Video: TOC Boys Basketball - Corona del Sol (Tempe, AZ)
See the fun and honor in last season's award presentation.The opportunity to take over a championship basketball program the season after cutting down the nets is a rarity.
Coaches don't tend to walk away from jobs in the months following a state title, but that's exactly what happened to both the Division I champions –
Corona del Sol (Tempe) boys and
Dobson (Mesa) girls – after last season.
Corona's Sam Duane stepped down after winning a fourth-straight title and assistant Neil MacDonald was pegged as the replacement. At Dobson, Tyler Dumas chose to walk away on top and he was replaced by Henry Bribiescas, who led Desert Vista and Mountain View to title games in his previous stops.
The results have been solid but not quite championship-level just yet.
The Mustangs (10-6) have almost a completely new roster after winning their first title since 2010. The team played with only eight players on Thursday as injuries have taken a toll.
"It's been a bit different," Bribiescas said. "There were a bunch of seniors on that team and we only inherited two girls with varsity experience. A lot of the kids are from the JV squad so they were in the program. That's a good thing because they were taught well.
"They are still learning to play at the varsity level."
The Aztecs (6-6 entering Friday's action) had a different situation, as MacDonald essentially moved over one seat after being Duane's top assistant four four years and had known commodities returning to the roster. Corona was considered the top-ranked team despite the loss off Cassius Peat and Duane Kuiper to football and basketball scholarships, respectively, and sophomore Marvin Bagley III, the top-ranked recruit in the class of 2018, due to a transfer to Hillcrest Prep and then Sierra Canyon (Calif).
The schedule has been rough with four of the six defeats coming to out-of-state opponents before heading to Desert Vista Friday for a rematch of last year's Division I title game, which was won handily by Corona for its fourth-straight title.
Despite the slow start, MacDonald is comfortable with how things are progressing.
"I've been around the players and they know me and what to expect," he said. "It made the transition go easier. We've played some tough teams, played a schedule we felt that would get us ready for what's ahead of us."
What's ahead for both squads is trying to defend a title while forging new identities. Both coaches haven't changed much, as the Mustangs continue to press defensively and push the ball offensively like they did under Dumas, and Corona continues to be guard dependent – Oregon junior Casey Benson before the current trio of
Alex Barcello,
Tyrell Henderson and
Saben Lee - to cause matchup problems.
Barcello felt it was the right call when it became known Duane was stepping aside.
"We all wanted a coach that we knew and a coach who knew us," Barcello said at the time of the hire. "He knows what he's doing and all the guys are willing to listen to achieve the goal that we want to accomplish."
Dobson won it all last season and has a much different look in 2015-16.
Photo by Jim Willittes
The Mustangs' transition was helped by the fact that
Shauna Bribiescas, the coach's daughter, also came over from Mountain View to help be a coach on the floor while junior
Megan Lopez and sophomore
Amaya Leon have asserted themselves as top-of-the-rotation players. Juniors
Victoia Mitchell and
Rayonna Seamster saw limited action with the championship squad last year.
"You want to bring consistency and get the kids believing what you are doing," coach Bribiescas said. "They are all going to miss the old coach and rightfully so. You don't want to totally change everything. They've been winning together.
"We had success right away at Mountain View with my own style but mindful of what was done before I got there. You have to get them to believe in the coach and once you do they will learn to waltz for you."
And after that, making the big dance becomes more of a possibility.
"These players know how to win," MacDonald said. "We are going through this together. We've lost more than we're accustomed to, but that's what the early part of the season is for. This team has room to improve and that's what we will do before the end of the year."
Before each team reaches the postseason there is a matter of about 10 more games to continue the process that began soon after the new coach was put in place.
"The schedule gets tougher," Bribiescas said. "We've played some good teams already. Hopefully it transcends into good things down the stretch."
Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic sports writer and current Prep Sports Director for 1013 Communications, is a 20-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com.
