Region 11 boys basketball Mid-Region Play Review – Cache Valley Daily

At the halfway point of Region 11 play there is a clear front-runner, but there’s a lot of competition and the region crown is still within reach for most teams.

Each Region 11 boys basketball game is broadcast live on radio on the Cache Valley Media Group family of radio stations and is live-streamed on cachevalleydaily.com.

Per Game Stat Leaders

• Points 
  1. Jared Anderson (Green Canyon) – 18.4
  2. Justin Anderson (Logan) – 18.2
  3. Kyver Jensen (Bear River) – 15.6
• Rebounds
  1. Logan Deal (Sky View) – 7.9
  2. Gehrig Marble (Bear River) – 7.1
  3. Jordan Child (Logan) – 6.9
• Assists 
  1. Cam Blotter (Ridgeline) – 5.4
  2. Tanner Davis (Sky View) – 3.7
  3. Kyran Hoffman (Green Canyon) – 3.7
• Steals
  1. Tanner Davis (Sky View) – 2.3
  2. Kyver Jensen (Bear River) – 2.1
  3. Jordan Child (Logan) – 1.7
• Blocks
  1. Jagger Francom (Ridgeline) – 1.3
  2. Jalen Argyle (Logan) – 1.1
  3. Three tied – 1.0

Sky View

Record: 5-0 (15-2 Overall)

RPI Rank: 1st

Points Per Game: 67.4 (3rd in 4A)

Points Allowed Per Game: 54.2 (2nd in 4A)

Stat Leaders

• Points – Tanner Davis (15.5)
• Rebounds – Logan Deal (7.9)
• Assists – Tanner Davis (3.7)

Radio/Video Broadcast: 106.9 FM / 1390 AM The FAN (Audio Link) (Video Link)

Broadcast Crew: “Hurricane” John Newbold (play-by-play), Ryan Grunig (analyst)

Even in the context of Sky View’s long run of good teams, this year’s Bobcats squad is a great team. They own one of the best offenses and defenses in 4A and have proven nearly unstoppable in their march toward the seemingly inevitable region title. Sky View has not lost to a 4A team this year and in region play have hardly been threatened. Logan drawing to within four points mid-way into the fourth quarter on Jan. 17 (a game SV would eventually win by 10 points) is the closest the Bobcats have come to losing in Region 11 games.

Sky View doesn’t have a superstar scorer but does have a bevy of talented players with size. There are three players on the team averaging 13-plus points that are also at least 6-foot-4: Tanner Davis, Logan Deal and Carter Davis. Tanner Davis has proven to be the best all-around player, leading the team in scoring, assists, steals and is third in rebounds per game.

It’s hard to see the Bobcats losing at any point the rest of the way, but it’s always possible given the talent in this region.

Ridgeline

Record: 4-1 (13-3 Overall)

RPI Rank: 3rd

Points Per Game: 63.4 (4th in 4A)

Points Allowed Per Game: 54.8 (3rd in 4A)

Stat Leaders

• Points – Luke Sorenson (15.3)
• Rebounds – Luke Sorenson (6.4)
• Assists – Cam Blotter (5.4)

Radio/Video Broadcast: 104.5 The Ranch (Audio Link) (Video Link)

Broadcast Crew: Dave Simmons (play-by-play), “The Patriot” Nick Zollinger (analyst)

Were it not for Sky View, the Riverhawks would be a team with a major size advantage over every team in the region. Ridgeline can boast a twin-towers frontcourt of Luke Sorenson (6-foot-6) and Jagger Francom (6-foot-9). Sorenson is the team’s leader in points and rebounds but Carson Cox, the 6-foot-4 wing functions as the primary perimeter scorer. And to round out this pool of talent, the Riverhawks have the assist leader of Region 11, Cam Blotter.

The Riverhawks, with this size and talent advantage, don’t seem to be performing quite to the potential that size and talent provides. They barely skated by Logan, being taken to overtime despite the Grizzlies missing one of their top players, and struggled to down Bear River. And even though Ridgeline appears to be the team most capable of knocking off Sky View in region play, the first matchup didn’t go particularly well with the Bobcats winning by 15 points. Perhaps round two will go slightly different.

Logan

Region Record: 3-2 (11-7 Overall)

RPI Rank: 9th

Points Per Game: 63.3 (5th in 4A)

Points Allowed Per Game: 57.3 (8th in 4A)

Stat Leaders

• Points – Justin Anderson (18.2)
• Rebounds – Jordan Child (6.9)
• Assists – Jordan Child (2.8)

Radio/Video Broadcast: 102.1 FM / 610 AM KVNU (Audio Link) (Video Link)

Broadcast Crew: Jason Walker (play-by-play), Logan Webber (analyst)

The Grizzlies are fighting to prove themselves and insert themselves into the conversation of best team in Region 11. And they’ve almost done that. Logan has come the closest to knocking off heavy favorite Sky View and took Ridgeline to overtime despite missing Jordan Child, the team’s rebound and assist leader, and second-leading scorer.

Child has been a revelation for the Grizzlies. The junior forward is averaging 16.8 points per game and in the last five games he’s averaged north of 19 points and also posted two 20-point, 10-rebound games. He hasn’t been the only high scorer for the Grizzlies as Justin Anderson has upped his game in a huge way, averaging 18.2 points per game. Those two players have made Logan a dangerous offensive team. The main issue is that the team hasn’t been great defensively, ranking in the bottom half of 4A in points allowed per game.

The RPI rankings haven’t shown any respect to the Grizzlies (likely due to a weaker non-region schedule) but they do sit comfortably in third place in the region. Logan will have to fight to maintain its spot seeing as it will have to go on the road in its tougher games in the second half of the schedule (at Sky View, Ridgeline, Green Canyon).

Bear River

Record: 2-3 (11-6 Overall)

RPI Rank: 7th

Points Per Game: 56.8 (11th in 4A)

Points Allowed Per Game: 55.2 (5th in 4A)

Stat Leaders

• Points – Kyver Jensen (15.9)
• Rebounds – Gehrig Marble (7.1)
• Assists – Kyver Jensen (2.9)

Radio/Video Broadcast: 104.9 FM The Ranch (Audio Link) (Video Link)

Broadcast Crew: Trent Carter (play-by-play) and Josh Theurer (analyst)

Bear River was a team with high hopes of being closer to the top of the region standings but have fallen off. Although Kyver Jensen ranks third in the region in scoring, the Bears have struggled to consistently put points on the board. In region play the Bears have yet to score more than 55 points in a single game and have been held to 50 or less three times.

While offensively Bear River has struggled, defensively there is hope. The Bears have the fifth-best defense in 4A. And while the above stat about not scoring more than 55 points on offense is not great, the Bears have a similar stat on defense (but in a good way). They’ve only allowed 60 points or more once and have held some of the best offenses in the region well below their regular point totals.

Mountain Crest

Region Record: 1-4 (7-10 Overall)

RPI Rank: 11th

Points Per Game: 56.4 (12th in 4A)

Points Allowed Per Game: 56.2 (7th in 4A)

Stat Leaders:

• Points – Oliver Nethercott (12.8)
• Rebounds – Joseph Hunsaker (5.5)
• Assists – Oliver Nethercott (2.7)

Radio/Video Broadcast: 107.7 KLZX (Audio Link) (Video Link)

Broadcast Crew: Jake Ellis (play-by-play), “The Coach” John Olsen (analyst)

The Mustangs entered region play with a winning record but have run into the buzz saw that is Region 11. A solid defense has buckled at times against the very good offenses of Ridgeline and Sky View. MC did hold Logan to 48 points, but the Mustangs still lost that game 48-35, which leads into the primary issue for the team. They struggle to score. Mountain Crest has the third-worst offense in 4A. Occasionally, Oliver Nethercott will go off (he scored 20-plus points in three straight games which included MC’s only region win to this point) but his points alone have never been enough.

There are some potential names to join Nethercott in scoring, particularly Kaden Hess who has two double-digit scoring games in region play including a season-high 19 in Mountain Crest’s win over Green Canyon.

Green Canyon

Region Record: 0-5 (3-13 Overall)

RPI Rank: 13th

Points Per Game: 54.7 (13th in 4A)

Points Allowed Per Game: 63.0 (12th in 4A)

Stat Leaders

• Points – Jared Anderson (18.4)
• Rebounds – Isaac Filimoehala (6.7)
• Assists – Kyran Hoffman (3.7)

Radio/Video Broadcast: 100.9 Lite FM (Audio Stream) (Video Link)

Broadcast Crew: Cade Forrest (play-by-play), Terrell Baldwin (analyst)

Injuries have taken their toll on a once-promising Green Canyon team. Jared Anderson has lit up scoring sheets as the points leader in Region 11 but the rest of the offense hasn’t kept up with him. The Wolves have the second-worst offense in 4A. Combine that with the third-worst defense in 4A and you have a team that’s winless in region and has 10 more losses than wins this season.

There is a lot of potential in this team, with its top three statistical performers being juniors, so it may be a case of waiting until next year. But even though some might kick the can of being a team at the top of the standings until next year, there’s every chance the Wolves could play spoiler for someone. GC went toe-to-toe with Logan (81-76 loss) and Mountain Crest (78-73 in 2OT) and will have another crack at those teams.