Players to Watch:
McKay Kelsey, Buhl
Tate Triveno, Buhl
Owen Grant, Filer
Preston Volle, Filer
Eli Esterbrook, Gooding
Bridger Pope, Gooding
Broden Anthony, Kimberly
Ryker Larsen, Kimberly
Written by: Brandon Baney
Not to be hyperbolic here, but you’d have a better chance of picking the winning Powerball numbers than correctly predict the order of finish in this year’s Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference.
Okay, maybe it’s not that extreme. But Kimberly head coach Daren Garey summed it up best: “The conference is wide open. Gooding, Filer and Buhl all have the pieces from last year and incomers that could propel them to a district title.”
Or how about Gooding head coach Ryon Pope? “I think all four teams are going to be very competitive,” he says. “Since we got last place last year in the conference, hopefully we are a positive surprise at some point! All joking aside, Kimberly and Filer both have very experienced head coaches. Buhl replaced one really good coach in Dan Winn with another really good coach, James Glenn, who has a lot of experience and success.”
This is a conference ripe for the picking. A single All-Conference player (Kimberly’s Broden Anthony) returns. Every team is rebuilding to some extent. And every team is coached by a veteran that know how to win at the highest level.
Filer nudged Kimberly by a single point in our preseason coaches poll. The Wildcats are led by 8th-year man Rob Anderson. “After graduating all but three varsity players, I’m excited to see what this group will develop into,” says Anderson. “I can’t wait to see how this group of players comes together to find success.”
Those three varsity returnees are seniors Owen Grant and Preston Volle, and junior Xavier Kelsey. All three are guards. “We lost most of our size, so we will look to be more guard-oriented and we’ll try to take advantage of our speed,” says Anderson. Senior Trot Parish and sophomore Jace Hoyer will get the first crack at trying to replicate some success in the paint.
Kimberly was also hit hard by graduation. All-State forward Kasen Hammond is gone, as are versatlile forward Jacob Cummins and point guard Kade Larson. “We relied on Kasen Hammond to be our inside presence offensively last year,” says coach Garey. “This season we have multiple guys that can exploit mismatches inside. We also hope to play with pace in transition and with efficiency in the half-court offense.”
Garey is looking to a committee of players to replace his three departed standouts. Taking over for Larson at point guard will be senior Broden Anthony and junior Quentin Pettingill. Replacing Cummins on the wing will be senior Ryker Larson, junior Porter Lloyd, junior MaCraye Bruning and junior Jacob Wyatt. And stepping in for Hammond inside will be seniors Devin Pettingill and Ethan Maikranz, junior Titus Osterman, sophomore Gunner Beckstead, freshman Carlos Paz, and German foreign exchange student Gerwin Jeschke.
“We are very deep and athletic,” says Garey. “We have multiple players who played football and we will use their athletic ability and aggressiveness to our advantage. We have a team that is going to improve as the season progresses. If we can fight through a difficult early schedule as our newcomers learn the system, we have the ability to be really good.”
Down the road at Gooding, the Senators were, you guessed it, severely impacted by graduation. “We graduated a large group of seven seniors that had a big impact on our team,” says coach Pope. “They will be missed.”
This year’s group features a blend of varsity regulars and newcomers. The guards are senior Weston Weaver, junior Eli Esterbrook, and sophomores Bridger Pope, Max Kelsey and Cougar Stockham. The forwards are led by seniors Dryson Patterson, Brady Thill, Ethan Anderson and Yonni Williams.
“We have a good mix of experienced players combined with some new players moving up to the varsity level this year,” says Pope. “I love the attitude of the team as a whole, and the individuals of which it’s comprised. I believe we will have good chemistry, which should translate into a successful season if we are patient and work hard.”
“The biggest factor for us will be how committed we are to defense and rebounding,” he adds. “If we can do those two things, I believe we can become a very tough team.”
Buhl is also a team starting from scratch. Longtime coach Dan Winn retired this past spring, but the Indians wasted zero time in landing a more-than-capable replacement: James Glenn, who brings 34 years of coaching experience to the table. Glenn coached in North Carolina for more than 20 years before leading the Twin Falls Bruins from 2020 to 2023. After serving as an assistant coach at Lighthouse Christian last season, Glenn is ready to leave an imprint on a Buhl team that went 11-12 a year ago.
The Indians will feature four juniors in their starting lineup. 6-foot Zack Azevedo will play point guard, while 5-foot-11 Tate Trevino joins Azevedo at shooting guard. 6-foot-1 Kaster Schilder will play on the wing, and 6-foot-4 McKay Kelsey will work the pivot at center. That quartet of juniors is joined by 6-foot-1 senior wing Camron Gorrell.