Players to Watch:
Austin Arave, Blackfoot
Kasen Sorensen, Blackfoot
Ryan Egbert, Bonneville
Tyler Jordan, Bonneville
Gage Blakeslee, Hillcrest
Titan Larsen, Hillcrest
Bradley Elison, Idaho Falls
Tegan Sorenson, Idaho Falls
Brett Crandall, Shelley
Chase Ricks, Shelley
CarMyne Garcia, Skyline
Jace Marlow, Skyline
Written by: Marlowe Hereford
Former 4A District 6 teams have moved up to 5A this season after a successful run at 4A.
The past three seasons, Hillcrest played in the 4A state championship game versus Pocatello in an all eastern Idaho showdown. The Knights went back-to-back in 2022 and 2023 and placed second last season, compiling a 69-10 record over those three seasons.
Seven players graduated this past spring who were major contributors to that run including Isaac Davis (now at Utah State), Ike Sutton (now at Hawaii-Pacific), Talan Taylor and Gavin Hepworth. Dave Austin also retired in the spring after nine seasons as Hillcrest head coach.
"After graduating seven seniors last year, we are an inexperienced team," said new Hillcrest head coach Mat Barber, who spent the previous nine seasons as JV head coach. "On the offensive end, the x-factor will be shot selection and understanding our roles. All our guys are offensive threats from the spots. On the defensive end, communication and rebounding will be key. We want to make offenses uncomfortable, but we all must be on the same page."
The Knights return senior guard/forward Titan Larsen and add fellow seniors Gage Blakeslee (point guard), Britton Lords (shooting guard), Bridger Taylor (shooting guard), Mason Saunders (forward), Tyson Sweetwood (center) and Mike McCartney (center) to the roster.
"I'm excited for these seniors that did not get much of an opportunity to showcase their talents last year due to the depth of our program," Barber said. "It is a fun, competitive group to coach."
Blackfoot, which made it to last year's 4A state third place game, graduated Carter Andersen, Colby Bodkin and Dax Whitney (Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year for baseball, now at Oregon State) and returns junior guard Austin Arave. The Broncos add Kasen Sorensen (forward), sophomore Carter Ethington (6-foot-7 post) and sophomore Lawrence Cousineau (6-foot-4 post). Head coach Clint Arave, now in his fifth season, said he has no seniors on varsity this year.
"I feel that although we are young and will take some time to get to where we want to be, this team will be competitive by district tournament time and have the ability to make some noise at a state tournament," Arave said.
Barber and Arave both anticipate a competitive district this season and tabbed Bonneville as a team to watch due to the number of returning players, while Barber added that Idaho Falls returns experienced players as well who are moving up to varsity. Idaho Falls returns Bradley Elison and Easton Watkins while Bonneville returns Tyler Jordan (junior shooting guard), Ryan Egbert (senior guard/forward) and Dallin Jardin (senior point guard). Both teams also have new coaches. Zach Batte is I.F.'s new head coach while Cortland Hengel is Bonneville's new head coach.
"I think there will be much more parity in our conference this year," Barber said. "There are a lot of talented players and 50 percent of our teams have new coaches."
Hengel joins Bonneville after eight years at Skyview, most recently as JV head coach for four seasons.
"This group of seniors is hungry to improve and show that they have been better than their records have shown," Hengel said. "I'm excited to see how much they improve each day, week and month during the season. If we can come together, buy in as a team, continue to attack each day and improve, we will earn our success this season."
Skyline returns seniors CarMyne Garcia (shooting forward) and Jace Marlow (forward). The Grizz graduated four players from last year's team.
Shelley, which is in its second season with Keegan Keller as head coach, returns Chase Ricks (senior guard) and Brett Crandall (junior guard) and adds senior post Eli Heath, junior wing Conley Bennett and junior wing Kael Remington. The Russets graduated point guard Luke Pascoe and forward and leading scorer Austin Cannon.
"Every one of our players have played in a district championship before, either last year's championship game or on the JV or freshman level," Keller said. "This is a group that is competitive and knows what it takes to win. We aren't a team that has a lot of size, but we have a lot of shooters that can space the floor. We will look to run in transition and then attack matchups in the half court."
Like Barber and Arave, Keller tabbed Bonneville as a team to watch this season.
"With a new coach and with the amount of experience that they return, I think they will surprise some teams," Keller said.