall (11.3 ppg) have this team soaring to begin the season as they get into league play. What makes the Eagles so strong is besides Wilkinson’s consistency Pine Creek has multiple players that can step up and it is difficult to prepare for them. Max Lofy can step up with big plays, Kenny Pham has been coming on as of late and Kedarian Maul is also coming off of one of his best games so this unit is finally starting to figure it out. When Westfall gets into his groove shortly I see this group making a big push and surprising some teams. Thursday’s game against Pueblo West will be a big test to see how good this team is, win it and prove that they have what it takes to really make some noise out in the Springs come playoff time.