Region Preview: 4A Region 9
4A Region 9 will look a lot different without the Cuff father and son duo at Dixie. However, this region still has plenty of talent and will be competitive. A number of the teams who struggled last year did so due to playing youth. They will be looking for improved seasons while many of the prominent teams a year ago will be looking to reload.
1. Desert Hills
This selection is due in large part to their success last year and the team returning Trevin Lindstrom who was second on the team in points and assists last season. Lindstrom will be looked to as the leader of the team while other prospects fill in the other spots.
It will be essential that Desert Hills finds players to play the other various roles in a hurry as they lost their leader in every major category. Further, they lost six of their top seven scorers. Thus, this pick is far from solidified at this point. However, this team has proven that they can win. The teams below them bring back more experienced pieces, but they did not accomplish as much as Desert Hills.
It will be intriguing to watch and see if Desert Hills is able to keep themselves atop this region. Some of the prospects to watch include: Alexander Simpson and Carson Thornton.
2. Cedar
Like Pine View, who came in just below Cedar in these way too early rankings, Cedar has a lot of returning pieces that should make them excited. However, while their should be a lot of optimism, these guys still need to prove that they can win at the varsity level. This region is far from a cake walk. Thus, they will have their work cut out for them in order to live up to this ranking.
Dallin Grant will provide this team with arguably the best player in the entire region. He is a stat sheet stuffer who got his feet wet last year as a freshman and had a lot of success. Expect him to do that and more this season now that he has a year of experience under his belt. Grant could provide Cedar with enough of an edge that they end up winning this region.
Grant will also have the help of Dallin Peterson and Treyton Tebbs. This trio is one of the most interesting in the state as they are all young and have multiple years together. These guys will have the opportunity to put their names in the history books at Cedar.
3. Pine View
Despite losing their leading scorer from last year, Pine View should be in a good spot to have plenty of success this upcoming season. They return their next three leading scorers in Tayler Tobler, Hunter Moore, and Dallin Brown.
Tobler shot the basketball well from deep and creating scoring opportunities for others. A lot of the weight of this team’s success will be placed on his shoulders. However, he will have help from Moore and Brown.
While these two prospects demonstrated that they could play at the varsity level, they still have more work to do in order to prove they can win at the varsity level. This trio will be crucial to whatever success Pine View has this upcoming season.