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Region 11 is Cache Valley plus the Tooele County schools, and last winter it ran through Smithfield. Sky View went 19-5 and 13-1. Ridgeline was 11-3. Green Canyon and Mountain Crest both made the bracket. Then Zach Oxborrow, MaCade Rolle and Easton Mills graduated together. Gavin Crane and Gavin Erickson left Green Canyon. Cam Earl left Ridgeline. The north did not get quiet. The scoring just moved a few miles down the road.
Mountain Crest
Twelve and twelve. Eight and six in region. Chandler Smith’s Mustangs were the group that already had juniors eating first.
Those juniors are back. Easton Pugmire went for 14.1 and 5.8 boards. Jackson Branz went for 14.0. Noah Cordon added 9.6 and almost two steals. Mason Smith graduated after running the show, so the assists will get shared. That is still the most finished returning trio in the region. Hyrum has a chance to sit first if those three keep playing like they did last February.
Stansbury
Ten and fourteen. Seven and seven in region. Payton Dastrup’s Stallions already stole a 56-37 night from Green Canyon.
Ethan Miller is the reason they sit this high. 6-3, junior, and the jump he made this spring and summer is the thing people around the 2027 class kept bringing up. Cash Bawden is 6-5. Wesley Kellogg is 6-4. The Stallions were a .500 region team with Miller still growing into the first option. If that growth holds, Stansbury is a problem on the west side of this region.
Ridgeline
Sixteen and nine. Eleven and three. Derek Wadsworth’s RiverHawks were right there with Sky View all winter.
Cam Earl went for 14 and graduated. Stockton Hansen and Tyson Brenchley already scored in that rotation — 7.2 and 8.3 in the sample we have. Cade Berrett is 6-4. Ridgeline has been physical and well-coached. That does not leave with one senior. They will be in the pile that decides the top three.
Sky View
Coach Kirk Hillyard has 15 years and a pile of wins in Smithfield. Nineteen and five last year was a real team. Oxborrow (16.2), Rolle (15.0) and Mills (11.2, 6.0 boards) all graduated.
Bryson Penrose already got varsity minutes. The Bobcats are going to look younger. They are not going to look unprepared. Hillyard’s teams play the right way in January even when the roster turns over. Fourth is a starting point, not a ceiling.
Green Canyon
Sixteen and nine. Logan Brown’s Wolves took a step back from the 25-2 year and still won 16. Crane (19.7), Erickson (13.0) and Carter Etherington (9.4 and 9.1 boards) graduated.
Seth Anderson already ran point and handed out 2.1 assists. Keaton Crosbie, Carter Perry and Dakota Calverley at 6-7 were in that gym. Green Canyon has enough pieces to stay relevant. The first month will tell you how fast the next group grows up.
Bear River
Nine and fifteen. Six and eight in region. Reggie Shaw’s Bears were never an easy trip to Garland.
Kaser Thurgood graduated. Hudson Wood, Jaxon Freeze and Austin Palmer are 6-3 and 6-4 juniors who already saw this region. Caleb Napoli and Preston Wilkinson give them guard minutes. Bear River competes. That has been true for a while. A couple of those juniors taking a step puts them in the middle of the table.
Tooele
Five wins last year and a region record that did not show how hard some of those nights were. The Buffaloes have kids who already played varsity in this league. A clean night from three and a little more size on the glass, and Tooele steals a Tuesday from somebody who is looking past them.
Deseret Peak
One win in year one under Bryan Detweiler. That is a hard way to start a program.
Look at the roster anyway. Chris Yerke is 6-9. Maddox Zimmer is 6-8. That is real length for a school that just opened. The Golden Eagles are going to take their lumps. They also have two kids who can change a possession just by standing in the paint. That is a foundation.
How I see it finishing
Mountain Crest — Pugmire, Branz and Cordon already produced. Best returning core in the region.
Stansbury — Miller’s jump is the X-factor on the west side.
Ridgeline — Earl left. Hansen and Brenchley did not.
Sky View — new faces, same coach. The Bobcats will be ready in January.
Green Canyon — Anderson and the next wave. Still a Cache Valley gym you have to play in.
Bear River — junior size. Always organized.
Tooele — capable of a surprise if the shots fall.
Deseret Peak — Yerke and Zimmer give them a start. Year two should look different.
First-team preseason
Easton Pugmire, Mountain Crest
Jackson Branz, Mountain Crest
Ethan Miller, Stansbury
Stockton Hansen, Ridgeline
Fifth: Noah Cordon, Seth Anderson, Tyson Brenchley, or Cash Bawden
Oxborrow, Rolle, Mills, Crane, Erickson, Etherington and Earl are off the board. Region 11 spent last year watching Smithfield sit on top of the valley. The next year starts in Hyrum, runs through Miller in Stansbury, and waits to see if Sky View’s next group grows up as fast as Coach Hillyard needs it to.