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Boise High School
School Info
Conference: 5A Southern Idaho Conference
Classification: 5A
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Head Coach: Manny Varela
Years as Head Coach: 2nd Season
Previous Experience: Eight years as an assistant at Borah
Record Last Year: 15-7
State Titles: 1924, 1938, 1947, 1980,1986
Assistant Coaches:
Paul Perotto
Brad Twiss
Returning Athletes:
Jack Streeby, G, 12
Paul Pennington, PG, 11
Lucas Centenno, W, 11
Emmett Plummer, W, 10
Andrew Theobald, P, 12
Returning Players with Honors:
Paul Pennington SIC Honorable Mention
Key Players lost from last year:
Evan Henning, W. Will be missed for his experience and size
Seth Newville, G. Will be missed for his ability to shoot.
Valentino Daltoso, P. Will be missed for his leadership and desire to improve.
Incoming impact players:
Trevor Tatko, G, 11
Josh Martinez, W, 12
Aldin Omerovic, W, 12
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Team Preview:
Written by: Lucas Gebhart
Boise High School went 15-5 during the regular season but missed the state tournament.
The Braves went 0-2 during the district tournament causing Boise to miss out on state.
“We need to be a better tournament team,” said head coach Manny Varela. “Boise High has historically had good regular seasons but choke in the district tournament. We recognize that and want to reverse history.”
To reverse that history, Boise will rely on the next wave of upperclassmen that run an offense that depends on sharing the basketball and getting open looks.
“The general focus of our offense is to find and shoot high percentage shots,” Varela said. “We have players who are willing to help their teammates score.”
The offense will be run by junior point guard Paul Pennington, who’s unselfishness earned himself an SIC Honorable Mention last season.
“[Pennington] would rather help his teammate score than to score the ball himself,” Varela said. “This attitude has proven to be contagious throughout our program. Players are sharing the ball more because they trust their teammate to make the right decision with the ball.”
By sharing the ball, no one player will light up the scoreboard for the Braves this season, it will come collectively.
Joining Pennington in the backcourt is Jack Streeby as Lucas Centenno and Emmett Plummer bring up the wings with Andrew Theobald manning the post.
“I'm excited about the competitiveness of this group,” Varela said. “They love to compete in everything they do. That makes our practices better and hopefully it will help us throughout the season.”
The right attitude can carry a team a long way and that is what the Boise Braves have this season.
New comers such as junior guard Trevor Tatko, senior wings Josh Martinez and Aldin Omerovic have provided a spark that Varela hopes will push Boise further into the district and state tournament.
The Braves will try to clean up their slow first quarter starts that put Boise in an early hole and caused the Braves to play catch up for the remaining three quarters.
“There were times last year where we started slowly and spent the rest of the game trying to make up for the first three or four minutes of the game,” Varela said. “We want to minimize the amount of times we are in those situations.”
With a heavy cast of upper classmen, the Braves hold each other accountable defensively, which was not the case last year.
“There were times last year when some of our players would take plays off on defense,” Varela said. “This year we want to get rid of that altogether. Our players should understand the importance of getting stops.”
The strength of the Braves this season is the willingness of the players and their desire to win.
“Our defensive strength is how willing our guys are to play defense,” Varela said. “They hold each other accountable and work harder together. We have emphasized the need for our best players to be our best defenders. Our guys have responded with a desire to get it done on the defensive end.”
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