Spring Valley girls look to take final step to championship

Most coaches don’t enactment overmuch banal successful preseason rankings, since they go irrelevant arsenic soon arsenic the play tips off.

But for Spring Valley manager Billy Hemberger, helium sees that his Grizzlies are 1 of the Class 5A girls hoops favorites arsenic a motion of respect.

It’s besides a acold outcry from wherever the Spring Valley programme was during his archetypal twelvemonth astatine the helm.

“I’m ever grateful (for the respect) knowing erstwhile I archetypal started we were 1-24,” Hemberger said, reasoning backmost to the 2013-14 season. “I retrieve looking up astatine halftime of a crippled against Arbor View and we were down 47-7. The information that we’ve built it to what we have, it’s taken a batch of hard enactment from radical that believed successful us.”

Spring Valley reached the authorities semifinals successful 2019, which showed however acold it has come. It besides gave the Grizzlies a glimpse of however acold they were from the top, arsenic they dropped a 62-37 determination to Centennial, a squad that won its sixth consecutive authorities title a nighttime later.

Centennial remains the favourite to assertion the rubric again, but Hemberger isn’t reasoning excessively overmuch astir the Bulldogs. He’s learned his acquisition successful that respect and is focused connected his team.

“They’re the apical canine until idiosyncratic knocks them off,” Hemberger said. “They ever volition be. They’re athletic. They’re long. They’re big, and they’re aggressive. They’re the aforesaid aged Centennial. But 2 years ago, I made the mistake of making the play astir competing against Centennial. I won’t bash that again.”

As for Centennial, it’s successful a unsocial presumption successful that it lone has 1 subordinate successful Mary McMorris, a Northern Arizona commit, who has been done a afloat play with manager Karen Weitz.

The Bulldogs picked up a transportation from Liberty successful Montea Dew, who is simply a top-20 enlistee successful the 2023 class, according to ESPN, and a heavy recruited sophomore successful defender Kaniya Boyd.

Weitz said her squad has shown it enjoys playing unneurotic and that she has “really bully pieces to enactment with.”

“We bash person a deficiency of experience, not that I truly attraction astir that due to the fact that I propulsion them successful the fire,” Weitz said.

Spring Valley counters with 2 of the apical players successful their respective recruiting classes. Guard Aaliyah Gayles is the apical elder successful the vale and is ranked No. 8 successful the federation by ESPN, and freshman Grace Knox is among the apical recruits successful the federation successful her class.

Hemberger compared Knox, a 6-foot-2-inch forward, to erstwhile Liberty standout Rae Burrell, who present plays astatine Tennessee.

“I person had a subordinate similar her to coach,” Hemberger said “Her athleticism for her size is unique, and that’s exciting.”

Hemberger said due to the fact that of Gayles’ ability, her teammates “almost look up to her, alternatively of realizing they’re teammates and request to play together.”

Centennial and Spring Valley look to beryllium a chopped supra the remainder of the competition, but Liberty has plentifulness of talent.

Desert Oasis is simply a squad to ticker contempt losing manager Laurie Evans aft a tally to the authorities title crippled successful 2019. Will Pricebrooks, who was an adjunct connected that team, takes implicit arsenic coach, truthful the players are acquainted with however helium likes to bash things.

Like Centennial, astir teams volition beryllium loaded with players who deficiency precocious schoolhouse experience. How they grip the modulation from nine to precocious schoolhouse volition beryllium a key.

“Getting them to recognize these games are bigger than AAU games wherever you’re not representing your schoolhouse volition beryllium important,” Hemberger said. “When it’s Desert Oasis vs. Spring Valley oregon Bishop Gorman vs. Spring Valley, those are ever competitory rivalry games. I’m looking guardant to what they bash successful games similar that.”

Contact Jason Orts astatine jorts@reviewjournal.com. Follow @SportsWithOrts connected Twitter.