2025-26 Team Preview: Farmington Scorpions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2025-26 FARMINGTON SCORPIONS PREVIEW</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>OVERVIEW</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Farmington won 20 games last season with a largely new roster and pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the Class 5A playoffs when they made the long trip to Las Cruces and beat No. 5 seed Organ Mountain on the Knights home floor.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We had a deeper team last season and I thought we overachieved a little bit,” Farmington head coach Larry Don Chitty told Prep Hoops New Mexico. “We're going to be senior heavy this year with eight seniors. But only three or four have actual varsity experience. It's a good group of seniors. This will probably be the deepest team I've had at Farmington. We won't have nearly the size we had last year. Our roster is full of guards.”” &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PLAYERS TO WATCH</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Zander Griego (Sr., 6-2, F/G)</strong>: Missed all of the 2024-25 season with a broken foot. But he's healthy now and expected to be one of the Scorpions' team leaders. “He would have been one of our top guys last year,” Chitty said. “He's our best all-around player. Solid guard. He's strong, he can get to the basket and he has a nice jump shot.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1717217' first='Sataurus' last='Griego'] (Sr., 6-4, F)</strong>: Twin brother of Zander. Top returning scorer for the Scorpions (7.8 points per game). “He's bigger but he can really shoot the ball,” Chitty said. “We like him a lot.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Dayton Bizzell (Sr., 5-9, G)</strong>: Came off the bench last season and excelled as a perimeter defender and distributor of the basketball, averaging about 3 points per game. Handles the ball well. Fast and quick. “With guys like Dayton, we should be able to play better defense,” Chitty said. “We'll be a little quicker. Our guards are going to be pretty good.” &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Donathan Tracy (Sr., 5-10, G)</strong>: Along with Bizzell, he should be able to defend the perimeter at a high level. Averaged 4.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NAMES TO KNOW</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Isaac Dinning (Sr., 6-2, G)</strong>:Described by Chitty as a streaky shooter. When he's hot, he can score in bunches. Averaged 5.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in 2024-25. “He's a long guard who can defend well,' Chitty said. “He can get to the rim and shoot it a little bit. In some ways, Dayton, Donathan and Isaac are the same type of player. They have the same body type.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conner Neff (Sr., 6-1, G)</strong>: Excellent defender. He's usually be asked to defend the opponent's top guard. “We play some outstanding guards in our district,” Chitty said. “It's nice to have somebody we can run out there and guard them. Conner can get that done.” &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>KEY NEWCOMERS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2846704' first='Kannon' last='Moore'] (So., 5-8, 150)</strong>: Solid young player that appeared in one varsity game as a freshman in 2024-25. “Kannon is a very good guard who can score,” Chitty said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Dre Black (So., 5-8, 135)</strong>: Saw limited action with the varsity in 2024-25. Another solid sophomore. Like Moore, he's expected to see his varsity minutes increase significantly in 2025-26. Could float between JV and varsity.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bo Kalcich (Fr., 6-3, G/F)</strong>: Younger brother of Scorpions QB Rocky Kalcich. Plays offensive line for the football team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tayden Adson (Fr.)</strong>: Southpaw guard. Expected to contribute to the varsity this season and, in fact, could surprise some people. Saw some varsity action last season as an 8^th-grader. Solid player.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Aavery Carlson (Jr., 6-5, F)</strong>: Brings good size to the lineup. Good feet and hands. Suffered a serious knee injury late last season and likely won't join the team under January when district play begins. Played mostly JV last season. “He's really going to help us if he can get back healthy,” Chitty said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>FINAL THOUGHTS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While Farmington has a crop of promising young players coming up through the ranks, Chitty expects to rely mainly on the aforementioned seniors this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Farmington will stay local to begin the season with road games at Aztec and Kirtland Central. Later they will compete in tournaments at Santa Fe High and Hobbs. District 5A-1 will be challenging with Cibola, Cleveland, Piedra Vista, Rio Rancho and Volcano Vista.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Getting up shots and getting ready for season with my guy!! <a href="https://twitter.com/idinning15?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@idinning15</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RussellGurule?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RussellGurule</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PrepHoops?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PrepHoops</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinMoses38?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KevinMoses38</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KJ_Ford4?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KJ_Ford4</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachHopBigBend?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoachHopBigBend</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/noahbreit1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@noahbreit1</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Uorangemen2?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Uorangemen2</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachJamesJ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoachJamesJ</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PrepHoops_NM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PrepHoops_NM</a> <a href="https://t.co/TXOv9UDgTG">pic.twitter.com/TXOv9UDgTG</a></p>&mdash; Zander Griego (@GriegoZander85) <a href="https://twitter.com/GriegoZander85/status/1965959451380465964?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Blessed to receive a invite to the phenom top 150 camp <br>Orange County CA 📍<a href="https://twitter.com/PrepHoops_NM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PrepHoops_NM</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KJ_Ford4?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KJ_Ford4</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/fhsscorpionsbbb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@fhsscorpionsbbb</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RussellGurule?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RussellGurule</a> <a href="https://t.co/phe4TX7I5n">pic.twitter.com/phe4TX7I5n</a></p>&mdash; [player_tooltip player_id='2846704' first='Kannon' last='Moore'] (@KannonM3) <a href="https://twitter.com/KannonM3/status/1957286475428401165?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">RecruitLook Dallas Showcase Highlights <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachDSteen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoachDSteen</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/coach_bmase?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@coach_bmase</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RecruitLook?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RecruitLook</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RussellGurule?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RussellGurule</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/fhsscorpionsbbb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@fhsscorpionsbbb</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PrepHoops_NM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PrepHoops_NM</a> <a href="https://t.co/oYw5oSAH46">pic.twitter.com/oYw5oSAH46</a></p>&mdash; Isaac Dinning (@idinning15) <a href="https://twitter.com/idinning15/status/1922875130864075241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html -->