Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 | noon
Foothill High basketball 2014-15 season preview
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The Foothill High basketball team won’t change much in its approach this season. That’s bad news for the rest of the teams in the Southeast League.
The Falcons have won nine straight league titles, including going undefeated the past two seasons.
“The kids don’t want the streak to end,” Foothill coach Kevin Soares said. “It gives us a lot to shoot for in that sense.”
Soares is a big reason for the success and widely considered one of the city’s best coaches. Foothill opened in 1999 and he’s been the Falcons’ lone coach, making him the longest tenured coach in Southern Nevada.
“When you have tradition and you have young kids coming in who have come to games or come to camps and want to be part of the program, it gives us a head start in a sense,” Soares said.
Foothill will also have a head start this season because of 6 foot 7 post player Torrance Littles, who is usually the biggest player on the court. In the season opener last week against Palo Verde, he poured in a game-high 32 points and missed just four shots. Tuesday, he scored a Foothill-best 20 points against Valley.
“It is a role I got real comfortable doing,” Littles said of being Foothill’s leader. “It is nothing new to me. I just have to play tough.”
Other players to watch include guards Kevin Woodland, Colin Curi and Ryan Rapp — three seniors with plenty of experience in the program.
“Give it to Torrance in the post and we will be good,” Woodland said.
While Foothill has dominated the Southeast, primarily Henderson area schools, it hasn’t been as fortunate in the playoffs. Despite being the top seed, the Falcons have come up short in the regional semifinals to past three seasons.
That’s why Soares is aggressive in preparing the Foothill schedule, adding non-league games against teams they’d have to beat in the playoffs. They lost to one of those teams Tuesday, falling by four points to Valley.
“The things we don’t see on our side with athleticism they see night in and night out,” Soares said.
When the playoffs come, though, the players are confident Soares will have them ready to compete for the Sunrise championship. After all these years, they’ve learned what to expect.
“He pushes us to the limit,” Woodland said. “He helps us to become better men and gives us leadership.”
Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21
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