Way too early 5A playoff teams: 8 1st round byes
Michael Dominguez and Eric Newman talked about the top teams at all the levels and they were spot on. I am diving a little deeper into each conference. Looking at the possible 24 playoff teams for the upcoming 2019-2020 HS…
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Continue ReadingMichael Dominguez and Eric Newman talked about the top teams at all the levels and they were spot on. I am diving a little deeper into each conference. Looking at the possible 24 playoff teams for the upcoming 2019-2020 HS season.
With transfers, injuries and players blossoming, much could change but here is my top-8 of the 24 possible playoff teams for 5A:
1st 8 teams all have a chance for the all important 1st round bye:
Crazy how 4 of my top-8 are in the same region.
Millennium
-They have a star in Jr F DaRon Holmes (who was 5A player of the year in 2018-19) plus Jr PG Justus Jackson is his partner in crime. They also have the deepest group of guards in the state led by Sr Justice Marmara, Michael Batchelor, Robby Devries, Zach Foster and Donovan Castro. Plus Sr forwards with Caleb Wright and football stud Jalan Early. One sleeper on their team who could emerge in the insane depth is Jr guard Coleman Fields.
Sunnyslope
-Arguably the biggest front court and overall teams in the state led by Jr’s Carson Basham and Grady Lewis plus bigger wings with Sr’s Paul Hayden, Xzavier Lino and soph Elijah Saunders. Then a nice group of guards led by soph studs Oakland Fort and Jayden Warren plus Sr Malcolm Alexa.
Gilbert
-Last year Carson Towt led the way but this year will be more relied on by their nice group of guards. Leading the way will be Sr’s Brycen Long, Jaqwuan Myles and Swiss army knife Paul Maldonado plus Jr Tampa Scott, who can not be slept on. Up front will be Sr big Griffin Lamb and soph Reed Shuey. Lamb missed a full year so he will be a wild card to see where he is at. Lastly another piece to the puzzle will be soph Nikko Pentelute.
Ironwood
-Another team that will heavily rely on their strong group of guards. They will be led by Sr stud Dominic Gonzalez and Jr’s Bailon Black and the strong JJ White. Black and Gonzalez can slide over to the 1 and White seemingly can defend anyone. Up front they will rely on Jr Steiner Christianson and have a nice shooter to round out the team with Sr guard Aaron Rice.
Williams Field
-Had a breakout year for their program last year and have a talented group of Juniors led by Montez Taylor. He will play next to Junior forwards Ti Cochrane, Tanner Crawford and guard Charles Temple. They also added big Buckeye Jr transfer LeRoy Williams. Next year they will have 5 strong senior starters but for this year, they will still make a lot of noise.
Apollo
-They have a good core group of players coming back led by seniors Zeke Thompkins, Demetrius Edwards, Opulley Taban and Jaylen Glover plus the talented junior Paris Woods and soph sniper Ahamed Mohamed.
Paradise Valley
-A big team with senior forwards in Kendal Watson and Anthony Giliberto plus juniors Moses Demalek and Alex Gaylor. They also have talented wing in senior Jordan Hope. Very good team but the major issue is their big hole at the PG spot. They do have 3 months to figure it out.
Centennial
-Good mixture of Sr’s and sophs. Sr F David Teibo plus guards Maclolm Daniels and Jo Jo Rincon will lead the way. Then soph guards Trenten Lavender, Jake Lifgren and newcomer Patrick Chew.