5 Concho Valley Teams in Preseason State Basketball Rankings

SAN ANGELO, TX — Five boys teams from our area were represented in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches preseason state rankings.

Veribest leads the way at No. 10 in Class 1A, while Wall is No. 11 in 3A.

Robert Lee is No. 21 and Water Valley is No. 25 in 1A. Forsan is No. 25 in 2A.

Veribest is coming off the best season in school history when the Falcons had a 26-9 record and a pair of playoff wins to reach the regional semifinals for the first time.

Their season ended with a loss to eventual state champion Jayton.

Veribest returns some key players from that team, including senior Sterling Salvato, who averaged 12.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.8 blocks while shooting 44% from the floor.

Another first-team all-district player, junior Lorenzo Hight, is back, along with junior Tucker Martin, who earned second-team all-district honors.

Veribest has a new head coach, Steven Hayes, who comes over from Robert Lee. His son, Bryson Hayes, is a sophomore who was named second-team all-district last year.

Wall debuts at No. 11 following last year’s 29-6 season in which the Hawks won a district title and a playoff game.

Wall returns numerous key players from that team, including senior Paxton Brake, who was the district MVP. The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 11.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 2.4 steals per game while shooting over 50% from the floor.

Three other seniors — Jager Thompson, Jaxson Kirkland and Will Tennell — also return. 

Thompson was the district’s Offensive MVP after averaging 13.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 steals. Kirkland averaged 11 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and shot over 50%. Tennell posted 10.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals.

Robert Lee went 18-11 last season after a third-place finish in district and two playoff wins. The Steers don’t bring back any all-district players from last year.

Water Valley returns only one player from last year’s team that went 22-4 and reached the regional final, but he’s one of the best players in the area. Senior Branson Lacy had 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals and was the Co-MVP of his district.

Forsan returns a couple of key players from last year’s 26-6 team that won a district title and a playoff game.

Senior Coy Evans, the district MVP, averaged 18.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists. Junior Kanyon Myers, the district’s Impact Player of the Year, averaged 13.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 3.8 steals and 0.5 blocks per game.

Here are all of the TABC’s preseason state rankings:

Class 6A

1. Allen
2. Duncanville
3. Atascocita
4. San Antonio Harlan
5. Katy Seven Lakes
6. North Crowley
7. Katy Jordan
8. Cibolo Steele
9. Cy Falls
10. Lake Highlands
11. Lake Travis
12. Rockwall Heath
13. Cy Ranch
14. North Shore
15. McKinney
16. Schertz Clemens
17. Arlington Martin
18. Grand Prairie
19. Houston Heights
20. Austin Westlake
21. Strake Jesuit
22. Walnut Grove
23. Grand Oaks
24. San Antonio Brennan
25. Mansfield Lake Ridge

Class 5A

1. Highland Park
2. Mansfield Summit
3. Beaumont West Brook
4. Lancaster
5. Mansfield Timberview
6. Lufkin
7. Alamo Heights
8. Frisco Memorial
9. Denton
10. San Antonio Veterans Memorial
11. South Oak Cliff
12. Friendswood
13. Birdville
14. Beaumont United
15. Boerne Champion
16. Frisco Lone Star
17. Desoto
18. Fort Bend Marshall
19. Iowa Colony
20. Lucas Lovejoy
21. Amarillo
22. Fort Bend Crawford
23. Laredo Nixon
24. Pflugerville Weiss
25. Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial

Class 4A

1. Dallas Carter
2. Dallas Kimball
3. Houston Washington
4. Lubbock Liberty
5. Lubbock Estacado
6. Houston Yates
7. La Marque
8. Houston Wheatley
9. Kerrville Tivy
10. Wimberley
11. Davenport
12. West Plains
13. Kennedale
14. Austin LBJ
15. Brock
16. Dallas Pinkston
17. Navasota
18. Paris
19. El Paso Andress
20. Corpus Christi London
21. Ponder
22. Burkburnett
23. Stafford
24. Stephenville
25. La Vega

Class 3A

1. Dallas Madison
2. Paradise
3. Onalaska
4. Goliad
5. Liberty Eylau
6. Orangefield
7. Shallowater
8. Jefferson
9. Slaton
10. San Antonio Cole
11. Wall
12. Leonard
13. Palestine Westwood
14. Aransas Pass
15. Dallas Village Tech
16. Huntington
17. Marion
18. Holliday
19. Trinity
20. Diboll
21. Lorena
22. Hooks
23. East Chambers
24. Henrietta
25. Corpus Christi West Oso

Class 2A

1. Lipan
2. Gruver
3. Hawkins
4. Hearne
5. Martins Mill
6. Mumford
7. San Augustine
8. Port Aransas
9. Panhandle
10. Slidell
11. Abernathy
12. Thorndale
13. Ropes
14. Goldthwaite
15. Cayuga
16. Wellington
17. Cisco
18. Chireno
19. Windthorst
20. Olton
21. Grapeland
22. Douglass
23. Agua Dulce
24. Munday
25. Forsan

Class 1A

1. Graford
2. Huckabay
3. Texline
4. Brookeland
5. Groveton Centerville
6. Jayton
7. Gordon
8. Richards
9. Slocum
10. Veribest
11. Kennard
12. Avery
13. Neches
14. McMullen County
15. Turkey Valley
16. Milford
17. Coolidge
18. Aspermont
19. Whitharral
20. Fayetteville
21. Robert Lee
22. Wells
23. Nazareth
24. Whiteface
25. Water Valley