5A/4A East Metro League Preview

<p>With the high school season just around the corner, it’s time for us to take a look at some of the conferences across the state. Next up is the 5A/4A East Metro League which is home to the defending 5A champions, the Rangeview Raiders. Rangeview will once again be the favorite as they have been for quite a while but there are some teams prying for that top spot. Here is a look at the East Metro team including a surprise team or two that could also make some noise.</p> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <p><strong>Favorite</strong>:<strong> Rangeview </strong></p> <p>It is no secret that Rangeview is the top team in the league and they have been for a while. Coming off of a historic championship run they return a pretty big portion of their team although they will miss <strong>Quincey Jewett</strong>. But they still have a strong nucleus that will be looking to defend the crown. All eyes will be on the Speller brothers. <strong>Christian Speller</strong> just signed to play at Metro State next season and had an incredible summer where he turned heads. He has progressed in every aspect of his game as he has a college-ready body, defends and rebounds at a high level and gets to the rim and finishes through traffic. <strong>Christopher Spelle</strong>r is a true point guard with the size that controls the pace and does not make many mistakes. He was the 5A MVP with his way to take over the game by getting to the free-throw line and staying aggressive offensively. He will have to take his game up a level if they plan on taking it back home and will have plenty of returning help. The Raiders have a trio of <strong>Obi Agbim</strong> (preseason most improved player award nominee), <strong>Isaiah Hayes</strong> – a defender that changes the outcome of the game on both ends and sharp-shooter <strong>Cade Palmer</strong> that is ready to also up their game. If <strong>Isaiah Jamison</strong> and <strong>Jayden Foster</strong> also show any type of positive progression this is a team that will again have another successful season.</p> <p><strong>Should Compete: </strong></p> <p><strong>Dark-horse standouts: Vista Peak Prep </strong></p> <p>Vista Peak will be one of the most entertaining teams in the state this upcoming year as this will be one of the deepest teams that they have. They return their leading scorer from last season in combo-guard <strong>AJ LaCabe</strong> (12.7 ppg) who will go into his senior season ready to go out with a bang. He is a three-level scorer that uses his handle to create for himself but also pushes himself on defense as well. Another standout is <strong>Curtis Stovall</strong> (10.6 ppg) who is one of the better two-way players in the league. He is a great defender who also can shoot, dunk and find the open man as well. His confidence is growing which does not bode well for the rest of the league and when he is on there are not many other players that can slow him down, this is the year that it all comes together and they have two other players ready to make the jump in guard <strong>Jaylen Carizales</strong> as well as wing <strong>Sayo Olawabi</strong> who will both be asked to do more this upcoming season. We got to take a deeper look at these players this past summer and all were standouts at every single event that we had. Now they put it together as they attempt to take down the East Metro league.</p> <p><strong>Conference Predictions</strong></p> <p>1) Rangeview</p> <p>2) Vista Peak</p> <p>3) Brighton</p> <p>4) Gateway</p> <p>5)  Prairie View</p> <p>6) Aurora Central</p> <p>7) Hinkley</p> <p>8) Thornton</p> <p>9) Northglenn</p> <p>10) Westminster</p> <p>11) Adam City</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>