I had the pleasure of attending the lady’s basketball game between Poston Butte and Peoria High School on President’s Day. Though it was a holiday, I felt I was in for a treat to witness a nice contest between two scrappy programs. From the warm-ups, one prospect caught my attention. As I looked up the roster on MaxPreps, I found out her name was Britany Kogbara. I thought to myself, is she related to former Peoria and current Dream City Christian senior forward Kevin Kogbara. Come to find out, she is the younger sister of Kevin. Standing at 5-foot-11, sophomore…
Author: George Courtney
Arizona Preps is continuing our Coaches Spotlight Series by putting a spotlight on Arizona’s best high school coaches. I was able to catch up with Poston Butte’s Head Lady Hoops Coach Savannah Bix. Coach Bix has done a phenomenal job in changing the culture and building a competitive program with her Lady Broncos. Here is our Q&A from our conversation. Q: How long have you been coaching? Which schools or programs? A: This is my 3rd year as the head coach at Poston Butte. Prior to that, I served as the JV Coach for one year at Desert Mountain, and…
The AIA’s condensed season has it’s benefits, as there are more games scheduled on holidays and Saturdays. The scheduling has allowed the Arizona Preps’ staff to cover multiple games throughout the week. It definitely has been a treat thus far, with a lot of parity at nearly most of the games we have attended. The GC3 Arizona Preps Girl’s Game of the Week was between the Lady Broncos of Poston Butte and the Lady Panthers of Peoria. The game left me at the edge of my seat, since it was so close. Poston Butte led most of the game, with…
The Copper State is surging with basketball talent over the last few years. There has been a big rise in national powerhouse prep programs, such as Hillcrest Prep, AZ Compass Preps, Dream City Christian, Bella Vista Prep and PHHoenix Prep. We can’t forget how big the sport is in Northern Arizona. 3A & 2A Schools build enormous gyms to accommodate huge crowds. (21) years ago, the state championship between Tuba City and Alchesay High School drew 16,010 in attendance. Rezball is short for “Reservation Basketball,” which is played at an uptempo pace. Most teams will press and trap the entire…
Arizona is a hot-bed for basketball talent. We all have seen the numerous talented prospects on the boys’ end. However, there is just as much, if not more talent on the girls’ side. One of the most exciting prospects I have been able to observe is Casteel High School’s 5-foot-10 senior guard/forward Daeja Johnson. She is a big-time prospect with (11) offers from numerous D-2-NAIA schools. I think those colleges would make out like bandits if they were able to sign her, since I truly feel she is a Low to Mid-Major D-1 prospect. She is one of the go-to…
Pueblo High School’s 6-foot-11 junior post Zach Morgan is a huge find in Tucson. This young man has a high ceiling, and has been developing quite well. Morgan has been putting up monster numbers thus far, while averaging 11.8 points, 4 assists, 12.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per/game. I was able to see him play most of the summer, as well as recently against a solid Salpointe Catholic team. He has bulked up since the summer and plays with more confidence. He has a nice scoring ability from inside with a smooth jumper to hit the occasional perimeter or mid-range…
We continue our Coaches Spotlight Series with Coach Daniel Trageser of Casteel High School. His Lady Colts are ranked #1 in 5A, and have a record of 9-0. I was able to observe his team dismantle Horizon on February 13th. Coach Trageser runs an impressive defensive system, which looks to press and trap all 94-feet. His team creates havoc by disrupting their opponents’ offensive rhythm by putting pressure on their guards, trapping ball-handlers, and forcing bad passes and miscues, which translates to high percentage offensive opportunities. Here is our dialogue from our Q&A after the game . . . Q:…
As promised, Arizona Preps continues to deliver our Coaches Spotlight promoting some of Arizona’s best high school coaches in the state. I had the pleasure of speaking to Coach David Silvas, a long-time fixture in the Town of Florence. Coach Silvas is in his 17th year of coaching and 8th as the Head Boys Basketball Coach of the Florence Gophers. Coach Silvas has an impressive track record, as his teams have qualified for the 3A State Tournament (6) of his (7) years, and is looking to make it (7) of (8), including this season. He has won Region Coach of…
I had the pleasure of attending the Moon Valley-Bradshaw Mountain girl’s basketball game about two weeks ago. I have never seen both teams play, but I was very pleased I attended the game. I discovered an elite guard prospect from Moon Valley High School in 5-foot-6 senior guard Yvette Ruiz. Ruiz displayed an elite ability to control the flow of the game on offense. She has an elite ball-handling ability and vision. Her greatest attributes are her ability to defend all (5) positions, and putting herself or her teammates in the best situation to score on offense. She can score…
The Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) had a late start to the season, thus the condensing of schedules. One of the benefits of a condensed season is more Saturday games. In looking at which game to cover on a Saturday, Casteel’s game looked intriguing, since coming into the game they are the #1 ranked team in 5A, with an 8-0 record. Besides that, the Lady Colts of Casteel have (8) student-athletes with interests and offers from D1-NAIA/JUCO college programs. Coach Dan Trageser has done a phenomenal job in his 3rd year as the Head Coach of the Lady Colts. One of…