South Sevier looking for 2A sweep

At the 2000 2A state basketball tournament, both the boys and girls teams from South Sevier won state championships. The small school from Monroe claimed state supremacy in hoops.

Last season was nearly a repeat performance as the boys team won the title, but the girls lost in the championship game to their rivals from North Sevier. With both teams entering this weekend's tournament in Cedar City as the top-ranked squads, the Rams are looking for a repeat from seven years ago.

While the boys team won it all last year, there is not much experience back from that squad. In fact, for the Rams to have an 18-3 record and grab the No. 1 ranking the week before the tournament has been a shock to nearly everyone.

"Even though these kids didn't have a lot of experience, as they've come up from freshman basketball, JV basketball and so forth, they've been very successful," said South Sevier coach Scott Hunt. "I felt like we would be competitive. I didn't know we would win our region the way we did, or we'd be in this position right now, but certainly I thought they had the capability."

The Rams have continued their success with an up-tempo style offense and pressure defense. The results are that the Rams are the highest scoring team in the classification and Dustin Bishoff (18.4 points-per-game), Derrick Forbush (14.6) and Nathan Roberts (13.4) all rank in the top-10 in scoring.

If South Sevier is the favorite going to Cedar City, then North Summit would be choice 1-A. Ranked at or near the top all season, the Braves (19-3) have everything a team needs to win a title. But don't tell that to coach Jerre Holmes, he doesn't want any type of overconfidence.

"I think it's wide open," he said. "We have a good chance, and that's how we're treating it. We're going down there to try and win, just like everybody else. We're going to be a little more determined than we've ever been."

Led by point guard Kamren Garfield's 13.8 ppg, the Braves also have a pair of imposing big-men in Chandler Woolstenhulme and Drew Robinson, something that can certainly turn the tide in a classification without many great post players. Add to the arsenal that the Braves are one of the most experienced teams, and the formula is there for a title run.

Millard is a scary team for many, especially with Tyrel Beckstrand and his ability to take over games. American Leadership Academy, Beaver or Manti could all get on a run and make some noise.