CIF-SS Divisional Previews: 4A teams to watch
The competitive equity format for the CIF Southern Section divisional breakdowns takes into account a team’s performance over the last two seasons. Based on season results, a team is given a score, which is then averaged out and the resulting number places said team into said division. This style makes for a lot of moving parts year-by-year among the divisions. Here are some teams to watch in Division 4A.
Nogales
The Nobles return senior point guard Dale Batac (15.2 ppg) and junior guard Brandon Nguyen (6.6 ppg) from a team that won the CIF Southern Section Division 5AA championship last season. New head coach TJ Campbell has plenty to work with, especially when it comes to the culture built by former coach Sameer Bhatt, who is now the head coach at Chino Hills Ayala. The Nobles fell to San Diego Southwest in the second round of the Division 5 state playoffs last season and lost top scorer Matthew Frazier (16.8 ppg).
Orange Vista
The Warriors return basically all of their players last year’s team that went 19-6. Junior guard Armon Muldrew is the catalyst for Orange Vista, the team’s leading scorer last season at 26.3 points per game. Senior Adrian Contreras (19 ppg) and junior Amari Pouncy (10.2 points, 6.4 rebounds) are also back in the fold. The Warriors lost to Bloomington in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 5AAA playoffs.
Hesperia Christian
The Patriots only have seven players listed on its roster for this season, but four of those were the team’s top scorers and starters from last year. Senior Jeremiah Fredieu (14.6), senior Hunter Dobyns (12.5), junior Dylan Brigman (8.3) and senior Nikita Cheredechenko (7.1) were four of the top five scorers for Hesperia Christian a season ago. The Patriots fell to Desert Hot Springs in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 4A playoffs.
Patriot
The Warriors bring back their top three scorers from last season in senior Daniel Bracamontes (13.1), junior Gavin Kroll (12.3 points, 8.6 rebounds), and Sean Brannon (10.4). Kroll and Bracamontes have good size on the wing at 6-feet-4, and though Patriot finished under .500 last season, it had a strong showing against Hesperia Christian in the first round of the playoffs.
Burbank Providence
The Pioneers lost a couple of crucial senior contributors, and will be a youth-laden squad, but many of those young players on this year’s roster saw valuable playing time a year ago. Junior Jordan Shelley should be to go-to player for Providence. The 6-foot-3 guard is a high motor offensive player and versatile defender. Also look for classmates Bryce Whitaker and Collin Ferrell to have big impacts.
Pomona
Despite losing a couple of key seniors, Pomona is still the favorite to win the Miramonte League as it did last season with a 10-0 mark. La Puente will likely be its biggest challenger for that top spot. Six-foot-2 sophomore point guard Jarvis Jordan is the Red Devils top returning player, and what a talented one he is.
Lompoc
The Braves’ 15-17 record last season was a bit misleading as they made a deep playoff run in Division 4A. Lompoc eventually fell to Carnegie of Riverside in the semifinals. The Braves return three of their top six scorers from last year’s team, including senior Andrew Villa (12.4 ppg) and junior Ryan Morgan (10.4 ppg).