craigdailypress.com

Some basketball teams have speed.

Some have ball control; some have three-point shooting, and others have lock-down defenders.

This year, Moffat County High School boys varsity basketball has all of the above.

Despite losing all-conference selection Mike Peters (8.1 points and 5.3 assists per game) and all-conference honorable mention Thomas Noble (7.9 points per game, 31 percent three-point shooting), Moffat County retains a strong core of returning guards.

Knowing they will be at a height disadvantage this season, the Bulldogs will need their guards to play physical and smart.

With juniors Dylan Camilletti and Zach Raftopoulos, the Bulldogs have a backcourt of the present and future.

Teammates were almost evenly split on who was the better three-point shooter and ball-handler, with Raftopoulos just edging out Camilletti.

The 5-foot-10-inch Camil­letti said he saw some time on varsity last year, where he scored about two points a game.

Knowing other teams will have the height advantage will not scare the Bulldogs, Camilletti said.

“Our strength is our quickness,” he said. “We want to be flying up and down the court. We’ll have a lot of get-up and go this year.”

The team will need all the speed it can muster to compete in a tough league.

Raftopoulos, a 5’9” point guard, said Moffat County won’t need to travel far to find its biggest challenge of the year.

“Steamboat is going to be far up in our conference,” he said. “They have a couple of good guards, and Isiah (Forsyth) might be the top guard in our league.”

Raftopoulos was not alone in his praise of Forsyth — three coaches in the Western Slope League picked him as the league’s top guard.

Along with Forsyth, Steamboat Springs also has Charles Wood, a holdover from last year’s playoff team.

Rifle High School also is looking to make some noise in the Western Slope League this season, and with versatile guard Tyler Rust at the helm, has the personnel to do so.

A revamped roster in Battle Mountain also will improve upon last year’s 2-12 league record.

First-year coach Tom Padilla said the Huskies, with nine seniors on the roster, will be led by point guard Parker Lathrop.

Although Glenwood Springs High School lost its entire roster to graduation, coaches around the league said the Demons will have the outside shooting to be a contender.

With the right blend of senior leadership and young talent, the Bulldogs should be able to surprise a few teams this year, senior guard Mitch Sammons said.

“All of the guards are going to be good,” he said. “We have two juniors who played for us last year and a couple of underclassmen who could play this year, too.”

When it comes to defense, the Bulldog guards were almost unanimous in their selection for best on the team.

Asked which player they struggled against the most in practice, the Bulldogs overwhelmingly picked junior Dustin Carlson.

The scrappy shooting guard was described as “intense” by more than one teammate.

That intensity should be contagious, Carlson said.

“I think we’ll be good,” he said. “We’ll be hungry this year.”