Chino Valley, Monument Valley and Tuba City high schools were no match Saturday, Nov. 21, for Sedona Red Rock High School’s boys basketball team.
“We were up 18 on Chino by halftime,” said C.J. Sells, who began his second season of his second stint as Scorpions head coach with a sweep of the four-team scrimmage. “We beat Tuba by five and Monument Valley by eight.”
The Scorpions girls team wasn’t a match, either, as the boys “beat the crap out of” them day before, Sells said.
But the trouble, at least for Sells, is that no official scores or statistics were kept, little to no game-planning was involved and most aspects of the games were far more relaxed.
“We did so many things I wouldn’t do in a regular game,” he said. “I went over to Monument Valley and asked the coach if there was anything [he] wanted me to do.
“He said, ‘Nobody’s pressed us yet,’ and I said, ‘All right, I’ll do that.’”
So with memories of his first practice Nov. 2 still fresh, Sells has too many holes to fill on his 22-player roster to draw too many conclusions from four scrimmage wins.
“We thought there was something that would resemble a tryout, but there wasn’t,” he said. “No cuts. No new kids out. We just started teaching right away.
“Eleven varsity players, 11 junior varsity players. We were hoping for more than that.”
Such as a returning point guard, which did not happen, and six-foot, three-inch juniors Walker Cox and Dawson Stevenson, Sells’ tallest, most experienced returning rotation players, are banged up and sitting out practice.
Stevenson’s brother Wyatt, the program’s only senior at six feet, two inches tall, also will help out at forward after foul trouble hindered him in games last season.
Michael Ortega will see his first regular-season action since breaking his foot in June, and fellow sophomore guard Hayden Bruce has also worked his way back through injuries.
Junior Randy Rodriguez saw limited time in junior varsity and varsity games last season, while sophomore forward Wyatt Gregson “played really well” in the scrimmages after missing most of summer ball for Sells.
Junior forwards Keagan Cordova and Cox’s brother, Walker, also will be expanding their roles after limited minutes last season. Cordova missed summer ball as well with shin splints.
So Sells hopes he can win with team quickness and get a lot of players game experience Nov. 30.
“We better, because we certainly can’t win in a half-court game right now,” Sells said. “Summer was wasted for me.”
Six players will see their first varsity debut for Sells at Anthem Prep, not including guard Sebastian Morales, a sophomore transfer from Mexico.
Chase Saczalski, the Verde Valley League’s leading scorer last season, may start at guard as a freshman.
