Contender Profile: 5A Rock Canyon
There are few teams in Colorado hotter than the Jaguars, who have not lost a game within the state since dropping their season-opener against undefeated Eaglecrest. Rock Canyon is coming off its most impressive victory of the season, a 44-43…
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Continue ReadingThere are few teams in Colorado hotter than the Jaguars, who have not lost a game within the state since dropping their season-opener against undefeated Eaglecrest. Rock Canyon is coming off its most impressive victory of the season, a 44-43 road win last week over Continental League foe ThunderRidge. That victory put Rock Canyon at 5-0 and in first place in the league, with another huge matchup against 4-0 Regis Jesuit on the horizon.
Below is a closer look at how the Jaguars have put themselves to into the conversation as a title contender this season:
Head Coach: Kent Grams
Record: 16-2
Scoring Leader: Sam Masten (16.6)
Rebounding Leader: Isaac Hirsch (8.6)
Assists Leader: Payton Berman (3.3)
The Skinny
Everything you need to know about the Jaguars begins with a simple, important philosophy instilled by their coach, Kent Grams.
“We emphasize effort all the time,” Grams told Prep Hoops Colorado last month. “We never want to get outworked. There’s too many good teams in Colorado now that if you don’t bring it every game, there’s a good chance you’re going to get beat. So emphasize that in practice to our JV team all the time, emphasizing that they make sure they’re competing as hard as they can to make us the best we can be.”
The Jaguars have a sophomore star in Sam Masten, a versatile, competitive 6-2 guard who projects as a Division I-caliber player. They have looked to Masten to be a leader on the court and trust him to make big plays with the ball in his hands when the team needs him.
But Rock Canyon is also among the state’s most balanced teams, with each member of the squad locked in to playing a key role.
No player is a better example of that than senior Isaac Hirsch, who has ridden the ups and downs of the program and understands that for the Jaguars to be as good as they can be, he has to be a glue-guy type player willing to provide a long list of services. He’s aided in the backcourt by the unselfish play of Payton Berman, who is rock solid with the ball and knows how to distribute.
“It’s hard to find kids these days that have that true leadership ability,” Grams said. “Isaac and Payton have been waiting for that opportunity to make sure that they can lead. It’s their year. They know how important it is to them.”
Players like seniors Noah Beck (8.2 points per game) and juniors Colin Rardin (7.5) and J.T. Bley (4.3) have also been presences of great depth for team that is built on toughness.
Schematically, Rock Canyon runs a ball-control offense built on hunting open looks. When teams attempt to cut down the slashing ability of Masten, which is no easy feat to begin with, they can be left exposed on the perimeter, where Beck and Hirsch have made a combined 58-of-149 3-point attempts this season (39 percent). That’s not to say the Jaguars can not be effective in transition. Masten is as good in the open floor as just about anybody, but Rock Canyon is at its best when it is running smart half-court offense with players who can finish in varied ways.
Why They Can Be Champs
In addition to the road win over ThunderRidge, Rock Canyon has victories this season over Arvada West, the Far Northeast Warriors, Rampart and Grandview, among others. Even when other teams may have more athletic pieces, the Jaguars have shown they won’t be disrupted. Most importantly, this team has a wealth of smart senior leaders who have learned from stinging playoff defeats in the past, and that kind of experience can’t be ignored deep into February.
Potential Roadblocks
As the Jaguars march deep into the playoffs, teams will work hard to take away Masten’s opportunities. In Rock Canyon’s loss to Eaglecrest, the Raptors held the sophomore to eight points, on 2-of-9 shooting, his only single-digit scoring output of the season. The Jaguars will have to identify and groom a player that will be willing to be a playmaker in the event teams find a way to limit the team’s top scoring option. But the way Rock Canyon is playing right now, that or any other task doesn’t seem too tall.