Cottonwood boys hoops comes off summer success with loaded roster and an eye on state
Dec 01, 2017 08:00AM ● By Brian Shaw
The basketball falls into the net. (Brian Shaw/City Journals)
The Cottonwood Colts boys basketball team comes into the 2017-18 season having to deal with playing in a new region. And against several new opponents as well.
But, one thing the Colts aren’t is new. In fact, Cottonwood returns nine players from last year’s team—six of which will be seniors.
After a summer league that saw the Colts bring home hardware from a summer league tournament for the first time in many years, Cottonwood may be paired with schools like Alta and Brighton and a rapidly improving Corner Canyon.
Nevertheless, the Colts have high hopes to not only compete in this new region but make it all the way to state for the first time in eight years.
Hopes are as high as they’ve been in years at the school—largely because the Colts won’t be playing teams like Copper Hills and Bingham, teams that beat Cottonwood by between 40 and 50 points depending on the night.
The Colts will be loaded from top to bottom, starting with senior guard Spence McDonald who brings back his over seven points per game scoring average. At 5-feet-8-inches, McDonald may be a little short in stature.
But, McDonald can light it up from behind the three-point line, having led the Colts with 27 treys in 2016. Senior shooting guard Zach Nelson also returns for Cottonwood. Nelson is another threat from behind the arc and was second in three-point shooting for the Colts last season.
Another player, junior guard Preston Davis, was the team’s second leading assist man in 2016 and so much is expected of him in 2017. He’ll bring nearly a four point per game average to the court.
In the paint, the player to keep an eye on is junior center/power forward Britton Jensen, who at 6-feet-6-inches is not only the tallest player on Cottonwood’s roster, he’s also the team’s leading rebounder. Jensen netted about seven points per game last year to go with four rebounds.
Fellow seniors Christian Tevis, Hunter Andrews, Kobe Rosales and football speedster Dwain Worrell will also contribute minutes and size and skill for the Colts, who open with a preseason game at Granger on Nov. 29.
Cottonwood will then play three straight home games, starting with Skyridge on Dec. 5, continuing its home stand against West Jordan Dec. 8 and wrapping up its three-game stretch on its home floor Dec. 13 versus nearby Hillcrest.
