Players to Watch:
Alan Mesillas, Glenns Ferry
Josiah Valencia, Glenns Ferry
Martin Gonzalez, Hagerman
Ky Kendall, Hagerman
Kai DeMoor, Lighthouse Christian
Connor Jones, Lighthouse Christian
Will Nebeker, Murtaugh
Soyer Young, Murtaugh
Dallin Hardy, Oakley
Tim Short, Oakley
Will Rex, Raft River
Ren Udy, Raft River
James Duffield, Sun Valley Community School
Marley Shapiro, Sun Valley Community School
Nathan Christensen, Valley
Pedro Robles, Valley
Written by: Dallin Fryar
After an undefeated regular season conference slate last season, the Oakley Hornets ended with a disappointing two and out at the state tournament. This season, the Hornets return only one varsity player in Dallin Hardy, and will look to a new group of Hornets to make their mark.
Head coach Jordan Cranney had this to say about his new group, “I am most excited about seeing where we end up. With such a young team we have some learning to do, but where we
end up is what excites us as coaches.” Dallin Hardy’s defensive presence down low will be a key factor to the Hornets ability to stay in games this season.
Valley, on the other hand, does not have the same problem as Oakley entering this season. “Basically everyone on this year’s team practiced, and played some at the varsity level last year.
They will have new roles, but they are not new to our program or to what they will see at the varsity level,” according to head coach Brian Hardy.
He continued, “I’m excited to have a bunch of hungry guys that want to keep improving. We are not a finished product and they enjoy seeing how much they can change. The truth is temporary.” The Vikings will be a favorite in the conference again this season, and are one to keep an eye on in March.
Jordan Truman will be taking over the helm at Raft River this season and will be joined by many returning contributors from last season’s squad. Truman said, “With this being my first year as a head coach I am very excited to see how the boys respond to playing basketball in a different way than they have in the past.”
The Trojans’ strength this year will be their outside shooting, but Coach Truman pointed out that they need to make sure their shot selection needs to be improved. The starters are pretty solidified, but the Trojans will need some bench contributors to step up as well. Coach Truman said this will be their x-factor for success this season.
There were hardly any changes in the conference even with the shift from 1AD1 to 2A, however, Hagerman is one of the exceptions. The Pirates join an already deep SRC, but will return 4 of their 5 starters from last season. Coach Katie Knight had this to say about her upperlassmen; “Ky Kendall, Martin Gonzalez, Alex Johnson and Wyatt Mavencamp have been playing together for years and are the heart of this team. They know their roles and are tremendous on both ends of the court. As a team, we will pull in freshmen Casen Knight and Will Mavencamp and I can’t wait to see what they create. These guys are a unit and know how to compete.”
The Pirates have a lot of firepower on offense, but will need to lock it in on defense, according to Coach Knight: “We are long and fast. We have great basketball IQ and will want to do full court pressure. We can run with any team and want to make sure we cause turnovers.”
The conference’s best offense in 2023-24 came from a team that finished 3-6 in the Glenns Ferry Pilots. The Pilots will be without senior Landon Stuart, who will be out for the season from a football injury. However, they do have Alan Mesillas, who head coach Jared Lemieux spoke very highly of: “He has a chance to really lead our offense with his speed and skillset. He can really set the pace and has a lot of experience that the other guys can rely on. We will look to score quickly and he really controls that.
On the defensive side of the ball, Josiah Valencia, Bryce Sterling, and Jackson Smith will anchor a defense that Coach Lemieux wants to fly around with little to no shot attempts without a hand in their face. This deep senior class for the Pilots have a chance to make a big mark on the SRC.
Sun Valley Community School is one of the only schools that actually stays in 2A with all the conference realignment. However, they will go from being in a three team conference last season to a nine team conference in 2024-25.
Lighthouse Christian lost a lot of seniors from last season’s squad that went 7-2 in the conference last season. With a younger team, Matt Harr returns as head coach and will have a young squad to mold throughout the season.
Shoshone was at the bottom of the conference in 2023-24, but the good news is, they had zero seniors on last year’s squad. A lot of experience gained could help them have a better season in 2024-25.
Rounding out the conference is Murtaugh. They finished the season 2-7 in the conference in 2023-24, and will look to rebound this season as well.