SGV/Whittier Prep Sports Zone: BOYS BASKETBAL TEAM PREVIEW: Sierra Vista, Wilson, Bassett, Rosemead
Sierra Vista is well positioned for another big season; Wilson will looking to repeat the magic from 2023; Bassett and Rosemead are looking to make serious inroads.
(Escarcega)
Sierra Vista HS
Coach: Earl Sanchez
Asst. Coaches: Alex Cervera, Alexis Andy Gonzalez, Mitch Tannous
PROJECTED GUARDS RETURING
Aaron Buna 11 5'9 PG 6.3 ppg/1st team all-league
David Orozco 12 5'11 SG 6.4 ppg/2nd team all-league
Ivan Ingelmo 11 5'7 PG Honorable Mention
Andrew Gonzalez 12 5'8 G
PROJECTED FORWARDS RETURNING
Hector Vizcarra 12 SF 2nd team all-league
Sian Reagor 12 PF Honorable Mention
PROJECTED CENTERS RETURNING
Anson Wei 12 6'3 C
TOP NEWCOMERS
Alvin Hernandez 11 5'11 F Starter on JV last season
Michael Campa 12 5'10 F
Dario Dela Fuente 11 5'9 G Starter on JV last season
Dolan Dease 9 5'10 G Incoming Freshmen
Coach Sanchez’s Comments: “This years Dons will need to really on team ball on offense and disrupting opponents on the defensive end. Dons will have a tougher schedule this season and will look to Aaron Buna and David Orozco to lead the way,but will also look at Anson Wei, Sian Reagor and Hector Vizcarra to have bigger roles this season. Dons have struggled controlling the glass in the past and will look to clean that up this season. Add in a few newcomers. Sierra Vista will be competitive and try for their 3rd consecutive 20 win season.”
CRYSTAL BALL: Last year, Sierra Vista had to share the league title with Workman, but we don’t see that happening in 2024. The fact that coach Sanchez has ratcheted up the schedule tells you what he thinks about his team. Buna Orozco and Inglemo will once again have to due the heavy lifting in the scorebook - and they will. The one thing that could stand in the way of the Dons making a deep playoff run is if they face off against a team that has size in the low post. But, with the way the schedule plays out, we see another 20-win season for the Dons and a league title. Earl Sanchez, one of the fine young coaches in the area.
Wilson HS
Coach: Willie Allen
Asst Coaches: Jason Nakano, Charles Lewis, DeJohn Brown, Daniel Arandia, Dimitri Mata
PROJECTED GUARDS RETURNING
Justin Kayode 10 6'4 175 PG 13ppg, 3apg, 1st Team All Hacienda League, 1st Team All CIF D4AA
Tyler Wong 11 5'8 145 PG
TOP NEWCOMERS
Ethan Shigamora 11 5'8 145 PG
Josiah Cortez 10 6'1 160 SG
Josiah Lewis 10 6'5 180 SF
Coach Allen’s Comments: “This years team is very young but hungry for greatness. What the Wildcats are lacking in varsity experience, they will make up in it with grit and tanacity. Losing 10 seniors from last year the Wildcats will have to rely heavily on returning guard Justin Kayode to lead these young guns. Wilson came in 3rd place in the Hacienda League last year after sweeping Los Altos. They are looking to take the next step forward by dethrowning Diamond Bar and Walnut as this will be the last year the Wildcats will be in the Hacienda League.”
CRYSTAL BALL: Here is another team from the rough and tumble Hacienda League. Last year, Wilson caught some serious momentum and put together a 19 win season. When you consider the amount of talent in the Hacienda League, that is some good coaching going on over there. That was then and this is now and Allen knows that he’ll have a very young team (10 seniors graduating). Basketball is all about guards, guards and guards in the SGV and Wilson has one in Justin Kayode (a returning All-CIF player). We love his game on film and can’t wait to see him in person. The intriguing newcomer is Josiah Lewis - a 6-5 strong forward that will give Wilson some much needed presence in the low post. If this team can gel quickly, and with many of the top teams in the league in flux, why not Wilson earning another AQ from the league in the playoffs. Another team that we will watching closely in Nov. and Dec.
BASSETT HS
Coach: Juan Covarrubias
Asst Coach: Leon Bruce
PROJECTED GUARDS RETURNING
Angel Valdivia 12 5'8 G
Yervand Hernandez 12 5'10 G
Damian Rojas 10 5'8 G
PROJECTED FORWARD RETURNING
Omar Reza 11 6'0 F
PROJECTED CENTERS RETURNING
Ivan Sosa 11 6'2 C
TOP NEWCOMERS
Jason Sanchez 9 5'6 G
Jeirus Delrosario 9 5'6 G
Coach Covarrubias’ Comments: “After losing 7 seniors last season, this year's team is very young and inexperienced. Although we lack in size, our ability to defend is ourstrength as players can defend mutiple positions. On the other hand, our ability to execute our offense is our weak point due to the lack of experience. With only 2 seniors this year, both starters, we are excited to see what our young guys can bring off the bench. I project us to have a tough preseason with many challenges as I set it up that way and come league finish top 3 and head to playoffs.”
CRYSTAL BALL: Much like Wilson, graduation hit this team hard after a 2023 season that saw the Bassett win only 7 games. With only two seniors this year, fans of this team will be watching a work in progress. Covarrubias openly points out that he set up his non league schedule on the tough side so that his team can learn and grow with the goal of finish in the top 3rd and making the playoffs. And as we have seen during the basketball playoffs, all it takes is a chip and chance.
ROSEMEAD HS
Coach: Sunny Hays
PROJECTED GUARDS RETURNING
Daniel Nguyen 10 5'7" PG
PROJECTED FORWARDS RETURNING
Rhys Anderson 10 5'11" PF 1st Team All MVL (as a frosh)
Coach Hayes’ Comments: “We are still a work in progress and are senior heavy. The league has been very competitive at the top the last few years.We are hoping to get tomake strides to get into that group of teams.”
CRYSTAL BALL: The Panthers had a tough year in 2023 as they won only five games (two of which were in the Mission Valley League action). Coach Hays knows that cracking the top-third of the league standings is not going to be easy. But the hopeful part of this is that he has a bunch of seniors that will be counted on heavily this year. Will that be good enough to get an automatic qualifier into the playoffs? Lets check back with this team in January to get a better feel for things.