PREP BASKETBALL: Ready for battle

Competition heats up in Sunrise Southeast Division

In the 2004-05 prep basketball season, the Sunrise Region's Southeast Division was the only league in Southern Nevada not to have a representative in the final four teams at the Class 4A State Championship.

This season, with an improved Silverado squad which returns Gatorade Player of the Year Heiden Ratner, a tough Green Valley team with 6-foot-7 wingman Billy White, and a Foothill team which got off to a 5-1 start behind three-year starter Kevin Kreier, the prospects of a team from the division getting to that promised land appear to be a bit better.

The school generating the most buzz is Silverado, coached by former Canyon Springs and Valley assistant Ron Childress. Childress replaces Rob Pisano, who accepted an offer to return and coach in his hometown.

Last year the Skyhawks went 18-10 and lost in the Sunrise semifinals to eventual regional winner Valley. This year Silverado returns a talented cast of players, led by junior Ratner, a first-team All-Sunrise selection who led Southern Nevada in scoring last season, averaging 26.4 points per game.

Helping Ratner in the backcourt will be seniors Joe Foster and Ryan Whitesitt, who will try to pick up some of the scoring load as teams focus on Ratner's offensive abilities.

Childress said he will change his team's strategy on offense to a more balanced attack in attempt to take some pressure off Ratner.

"In my opinion, he still has a lot to learn," Childress said. "I try and get it into his head, 'This is what you need to do,' because I played point guard growing up and through college in Indiana and everywhere, so I know what it takes to get ready and I'm trying to give that to him. And I must admit that it's tough for him because he's just used to everybody giving him the ball and letting him do his thing. He's like a man on the loose a lot of times, playing by himself."

Childress, who played for Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind., said he thinks Ratner will be suited to play point guard in college and is doing everything he can to make the junior a more well-rounded player.

"I want to give him a lot," the new coach said. "I tell him anyone can score. But as long as you have your defense and your hustle and your rebounding and going after loose balls, you still can get your average. Right now, after three games, he's probably averaging 30 points. He's going to look for that (scoring) no matter what."

Providing plenty of muscle and size in the paint for the Skyhawks are senior Kyle Rath and his brother, Kevin, a junior. The Raths were among the early season leaders in the city in both rebounding and assists, with Kyle averaging 9.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists, and Kevin grabbing 7.3 rebounds and dishing out 5.7 assists per game.

The 6-foot-4 pair, who starred for the Skyhawks football team in the fall along with fellow forward Randy Liles (6-6), will be counted on heavily for defense and rebounding as well as some scoring.

"Last year when I was an assistant at Canyon Springs we played Silverado twice, so I was familiar with those guys," Childress said of the Rath brothers. "When I first got the position (at Silverado), I went and sought them out to see if they would be interested in playing (basketball) after football."

Childress knows the importance of having solid forwards in his lineup with so much firepower at the guard spot. He said he was pleased by the early play of his big men.

"I'm happy with what the Raths are doing, especially Kyle," Childress said. "Kyle is my right-hand man, and he's so big. And I just tell the team if Kyle's not happy than I'm not happy. He needs to get the ball."

When asked how his team was playing to start the season, it was easy to tell the former Hoosier State player expected a lot from his team.

"To be honest, being born and raised in Indiana, when I look at ballplayers and teams I compare them to what I've known and grown to be accustomed to in Indiana, so it takes a lot for me to be happy with my team," Childress said. The coach puts little credence in the fact pundits are picking Silverado to win the Southeast. "To be honest, when people say you're the favorites to do this or do that ... I figure you've got to out and play the game, just like last night (a 77-73 overtime win at Bonanza on Dec. 5). They (Bonanza) are a small, scrappy, no-quit team. We should have taken care of Bonanza by 15 points easy but we had to struggle because of the way some of our guys are not playing with discipline."

Despite any early season wrinkles, Childress still made it clear to his team what the objective is.

"I told them when we first got together we're not just trying to get to state, we're trying to compete to win a state championship," he said. "Our ultimate goal is to win the state championship. Why set your standards any lower than that?"

Fighting Silverado for the top spot in the Southeast could be Green Valley (21-6 last year), coached by Adam Patai. Last year the Gators won the league title and were ultimately eliminated in the Sunrise semifinals by Rancho.

Although first-team All-Sunrise selection Matt Gonzales has graduated, Green Valley does return junior forward White (6-7), who averaged 14 points and eight rebounds as a sophomore and is ranked among the top 25 juniors in the nation by Hoopmasters.com. But with Nate West, Chris Tanjuaquio, Kyle Young, Jon-Ross Campeau and Cody Aughney, Green Valley can get its scoring from a number of places on any given night.

Green Valley's 2-4 start this season also is deceptive as the Gators' four losses were to the first, third and fourth-seeded teams from the Northeast last year in Valley, Canyon Springs and Eldorado, and at defending state champion Bishop Gorman (63-58 on Dec. 2). A lot will be revealed about the Southeast on Jan. 21 when the Gators travel to Silverado for their first league meeting.

One team that may surprise some this winter is Foothill (12-13), which got off to an impressive 6-2 start with big wins over Valley (83-69), Cheyenne (68-66) and defending state champions Bishop Gorman (54-52).

Coached by Kevin Soares, the Falcons are led by senior forward Kreier (15.5 points per game, seven rebounds per game last year), a second-team All-Southeast selection; senior point guard Bobby Watkins, who averaged 9.2 points and three assists last year; Ben Green and Justice Nall. The Falcons were the top-ranked team in the Southeast (No. 3) in the city in the first Class 4A rankings released by the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Dec. 8.

Also helping Foothill out on the hardwood are a trio of talented players who also play on the gridiron, seniors Brandon Baker and Zac Espejo and junior D'Angelo Jones, one of the top running backs in Nevada.

With four playoff spots for the taking in the division, Foothill should definitely be in position for one of them.

Fighting for one of those four berths should be Coronado (15-11), coached by Paul Berg.

The Cougars are known to have some serious size in the paint. Although Berg's team lost Travis Stuman's 21.5 points per game, it does return Tysson Poots, a 6-foot-3 senior forward who averaged 15.2 points and 11.2 boards per contest last season. Poots, also a standout receiver on Coronado's football team, will get help from sophomore point guard Cory Ford (6-3), senior center Louis Schenk (6-5) and freshman Milos Knezevic (6-5).

Last year, Coronado was ousted in the opening round of the playoffs by Rancho.

Another team battling for the postseason should be Basic (15-9), coached by Steve Bentz. Last season the Wolves were the No. 4 seed in the Southeast and were eliminated by eventual regional champ Valley (78-69) in their postseason opener.

This season, Desert Pines transfer Aaron Hunt (6-3) and Foothill transfer Sean Chargualaf (5-10) join returning seniors Damian Glover and Cory McMahon on a Basic team that will have to try to score more after averaging just 46.6 points a game after its first six contests (1-5).

Liberty (8-16) lost its best player when leading scorer Brian Magann (19.8 points per game) transferred to Durango. The team is still in a building process of sorts in such a competitive league.

Coach Patt Welby returns seniors Shawn Monegan and James Brown and got a nice surprise in the form of Utah transfer Daniel Darger (6-3), who can provide offense. The Patriots will continue to try and look toward the future and their first playoff berth while competing against teams that have already made their names in the Southeast.

Another team that has some talent but faces the unenviable task of trying to win the tough division is Vo-Tech (7-17), which is coached by Jeremy Shelton.

The Roadrunners' best player is senior guard Kevin Crockrum (5-9), who averaged 15.2 points per game last season and was averaging 20.2 points after Vo-Tech's first four games this year. Senior center Jonas Tesfay (6-5), who had 18 points in a 72-52 win over 1A's Mountain View on Dec. 5, junior point guard Ryan Alexander (5-9) and Steve Maglich provide a solid supporting cast for Crockrum. Both Crockrum and Tesfay pulled down 52 rebounds (13 per game) through the Roadrunners' first four games.

At Del Sol (4-21), coach Jim Dinkel will have seniors on his roster for the first time. But like Liberty and Vo-Tech, the Dragons will have to be patient in a conference with the likes of Silverado and Green Valley.

Senior Eric Burns (6-5), who averaged 8.4 points and 7.4 rebounds a game last year, junior point guard Quincy Alexander and Maurice Lawson are the players on Del Sol to watch.