Players to Keep an Eye on in District IV

<p><em>contributed by<strong> Kaleb Jones</strong></em><br /> <br /> As we anxiously await the return of prep sports around the country, there is no better time to start looking forward to what will be in the 2020-2021 basketball season.  In 2020, District IV in Idaho saw some tremendous basketball talent across all levels, but with all great programs, it is about reloading as opposed to rebuilding, and Idaho has a lot of players that will rise to the forefront in the upcoming season. </p> <p><strong>4A Great Basin: </strong></p> <p>The Great Basin conference will have some big-time holes to fill in the upcoming winter, but none bigger than the one the Burley Bobcats will be managing.  Filling the gap of Boise State commit Jace Whitting will be no small task, but Burley will lean on senior <strong>Jarret Orthman</strong> to take on a bigger role and help lead the Bobcats.  Orthman played about 27 minutes per game as a junior, so he has a great deal of playing experience.  Despite only scoring about 7 points per game as a junior, with Whitting moving on, we can expect those numbers to increase in Orthman’s senior campaign.</p> <p>Just a short distance away, the Minico Spartans will have a huge roster turnover after a season that saw them in the state tournament.  They will now rely on the upcoming sophomore, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="969598" first="Brevin" last="Trenkle"]</strong>, to grow into a leadership role as he takes the experience he got playing in 27 games as a freshman on a senior-laden squad.  Although still an underclassman, Trenkle can use his experience of a successful season and the thrill of the state tournament to help him mature at a quicker rate, while growing and evolving his all around game as well. </p> <p>Much like Trenkle, another sophomore to be who saw a lot of floor time as a freshman is Jerome’s <strong>Scott Cook</strong>.  While Jerome saw far less success than the Spartans in 2019-2020, the Tigers have a good, young roster they can build upon and it begins with the sharpshooting Cook.  Cook had a great freshman campaign from beyond the arc, and as he continues to grow and mature, his all around game will as well. </p> <p><strong>3A Sawtooth Central Conference: </strong></p> <p>In a year that saw two teams from the Sawtooth conference, amongst the four finalists in the state at the 3A level, it will be hard to follow that up in the 2020-2021 season.  With that being said, there is plenty of upcoming talent in this conference that will keep these teams competitive at the state level.  The state runner up Kimberly Bulldogs will be losing their leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id="528138" first="Dawson" last="Cummins"] along with 6 other seniors.  They will turn to a pair of players who got a ton of game experience last year, playing in 25 games in <strong>Trevor Hammond and Jaxon Bair</strong>.  The experience of playing and falling short in a state championship should have these two hungry to get back this upcoming season. </p> <p> The other team who battled Kimberly for the top of this conference in 2019-2020 is the Filer Wildcats.  Unlike Kimberly though, Filer will return a large core of their varsity group including junior to be <strong>Tegun Tews</strong>.  Tews has a high motor on the court, runs the floor very well, and is a great finisher and passer off of the dribble.   He will be expected to be an integral part of this team if Filer is to make another postseason run. </p> <p>Another team in the conference who will be looking to turn around their fortunes in the upcoming season is the Buhl Indians.  A very young team in the 2019-2020 season, they will hope to use that youth and experience and convert that into more wins in 2020-2021, and it will begin with junior to be <strong>Jake Kelsey</strong>.  Kelsey, at six feet tall already, has great size for a guard.  He complements that height with a great outside shooting touch and high activity on the defensive end.  As he continues to mature, I believe his all-around game will follow, and you will see a much more competitive Buhl team in the upcoming season. </p> <p>Although South Central Idaho is losing some big-name talent from teams who made great post-season runs, these up and coming players are ready to fill their shoes and create names for themselves in the upcoming season.  Great programs all over the country are big on reloading as opposed to rebuilding when great players move on, and these players mentioned above are ready to make the jump and be the leaders of their teams moving into the 2020-2021 season. </p>