Region Preview: 5A Region 6
Region 6 has plenty of talent with Skyline falling out of the top three, but bringing back a tough team who exceeded many people’s expectations in the state tournament last year.
In addition to a Cinderella story, Region 6 also features the top team in 5A in Olympus and another one of the top teams in Highland. These two teams are capable of beating anyone on any given night. In addition, East will be tough to beat this upcoming season.
This should be a fun region to watch as there is plenty of competition and talent. However, it is hard to imagine that anyone is able to compete with Olympus.
1. Olympus
This should not come as a surprise to anyone. The returning 5A state champion brings back plenty of talent. Thus, they are favored to win not only the Region 6 title, but win the entire state championship. This group is talented in every spot on the floor. They will be ready to compete at a high level.
Rylan Jones and Jeremy DowDell get plenty, and well-deserved, love. Jones and DowDell are the two top players in this region and two of the top players in the entire state. Their ability to score the basketball and create for others makes them special.
While the team brings back its two top prospects, the question looms large in regards to who will fill the role spots. They lost a number of skilled players to graduation. With that said, the depth is there in this program. There will be plenty of reloading and not rebuilding as this team looks to bring home yet another Region 6 and state title.
2. Highland
Good news for Highland: They bring back 3 of their top 4 prospects from last year’s team that only lost two region games. Bad news for Highland: Their only two losses in the region was to Olympus. While Highland will be extremely tough, they will have to deal with a familiar foe in Olympus in order to win the region and state title.
This team will be one of the top teams in the state without a doubt. Christian Rich and Liki Makaui were the top primary playmakers for the team last year. Both were leading scorers for the team who also demonstrated an ability to put their teammates in spots where they could be successful.
This team is deep and talented. While it is a long shot for anyone to knock off Olympus this upcoming season, Highland will pose a threat.
3. East
East will have some big shoes to fill. However, Andre Mulibea will look to use his versatility to keep East competitive. Mulibea is capable of playing multiple spots on the court due to his size, strength, and skill. He might be the toughest match-up in this region due to his rare versatility. He will cause headaches for opposing teams, but East will need more than Mulibea to take a huge step forward.
Mulibea will also be joined by one of the top shooters in Region 6 in Taylor Zwick. Zwick can shoot the basketball at an extremely high rate off of the dribble and in catch and shoot situations. His ability to score the basketball well from deep without having to have the ball in his hands for an elongated period of time is huge.
East will be looking for someone else to step up and help these two. However, between Mulibea and Zwick, East should be able to compete in this region and potentially do some damage in the state tournament.