Region Preview: 6A Region 3
With the transfer of a key prospect, Region 3 goes from being a three man race to largely a two man show. Copper Hills and Herriman will lead the way in Region 3 with West Jordan and Riverton competing for the third spot. Region 3 is top heavy with both of the top teams being able to make noise come the state tournament.
1. Copper Hills
Copper Hills will not have a cakewalk to winning this title as Herriman will be right there next to them every step of the way. It is conceivable that the only in region loses that Herriman and Copper Hills experience are against each other. That could make this race tight and have it come down to head to head contests.
Trevon Allfrey is a big reason why Copper Hills gets the nod at this spot. He is the best all around scorer in the region. He can score the basketball in a variety of ways. Opposing teams typically understand that it is not limiting him to a certain point total. Rather, it is making him work take a volume of shots to get to that point total that is important. Bottom line: Allfrey is going to score.
Allfrey will have Stone Hutchings to aid in running the show. Hutchings is a more than capable shooter from deep who can get Allfrey the ball in quality spots. He will most likely become the primary ball handler for the team which will put a lot of pressure on his shoulders to dictate tempo and ensure that Allfrey is being utilized as effectively as possible.
This team is dangerous and not just in this region. Both Herriman and Copper Hills are more than capable of playing with the best in 6A. While depth is not high in this region, it would not be out of the realm of possibility to see Herriman and Copper Hills make deep runs in the state tournament.
2. Herriman
In addition to returning plenty of talent, Herriman scored big this off-season with long time West Jordan coach making the move in-region to Herriman. Coach Scott Briggs will look a little different not representing the Jaguars of West Jordan. However, he stumbles upon a team with a really high ceiling. Needless to say, if there is a coach that can get them going in the right direction, it is Coach Briggs.
With 4 of their 5 leading scorers returning, it is safe to say that expectations are high for Herriman. Jael Vaughn will run the show for the team and be responsible for creating for himself and others. His change of pace enables him to touch paint frequently. Vaughn will have plenty of prospects and length to distribute to as well.
Blake Freeland and Kase Peterson will be the recipients of plenty of dump off passes around the rim. Further, Alex Anderson will look to space to the wings and corners to spread the floor with his shooting abilities.
3. Riverton
Riverton finds their way into our top three despite losing their top prospect. Richie Saunders made the move to Wasatch Academy. However, this team still has pieces that will contend and compete at a high level. Obviously, that will be a huge blow, but it will give others the opportunity to step up.
The biggest question that looms large for Riverton is: Who will step up to fill that role? While they will not have one guy who is capable of doing what Saunders did, they will expect a committee of guys to step up. This group is largely unproven but will have the benefit of playing in a region that is a little down. The two primary guys returning with varsity experience are Dayne McDonald and Tristyn Hymes.
McDonald and Hymes will be expected to pave the way while the rest of the team figures out their roles and what life is like at the 6A varsity level.