By Richard Smith

West Valley Preps

Outside the Deer Valley program, the Skyhawks’ boys basketball team is the darlings of the early season.

Following Saturday’s win against district rival Boulder Creek, the team is 8-0 on the season. Included in that mark is a groundbreaking performance to start the season during the Sunnyslope Hoopsgiving Tournament.

After beating Ironwood, Apollo and Liberty to reach the tournament, the Skyhawks made a statement by defeating Sunnyslope — the defending 5A champion that returns its entire lineup — 55-52 on its court. As Deer Valley Coach Jed Dunn was quick to point out, though, it is dangerous to project too much based on a game or two.

“We lost to Sunnyslope by 3 last year and were beating Apollo last year for about 28 minutes. I am not sure what beating Sunnyslope did to my guys, after all they are teenagers,” stated Dunn in an email. “I think they are a really good group and seem to be valuing the things that help you win but so many things have to happen to win a state championship. If we do, awesome. If we don’t we will all be just fine the next day.”

Four seniors are the team’s leadership core and three of them — guards Deven Breckner and Ari Danzy and forward Bryce Davis — are four-year varsity players. They and fellow Skyhawks senior Keyvaughn Williams, a three-year varsity wing, do not want to leave Deer Valley wondering if they played to their potential.

The Skyhawks missed the playoffs in their freshman and sophomore years. Last year, the team jumped out to a 18-7 record and a No. 10 seed but were shocked by No. 23 Maricopa in a play-in game for the playoffs.

“All four have done a good job improving their leadership. Its cool to see them see the value of being leaders on and off of the court. They want to do well this year, but if we fall short of the outside expectations, I will still consider them successful young men for all the other things they have provided to our program,” Dunn stated. “Too much emphasis is put on winning. There are plenty of programs who win alot of games but I would argue they are not successful in many of the other areas.”

Danzy stated in a message that this squad is more level headed and does a better job of focusing only on the next game.

“I think the difference in this year’s team is that everyone on this team truly cares for the guy next to them, as well as everyone buying into the ‘We before Me motto,’” Danzy stated.

Deer Valley senior wing Keyvaughn Williams prepares to release a shot in the Skyhawks game against Glendale High School Dec. 7. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]The Skyhawks also know each other better this time around. Several new players worked into the rotation at the start of last season, including the Allen twins, Jaret and Jalen, and post Dez Melton — better known as a football player.

Then near midseason transfer forwards Ethan Cashion (from Phoenix Thunderbird) and Brandon Savage (from Phoenix Trevor Browne) added more length, but also made for more uncertainty with lineups and rotations.

All five are juniors and more integrated into the team. It is better this year, Dunn stated, though that is partly due to injuries making some decisions for him.

“All of the guys have gotten better and continue to develop. The rotations have driven me crazy before the season started but seem to be going well right now. We still are missing 4 players who are productive varsity players, when these guys return it could make rotations harder to figure out,” Dunn stated.

On the flip side, having so much depth and length in a way helps keep everyone focused. And the focus remains on playing hard, with the results being more of a byproduct than a goal.

“With this group, since there is so many kids who can play if one decides to jack around they get replaced. We also don’t have any pressure to win — the pressure is to work hard and be good kids. Both of those things are in our control,” Dunn stated.