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Skyview High School
School Info
Conference: 4A Southern Idaho Conference
Classification: 4A
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Head Coach: Aaron Sanders
Years as Head Coach: 5th season
Previous Experience: Eight years as assistant coach at Skyview
Record Last Year: 17-8
State Titles: 2005, 2006, 2009
Assistant Coaches:
Rich Sanders
Ryan Albright
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Photo By: Steve Conner - #24 Austin Bradshaw |
Team Preview:
Written by: Chris Langrill
In virtually every high school sport, there is no substitute for experience.
So Skyview High boys basketball coach Aaron Sanders knows in that regard he's in an enviable situation going into the 4A Southern Idaho Conference basketball season. After all, his roster is loaded with players who have competed at the varsity level.
His team may be lacking in other areas – size, for example – but it's not lacking in the experience department.
The Hawks' roster features six game-tested seniors.
“Last year, we had no returning starters and only two guys who had played the year before,” Skyview coach Aaron Sanders said. “So this year, we definitely have more experience coming back.”
Holton Hyde is one of those returning players who knows his way around a basketball gym. He was an SIC all-conference honorable mention last season as a junior.
“This is his third year of playing varsity,” Sanders said, “and we need him to have a big season for us to be successful.”
Hyde, a senior, has primarily played point guard in the past. But he will be used in different ways this season.
“We're going to ask him to be more of a forward this year, because he's one of our bigger kids,” Sanders said of the 6-foot-2 Holt. “We're going to ask him to rebound, but still do a lot of ball-handling and passing.”
On a different roster, Hyde might play another role.
But the Skyview roster isn't loaded with 7-footers.
“Size is one of our weaknesses,” Sanders said. “That's one of the reasons that Holton is going to play inside. We just need some help in there.”
But Sanders is excited about his team's perimeter play. He said the team has a lot of players who can handle the ball and attack off the dribble.
First among those players might be Austin Bradshaw, a 5-9 senior guard.
“He's small, quick, a really good defender,” Sanders said. “He's really good at pushing the ball in transition and getting other players involved. And even though he's a smaller player, he's pretty good at finishing around the basket. He uses creative angles for getting shots off against bigger guys.”
In the end, Sanders is confident that his team can be competitive.
But he said this season will have a different dynamic.
“Our conference has changed a lot,” he said. “We used to have nine teams, and now we only have six. So the conference games become even more important. Our conference is going to be really interesting this year. … It's going to be pretty wide open, I think, and anybody can win it.”
But if experience plays a role, expect Skyview to be in the mix.
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