Regular season play opens for the 2019-20 boys basketball season this week and Colorado Preps continues to provide previews of each team in each conference.  Today we focus on the San Juan conference which includes teams from both the 2A and 1A classifications.
Mancos (17) won the most games and had the most impressive post-season run a year ago.  The Bluejays made the 2A state tournament again but lost both games in Loveland.  They fell to Holly (57-35) in the opening round and then came up short to Limon (58-48) on day two.  They had earned a visit to the 2A bracket by beating Center (43-29) and Heritage Christian (64-55) in the regional tournament.
Ignacio shared the league title with Ignacio but did not advance past the district tournament round last year as they were upset by both Dolores and Telluride on back-to-back days.  The losses were by a combined six points.  Telluride made the finals at regionals by beating Simla 57-52 in overtime but saw the season come to a close the next night in a 51-39 loss to Byers.
Ouray made the 1A regionals but were eliminated by Evangelical Christian (48-25) and missed the state tournament by one game.
We list the top three returnees for each club in several categories.  Numbers are based on stats posted to MaxPreps during the 2018-19 season.
 
Mancos (17-8)

  • Points: Caden Showalter (5.8), Show Showalter (11.8), Christian Cova (4.9)
  • Rebounds: Showalter (8.3), S. Showalter (4.6), Cova (3.1)
  • Assists: Cova (2.2), S. Showalter (2.0), C. Showalter (1.8)
  • Three’s: Showalter (58), C. Showalter (14), Evan Sehnert (9)

Ignacio (10-10)

  • Points: No stats posted
  • Rebounds: No stats posted
  • Assists: No stats posted
  • Three’s: No stats posted

Ouray (12-7)

  • Points: Jackson Leo (10.1), Channing Green (9.1), Liam Miller (4.5)
  • Rebounds: Green (6.7), Miller (4.8), Judah Preston (4.4)
  • Assists: Miller (1.6), Green (1.2), Preston (0.9)
  • Three’s: Leo (27), Miller (5), Green (1)

Telluride (14-10)

  • Points: No stats posted
  • Rebounds: No stats posted
  • Assists: No stats posted
  • Three’s: No stats posted

Dolores (11-11)

  • Points: William Swagerty (7.5), Kevin Purkat (2.8), Hayden Tallmadge (2.7)
  • Rebounds: Trey Seekins (2.7), Swagerty (2.4), Tallmadge (2.0)
  • Assists: Swagerty (1.2), Purkat (1.0), Seekins (0.8)
  • Three’s: Swagerty (43), Purkat (10), Tallmadge (8)

Ridgway (8-11)

  • Points: Kaden Forrest (10.6), Byrd Williams (9.2), Robert Beserra (6.7)
  • Rebounds: Forest (5.7), Beserra (4.2), Blake Rutherford (3.9)
  • Assists: Beserra (1.8), Jack Dubroff (1.7), Jamling Sherpa (1.0)
  • Three’s: Sherpa (16), Williams (15), Beserra (9)

Dove Creek (7-14)

  • Points: Gauge Thompson (8.3), Ty Smith (5.6), Hayden Gray (4.7)
  • Rebounds: Gray (7.2), Thompson (6.7), Smith (4.1)
  • Assists: Chorbin Cressler (1.2), Branson Smith (1.0), Gray (0.8)
  • Three’s: Smith (18), T. Smith (7), Cressler & Gray (3)

Nucla (3-17)

  • Points: Tyler Wytulka (14.2), Dustin Galarza (5.9), Christian Josephsen (3.5)
  • Rebounds: Wytulka (12.4), Galarza (5.5), Logan Weimer (1.9)
  • Assists: Wytulka (1.5), Galarza (1.1), Josephsen (0.9)
  • Three’s: Josephsen (17), Galarza (4), Wytulka & Carson Gardner (1)