2A darkhorse teams to watch this season
As we start to wrap up preseason previews, we take a look into some winning 2A teams who are most likely to perform better this year than last year. 2A is home to some of the most unique teams and…
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Continue ReadingAs we start to wrap up preseason previews, we take a look into some winning 2A teams who are most likely to perform better this year than last year. 2A is home to some of the most unique teams and unknown players that should get more recognition than they do. With that being said, these three 2A teams are set to have a stellar year.
Yuma High School | 20-21 Record: 9-4
Their 20-21 record of 9-4 does no justice in telling how dominant of a team they are. What was a rocky start to the season (0-3) Yuma went on to win its next nine games almost scoring 100 in three of them. Collectively, the team averaged 70 points a game which is one of the highest in 2A. This team does struggle to get blocks but posted a whopping 192 steals. Starting guard Cade Morton will not be returning due to graduating, however, the Indians will still be led by guard Clay Robinson and a strong supporting cast. This team has a lot of depth and can play 10 deep and still outscore opposing teams starting five.
Crested Butte High School | 20-21 Record: 8-5
There is a lot of pros and cons about how this team performed last year, but we should give them a pass. This team is another young team that will continue to learn from their mistakes the more time they spend on the floor. One thing any coach should be ecstatic about is how often this team finds themselves at the free-throw line, what doesn’t make them happy is that the Titans handed out turnovers way too often. No one on the team shows signs of being hesitant when it comes to shooting the ball and the team has the potential to be good with players like Erik Wasinger and Alan Zubia. Losing to Ignacio (14-3) last year in the first round of the playoffs should have convinced people that this team can go far into the postseason as they desire. Darkhorse? I think yes.
Byers High School | 20-21 Record: 8-6
Two points of emphasis in terms of improvements for this team are working on their three-point shots and limiting the number of fouls they commit. Only three Bulldog players a season ago were able to make more than one three-pointer and they had 166 personal fouls throughout 14 games. Fouls aren’t necessarily bad in the game of basketball as they can be signs of aggressive defense and determination to make the opposing team earn every single point. The problem with the 166 fouls in 14 games is that it comes out to almost 12 fouls per game which means they almost put the other team in the bonus each half. In regards to the positives, they did a lot of things well collectively as a team. The first being is five different players averaged one or more steals per game which again might be a benefit to playing such aggressive defensive. The second thing is they have three players averaging over 10 points per game and a couple more barely falling below that threshold. One unique player on Byers, Wyatt Harris, reminds me of a traditional big man who averaged a double-double on the season and doesn’t shoot the three. As arguably the main guy on that team, we hope he develops an outside shot to help spread the offense out. If Byers comes into this season having improved on the two most self-inflicting aspects of their team, then they should have no problem exceeding a 60% win percentage.