State Power Rankings: 6-10 Breakdown

Now that the first full month of basketball is complete, I figured it'd be a good time to release my state power rankings.   In this article I feature teams 6-10.   6. Clark Chargers (8-5) - I attended the Clark Chargers first game of the year when they faced off against Desert Pines and their game against Canyon View. I liked what I saw from their guards in both games. Recent stockriser, [player_tooltip player_id='2637173' first='CJ' last='Edwards'], has been the floor general and he's been doing a great job of facilitating. While also doing some damage himself, like hitting shots from beyond the arc. [player_tooltip player_id='2286675' first='Sir' last='Montgomery'] and Amir Wright have been playing at a high level as well. Montgomery seems to be an improved outsider shooter, and Wright has been living in the lane. Akron commit, Devan Christion has also been consistent for them. By providing rebounding, inside scoring, transition dunks, and an occasional 3. Although they currently sit at 8 wins, they should be able to win a majority of their games in January. Which should put them in a good position once it's time for the playoffs.   7. Mojave Rattlers (10-2) - The Mojave Rattlers have only lost a couple of games so far. And much of that has to do with their balanced attack and athleticism. They have 4 players averaging more than 10 PPG, including Jayden Luna (15.8), Curtis Coleman (13.1), Ty'Jir Broxie (11.8), and Phil Gordon (10.5). When I watched them play against Mater Easy Academy, their ability to get downhill stood out. And I also noticed their speed and length causing issues for the Knights' ball handlers. Now that conference play is just around the corner, I expect that they will try and turn it up another notch. But they certainly have a tough schedule, and they are set to face Coronado (1/8) and Bishop Gorman (1/13) in the first two weeks of January. No 5A team has any easy slate though, and it should help them gear up for the post season. Expect them to put some of these other top 10 teams on upset alert the rest of the way.   8. Bishop Manogue (11-1) - I got a chance to see Bishop Manogue play back at the Border League, and I immediately recognized that their starting forwards Kade Snyder and Connor Sheridan would be a problem for just about any team they faced. Snyder is leading the way for them in the scoring department, averaging 18.0 PPG and Sheridan is averaging 10.6 PPG, along with 1.5 BPG on the defensive end. In addition to their talented front court, the Miners have been looking to [player_tooltip player_id='2449393' first='Eli' last='Benna'], Liam Sorenson, [player_tooltip player_id='2286665' first='Jamahl' last='Jackson'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2449483' first='Aaron' last='Westphal'] to help get the job done. At the moment, I'd say their top wins are over Jesuit (CA), Lincoln (CA), Fernley, Spanish Springs and Somerset Losee. With their current record, I believe it's safe to say that they'll be in the playoffs and there's a very good chance they lock up the one seed in the North in a matter of time. And they are no doubt a contender for the 4A State Title.   9. Fernley (10-4) - I wrote about the Fernley Vaqueros after they knocked off a couple of the Vegas teams (Faith Lutheran and Sierra Vista) back at the Legacy Tip-Off Classic. They are led by their very strong backcourt, Bryce Stephens and Sheldon Jacobson. Stephens is currently averaging 18.8 PPG and Jacobson is averaging 18.1 PPG. Their one, two punch is just about as good as anyone's and their consistency is impressive. They've also gotten some help from Body Parsons (averaging 6.2 PPG) and Leeland Ketelaar (averaging 6.1 PPG). Although they have lost 4 games now, they only lost to Mojave by 3 (66-63) and they lost to Bishop Manogue (48-46). Considering they're a 3A team, they've really held their own against 4A and 5A competition. By the look of it, the second half of their schedule is no where near as difficult as the first half. And they may wind up as a 20+ win team again (went 22-7 last year). If they can stay on track, they might just be returning to the 3A State Championship.   10. Somerset Losee (6-3) - The Somerset Losee Lions are off to a decent start this year. They won their first 4 games of the season, including a big win over Sierra Vista 65-57. Before falling to Liberty 70-56 in another hard fought battle. Since then they stacked a couple more wins at the Holiday Classic, with wins over Carlsbad (CA) and Oakwood (CA). But they also fell to Bishop Manogue 66-59. Despite how much youth is on their team, they are still stacking wins. Much of that has to do with freshman, [player_tooltip player_id='2477281' first='DJ' last='Hunter'], who is averaging 22.8 PPG right now. Fellow freshman, [player_tooltip player_id='3243670' first='Jake' last='Bunyan'], is averaging 7.8. And sophomores, [player_tooltip player_id='2412305' first='Nick' last='Odum'] and Yasin are both contributing as well. With Odum averaging 8.8 PPG and Musa is averaging 6.0 PPG. All in all, they've shown that they can hang with some of the better the teams in the state. And I believe they'll continue to have success in January + February.     Stay tuned for the Top 5.

Now that the first full month of basketball is complete, I figured it'd be a good time to release my state power rankings.