There is a new level of energy and excitement surrounding the Mountain View boys basketball program this season. Show
The man responsible for that is the team’s new head coach, Kendall Brandon. Brandon comes to Mountain View from Liberty Common, where he was a JV coach last year. “I saw an opportunity,” Brandon said. “I knew about some of the players here. I knew they had a lot of seniors that had a lot of capabilities to do big things this year. So, when I saw the job opening, I was excited to apply for it and they chose me, and I am happy.” Brandon inherits the program from former head coach Tony Barnett, who coached the Mountain Lions for three seasons. After going 10-6 and reaching the Class 4A Sweet 16 in 2020-21, Mountain View went 8-16 last year. With a team loaded with seniors, Brandon hopes to begin a culture change at Mountain View. “Right now, we are just trying to change the culture,” Brandon said. “We’re trying to bring that winning attitude. We’re trying to be competitive in everything we do.”  At the top of the list of players that lured Brandon to Mountain View is 6-foot-2 senior Noa Phillips. Phillips averaged nine points per game for the Mountain Lions last season and is also a club standout. He can play point guard, guard and forward. As a player who has been around the program for a few years, Phillips is excited to have a new coach this season and to have the opportunity to change the culture at Mountain View. “It’s awesome,” Phillips said. “It is a completely different atmosphere from last year. We’ve got guys playing hard. It’s fun to play. It’s fun to be around these guys. It’s fun to be around the coaches. (Brandon) helps us persevere through tough times, a lot more than last year, for sure.” The team’s other top returner is senior center Javier Carrillo. Carrillo is the team’s leading returning scorer after averaging 10.5 points per game last year. He is also the team’s leading returning rebounder after averaging 6.7 per game last season. Carrillo is also excited about playing for Brandon this season. “He’s definitely brought a lot of skill and talent,” Carrillo said. “He knows what he is talking about. He knows how to work our players. He’s overall a good coach.” Brandon brings a defensive-minded philosophy to Mountain View. Last season, the team allowed 53 points per game. With his style, Brandon hopes to get that number down with a pressuring and fast-paced defense. “We’re going to push the pace,” Brandon said. “We are going to press everybody. We are going to play fast. We are going to play great defense, outstanding defense. I believe if we play defense we will be in every single game. That’s going to be defensive-minded, fast-paced environment that we are going to play.” Phillips and Carrillo aren’t the only seniors on the team this year. The roster boasts seven of them. Other seniors expected to contribute this season include forwards Ashton Gilbert and Zachery Wind and guards Gavin Hatch, Aidan Vacliff and Cameron Borchert. Brandon hopes that experience and maturity will translate into success this season as well. “We have a senior-laden team,” Brandon said. “We have seven seniors. Noa is a great, great, phenomenal guard in many ways, off the bounce, shooting the ball. Javier is another great player for us. Ashton will be our heart on defense, our talker, communicator, plays great defense.” The Mountain Lions are setting some lofty goals for this season. Those include winning a league championship, making the state tournament after missing out last year, and hosting a playoff game. For the seniors, including Phillips and Carrillo, achieving those goals would mean everything to them in their final year of high school. “We’re trying to turn around the culture from the last couple of years,” Phillips said. “Our biggest goal right now is to have a winning record going into Christmas break, win a couple of games in the state tournament, go far, and I think we can do it. That would be awesome. I’ve been here four years and we’ve played one game in the state tournament, so if we can get there and continue to work as hard as we have all year, it will be really fun.” Mountain View will be tested early in the season. The Mountain Lions lost their opener to Longmont on Tuesday, 56-44. They played at Greeley Central on Thursday and play their third game in four days Friday when they host Mead. Brandon, Phillips and Carrillo believe the tough early-season schedule will be beneficial to the team. “It’s really good for us,” Phillips said. “We have a couple of tough games. I think everyone is up for it.” Loveland Red WolvesHead coach: Chris Gebhardt (third season) Last year: 6-17 Top returners: Garrett Harstad (F; Sr.), Trey Olsen (F; Jr.), Ty Young (F; Sr.), Kyle Powell (G; Sr.), Cohen McCann (C; Sr.) Others to watch: Davis Kinney (F; Jr.) Coach’s outlook: “We have most of our players returning. All of them except for Garrett were first year varsity players last season. They all got some great varsity experience and we learned a lot from taking some bumps from the prior year. This group is coachable and hard-working. We’re excited to see the development and improvement of our program this season. We will be well conditioned and a very competitive team.” Thompson Valley EaglesHead coach: Mike Burkett (fourth season) Last year: 15-10, advanced to second round of 4A state tournament Top returners: Brady Kennison (Jr.), Tristan Youngblood (Sr.), Kellan Schultz (Sr.), Tavin Adamson (Sr.) Others to watch: Chase Manzani (So.), Quinton Calloway (Sr.), Marco LaPierre (Jr.) Coach’s outlook: “Our players have had a great summer and fall and are super excited about the upcoming season. Our goals are to win our area and compete for a Conference Title. We have a lot of good pieces and plan on making some noise in the playoffs.” Berthoud SpartansHead coach: Lee Espinoza (second season) Last year: 2-21 Top returners: Axel Peterson (F; Sr.), Reece Stratmeyer (G/F; Jr.) Others to watch: Issac Erickson (G; So.), Declan Murphy (G; Jr.), Tate Gomes G; Jr.), Jayden Michaelis (G; So.) Coach’s outlook: “We began doing workouts 3 weeks after the conclusion of last season and have really bought into the process of turning this program around. The amount of dedication that everyone has had has been amazing and we’ll look for it to pay off with improvements from last season.” Resurrection Christian CougarsHead coach: Ryan Yoder (third season) Last year: 19-6, advanced to Elite 8 of 3A state tournament Top returners: Ty Yoder (So.), Cade Cutcher (So.), Jacob Barker (Jr.), Marcus Phillips (Jr.) Others to watch: Cody Michaelson (Sr.), Charlie Riggs (Sr.), Jackson Bethune (Sr.), Sam Johnson (Jr.) Coach’s outlook: “As the preseason (CHSAA) poll has us ranked #1 in 4A, we have goals of repeating as conference and regional champions and winning a state title. This will not be easy, as 4A has many very talented, highly skilled, and very capable teams. One of our mantras this season is to “Stay Humble and Hungry” and executing on this will a key to any success we are to have this season.” Loveland Classical LionsHead coach: Tom Meyer (second season) Last year: 7-11 Top returners: Caedon Meyer (G; Jr.) Others to watch: Luke Sainz (G; Jr.) Coach’s outlook: “Hoping to finish above .500 and past the first round of state.”
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