OGDEN — The 5A boys basketball state tournament gets underway at the Dee Events Center today, and as has often been the case the past five years, Lone Peak is the team everyone is gunning for.
"They have the best record. They have the best plus-minus win percentage. I would say by all indications that would be the team to beat," said Bingham coach Mark Dubach.
Some believe the 20-win Knights are unbeatable, but Viewmont knows otherwise after handing them their only loss in the preseason. Viewmont coach Jeff Emery chuckles that his team might've got lucky, though.
Inevitably, some teams ended up with easier playoff draws than others, but it's only an easy draw if you take care of business.
Last year is a great reminder that anything can and usually does happen. No. 1 Bingham didn't make it out of the quarterfinals, while Copper Hills was the surprise semifinalist of the tournament and nearly upset Davis to advance to the championship.
This year's tournament will probably feature some upsets as well because quite frankly, there are plenty of question marks about the strength of the four regions.
Today's first round tips off at 9:30 a.m. with West Jordan facing Granger, and wraps up at 9:10 p.m. with Davis vs. American Fork.
For the first time in a while, Davis wasn't the dominant team in Region 1. But was that because it was a down year for the Darts? Or because co-region champs Viewmont and Fremont stepped up to Davis' historical level? If it's the latter, don't be surprised if Region 1 ends up with two teams in the semifinals just like last year.
Murray and West shared the Region 2 title this year with identical 18-3 records, but many believe the glossy records are inflated by an easy schedule. Outside of beating each other, neither has a win over a team ranked in the top 14 of the latest Deseret News top 20 rankings.
Region 3 features two of the best teams in 5A in Bingham and West Jordan, but there's a sizable gap between the two after Bingham swept the season series with double-digit victories.
That's exactly what happened in Region 4 with American Fork and Lone Peak. As talented as the Cavemen are, they buckled in the second half, losing to the Knights in both meetings by double digits each time.
You could make a case that Bingham and Lone Peak are the only two teams without legitimate question marks heading into the tournament. They're on opposite sides of the bracket, too, so if they're going to meet in the playoffs for the fifth straight year it will be in Saturday's championship.
Dubach refused to comment if he believes his team was capable of a deep playoff run, but did say, "We're having a good run. The kids have improved and bought in and we're very happy with where we're at."
Bingham is one of seven playoff teams with a notable big man, which Lone Peak coach Quincy Lewis said kind of changes the dynamic of the tournament.
"It seems like in years past, you might have a team or two out there (with post players), but most of them were guard oriented. But this year there are a lot of teams with good post play," said Lewis.
In addition to Bingham, West Jordan, Lone Peak, Fremont, Viewmont, Brighton and Murray all count on production from their bigs.
Regardless of where the production comes from, Lewis believes there's a formula amid all the playoff chaos to be successful.
"In the state tournament, the teams that can play how they normally play are the ones who are normally the successful ones, and sometimes that's hard because of the environment," he said.
Lone Peak star guard Nick Emery has never played a state tournament game at a college venue, and only time will tell if he's able to block out the distraction and dominate like he usually does. If he does, Lone Peak might indeed be unbeatable.
There are a handful of intriguing first round games on tap today, including West-Riverton at 2:30 p.m. and Viewmont-Brighton at 4:10 p.m.
Wednesday's quarterfinals have the potential to be the best games of the tournament as Bingham and American Fork are likely to meet, and so are Lone Peak and West Jordan.
Class 5A Boys
Monday's First Round
At Weber State University
Upper Bracket
Granger (9-12) vs. West Jordan (18-3), 9:30 a.m.
Pl. Grove (10-12) vs. Lone Peak (20-1), 11:10 a.m.
Alta (11-11) vs. Fremont (16-5), 12:50 p.m.
Riverton (15-6) vs. West (18-3), 2:30 p.m.
Lower Bracket
Brighton (14-7) vs. Viewmont (17-4), 4:10 p.m.
Copper Hills (11-11) vs. Murray (18-3), 5:50 p.m.
Skyline (10-12) vs. Bingham (17-4), 7:30 p.m.
Davis (13-8) vs. American Fork (17-4), 9:10 p.m.
e-mail: jedward@desnews.com