Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023 | 2 a.m.
In a game this season against Legacy High School, the Arbor View boys basketball team was limited to two points in the first quarter.
In another game against Cimarron-Memorial, Arbor View was held scoreless in the first quarter. “There seemed to be a lid on the basket and we kept turning the ball over,” coach Dustin Clayton explained.
The games could have ended in a lopsided defeat, but the Aggies rallied to win each by double digits, including 45-34 Jan. 3 against Cimarron.
It’s part of a 15-1 start to the season for Arbor View, whose players are hoping to break up the “Big Four” of defending state champion Liberty, perennial power Bishop Gorman, Coronado and Durango in Class 5A.
They might have the formula to join the ranks of the elite, as “we’ve got eight or nine guys who are willing to lockdown on defense and who could care less about scoring,” Clayton said.
Arbor View, which is three seasons removed from reaching the state tournament, started two freshmen and two sophomores last season in a campaign of many inconsistent performances. And while they finished 12-10 overall, Clayton sensed his team’s young core was just scratching the surface.
Juniors Maximus Romero and Jalen Dickel, and sophomores Sebastian Knox and Brian Townsend give the Aggies a solid foundation to develop into a state championship-contending team, the coach said.
Townsend leads the Aggies in scoring (14.1 points per game), rebounding (7.7) and assists (3.3), and Romero averages 12 points per game adding three assists.
But Clayton stresses it’s been a complete team effort.
The Aggies have had a few starters out with injuries at various points of the season, but they haven’t missed a beat. That includes a 55-53 victory last month against St. Joseph’s of Santa Maria, Calif., in probably the team’s best victory of the season.
“We won that game with our defense,” Clayton said. “We really defended. We knew we had to slow it down and make it ugly.”
That will likely be the game plan this month in league games against the city’s elite programs — a group of teams the Aggies feel they are close to joining.
“The (players) knew they were right on the edge of being able to compete with the top four or five teams once we get into conference,” Clayton said.
Offseason paying off for Del Sol Academy
When Del Sol Academy’s season ended last February, girls coach Malcom Wilks quickly transitioned into preparing for the following year.
His first order of business: Getting more players into the program at the performing arts school.
Jalen Shaw, a senior guard on the Del Sol Academy girls’ basketball team, is averaging 15.5 points game. “I would put her up against any guard in town with how fast see is,” coach Malcom Wilks said.
Wilks coordinated with the middle school teams at Del Sol’s feeder schools, inviting the incoming freshmen to start training with the high school team in the spring.
The strategy is paying off. Del Sol beat White Pine of Ely 31-28 at the end of December for its eighth win of the season. In 2021-22, the Dragons won a total of eight games.
The team starts a trio of ninth-graders in forward Ricana Taylor, guard Angelina Sandavol and forward Morgan White — all of whom Wilks raves about their progress from this time last season when they played for Woodbury Middle School.
“They didn’t have the mentality of what the prior Del Sol culture was,” Wilks said. “They were determined to change the culture of the program and make us more competitive.”
Taylor has had the biggest impact, averaging 15.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, while Sandoval is registering 4.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, according to Max Preps. White is scoring 4.6 points per game to go along with 4.2 rebounds.
The transformation wouldn’t be possible without senior guard Jalen Shaw, a returner who is one of the top scorers in Class 3A at 15.5 points per game. Her quickness is tough to match on both ends of the court. She is averaging 6.2 steals per game.
“I would put her up against any guard in town with how fast she is,” Wilks said.
The Dragons (8-9 overall) are in the midst of a six-game losing streak as they prepare to enter league play this week, but a majority of those defeats were against opponents in a higher classification. They lost to Spring Valley and Green Valley of Class 5A, and Silverado in Class 4A in a holiday tournament.
“Our goal was to use those games to prepare for league games,” the coach said.
Del Sol had a team dinner Friday instead of practice — an important team-bonding activity, Wilks stressed.
“We’ve got that mentality of ‘We’re all we got, we’re all we need,’” he said.
Slam streak years in the making
The boys program at Sports Leadership & Management of Nevada — better known as Slam — is the state’s lone undefeated team heading into tonight’s game against Somerset Academy Losee.
The hot start to the season isn’t unexpected, coach Darryl Littlefield said. He likes to think it is six years in the making.
Most of the varsity squad’s players have been teammates since middle school (Slam also has a grade school and middle school students in its charter school.)
“These kids get along great. They know each other well,” Littlefield said. “They have gotten better and stronger, and jelled over time.”
Slam’s top offensive threat is junior post player Noah Tomlin, who Littlefield says can score from all over the court. He is averaging about 18 points per game, including shooting 91% from the free throw line, the coach said.
“He worked his tail off,” the coach said. “He is starting to make some noise when people see him play.”
Junior guard Andre Cade is also having a strong season at about 10 points per game, as Slam, which competes in Class 3A, looks to build off a 24-5 record from 2021-22 in which the Bulls fell one game short of the state tournament.
But some of the Bulls’ players have invaluable postseason experience. Three members of the Slam football team, which advanced to the Class 3A state championship game, also play basketball. They are “strong, physical kids who have really helped,” Littlefield said.
That’s especially true of guard Damien Nevil, a senior who was a second-team all-state selection in football and arguably the top player in Class 3A. When Nevil guards the other basketball team’s best player, the Bull seems to have an edge, Littlefield said.
“We are generally going to press you the whole game, and he gives us so much defensively,” the coach said.
