It’s basketball season at Patagonia High School, and it’s coming out of the chute fast and furiously.
After scarcely more than two weeks of practice, the Lobos boys team opens its season Wednesday night in Maricopa against Sequoia Pathway.
The Lobo girls open on Thursday night at Bisbee High, and both teams will be on the court for their home openers on Friday night against Lourdes Catholic.
Next week, both teams head to Tucson for the Boyd Baker Tip-off Classic prior to Thanksgiving. The following week it’s off to Williams for the Coach Edgar Brown Holiday Basketball Tournament.
“I was talking to our coaches the other day,” boys coach Nate Porter said Tuesday. “I added it up and we have 11 games with three practices after today.
“I like that. I wish we had a few more practices, but you figure it out. It’s trial by fire.”
The Lobo boys were 10-7 last year in non-tournament games and 13-13 overall, finishing 19th in the Class 1A rankings.
Porter cites a number of reasons for his optimism that this season’s Lobos can earn their way into the 16-team state tournament. And the number one reason is numbers. A total of 19 boys are out for the team.
“We are deep. Nineteen boys, and we have like 75 total (students) in our school, so we’re talking about 50 percent of the boys out there playing basketball,” he said. “It’s a good problem to have, especially at a small school like this.”
Porter experimented last year with mass substitutions to take advantage of the team’s depth, and he intends to do more of the same this season.
“This is a new thing,” he said. “I’ve never done it before. We tried it last year about halfway through the season and it clicked.
“Even more than last year, we’re going to run bodies, at least for a while. I’m going to run lines at the beginning, five in, five out, and we’ll see who rises to the top at the season goes on.”
Porter is hopeful that the Lobos’ depth can help them withstand a couple of key injuries. Senior guard D.J. Castro, a returning starter, has yet to practice while recovering from a knee injury, and junior center Gavin Arbizo, their starting center, injured his knee a week ago in practice. The timeline for both players is uncertain.
“Gavin was looking great in practice,” Porter said. “It’s a bummer when you lose your starting center, but we still have pretty good height.”
Foremost among the healthy Lobos is senior forward Diego Carranza, last season’s leading scorer. Other key returnees are sophomore forward Kannon Shore, senior guards Johnny Fields and Sebastian Padilla, senior forward Gabe Nunez and junior forward Gus Varela.
Porter noted that Fields, junior center Jaxon Yslava and sophomore Josh Woods are among the team’s most improved in early practices. Fields got first crack at handling the point guard position in Monday’s scrimmages against Baboquivari and San Manuel, and Porter was pleased with how he handled the responsibility.
“Those three, they all seem to have really improved a lot over the summer,” Porter said. “You can tell they put in some work.”
Porter had a one-word answer when asked about expectations for the season.
“State,” he said.
“That’s the goal every year. We’re going to qualify for state. I think this year it’s more realistic than it’s been in the last few years. The kids have got to buy in, they’ve got to come and put the work in, they’ve got to stay eligible and stay healthy. If they do, we’ve got a good chance.”
