High school basketball: Landscape has changed

It's been nine months since West's improbable 4A state basketball title, since Tyler Haws played his last high school basketball game and since Bear River's dominant run to the 3A championship.

The landscape of boys high school basketball has changed a lot during that time thanks to realignment and graduation.

West is now in 5A, defending 5A champion West Jordan is starting from scratch with five new starters as is Lone Peak following the graduation of Haws. In Class 3A, 2A and 1A, none of the defending champs are even ranked in the top five in their respective classification heading into the 2009-10 season.

Perhaps more than ever — and in every classification — the pursuit for state championship hardware is wide open.

Even though a smattering of teams opened the season prior to the Thanksgiving break, most get underway this week. Here's a quick class-by-class primer on what to expect this season.

CLASS 5A

As this classification continues to grow, the competition for playoff berths gets tougher and tougher. That's particularly true in Regions 3 and 4.

Region 4 looks to be just as difficult in basketball as it was in football, with Brighton, Lone Peak and Alta leading the charge. The rest of the region comprised of Jordan, American Fork, Pleasant Grove and Hillcrest is tough as well, but there's only four playoff spots available.

Lone Peak finished the Haws era with a 69-6 record the past three years, but things will be markedly different this year.

"I think we could be a good team by February, but we will take some on the chin before then," said Lone Peak coach Quincy Lewis. "Certainly not a top 10 team in 5A to begin the year."

As for Region 3, don't expect it to be just a three-team race between Bingham, Riverton and West Jordan. Copper Hills should be right in the thick of the race this year, which will make things interesting with only three teams from Region 3 qualifying for the state tournament.

Region 1 figures to be competitive as always, but Davis is again the team to beat.

The weakest league in 5A will be Region 2, with five of the seven teams making the jump from 4A to 5A this season. Among them is last year's 4A champion West, which got off to a rocky start with a blowout loss to West Jordan last week