Defense Propels Borah And Boise To Unblemished Starts In 5A
photo credit: @borahboyshoops (Twitter account)
Borah and Boise currently enter the weekend fresh off blazing hot starts (5-0), and the reasoning behind their excellent play starts with their defense.
In fact, both teams nearly mirror each other when it comes to defensive stats. Through the beginning of the season Boise has allowed an average of 44.8 points per game while Borah has given up just 46.0 points a contest (shout out to Idahoops.com for the stats). Boise has already notched two conference wins while Borah sits with one, but based off the early going for both squads, these two teams are going to cause fits for opposing teams when it comes to finding buckets.
Both teams have had games where they have held their opponent to 40 points or below as Borah kept Eagle at bay with just 20 total points in their matchup as Borah won with ease 51-20. Boise has been able to achieve such defensive dominance in two of their early scheduled games when they held Highland to 40 points and then also against Middleton as they scored just 37 points against this stingy Braves team.
Of course, to many their style of play comes to no surprise seeing that both teams boast a number of intriguing prospects who play tough, physical defense in addition to their other attributes. For Boise, guard and top 2018 prospect Paul Pennington spearheads this group as he is joined by other impressive talents in Lucas Centeno, Emmett Plummer, and Cole Alton.
The Braves were preseason ranked as the top team in 5A SIC incoming to this season as head coach Manny Varela is looking to better his 18-7 record for the school last season. The school has not won a state title in boys basketball since 1985, but if this group can keep up their stellar defensive play than it is entirely possible to see this group hoist some hardware come early Spring.
Borah came into the season preseason ranked third overall in the 5A SIC standings and with Ellis Magnuson, a top ranked 2019 player whom enjoyed impressive outings as of late scoring 8 points and dishing out 8 assists in their win over Middleton and then again tallying 11 points with 5 dimes over Eagle, Magnuson is assuring onlookers of his preseason hype as a top 2019 player in the state.
Senior Derek Evers was also a name that we had our eye on regarding Borah entering the season in terms of the 2018 class as he, along with his other solid cast of players for Borah have established themselves as a team to fear. Still, a young roster overall some other players that will be interesting to track for this bunch will include Austin Bolt, and Jay Ahlstrom. Second year head coach Jeremy Dennis has this team moving in the right direction and it starts on the defensive end of course.
On January 20th these two teams will square off in what will surely be a knock em down slug fest in which the winner will need to be the more physical team and cash in on every opportunity for points. That late in the season will also have both teams in a nice groove as far as chemistry goes and will likely be one of the premiere games of the season in terms of the 5A SIC.
Borah next plays host to Centennial Friday, December 8th at 7:30pm and Boise will next square off Tuesday, December 12th at 7:30pm on the road to Mountain Home.