Both of Cottonwood’s basketball teams won Region 10 titles but the boys were the only team to have stayed undefeated through all 12 games. 

In their first year in Class 4A, the Cottonwood boys team might not have had Chris Cox for about six months while he was playing for a highly acclaimed prep team in Arizona. 

According to Cottonwood Athletic Director Greg Southwick, the lack of Cox might have even had an effect on the team’s eventual playoff seeding or how other 4A coaches perceive the Colts. 

In turn, the Colts received a No. 6 seed in the 4A state tournament and will receive a first-round bye. They began play Feb. 23, on their home floor against No. 11 Bear River in a 65-49 victory and were scheduled to play Logan in the quarterfinals at press time..

“Not having Chris at the St. George [holiday] tournament hurt our RPI, I think—but we’ve won all our games since then,” said Southwick of the low seed the Colts got for state.  

Since that point, however, Cottonwood has been on a roll. 

The Colts have been stomping all over their opposition en route to a 14-game win streak that literally started heating up in a big way as soon as Cox had been cleared to play by the UHSAA. 

Cottonwood’s first three games in Region 10 play were all nailbiters—but after that the Colts hit their stride. 

Since Dec. 19, 2023, the Colts have only had one win that wasn’t double digits and that one was the crosstown rivalry game against Hillcrest [a 59-51 win]. 

So, for Cottonwood, another Region 10 title has been won—that was accomplished the week of Feb. 8. 

Now the next question is: what kind of damage could this Colts team cause come state tournament time? 

”I think the boys are one of the top three teams in 4A,” said Southwick, matter-of-factly. 

With Cox back in the fold—he’s already leading Cottonwood in scoring despite having played just nine total games for the black and the gold—spirits are high for a Colts team that fell a tad short of the goals they set last year. 

They all know this and this Colts team still has several key pieces from last year’s squad including Cox on it. 

But, with transfers John Rosevear and Luke Park in from Brighton—where they featured more as role players—both newcomers to the Cottonwood program have accepted larger roles on the Colts and thrived. 

Rosevear, who was the Colts’ leading scorer prior to Cox’s arrival back at Cottonwood, averages just a shade under 17 points per game while Park is scoring the basketball at about nine points an outing—but also averages seven assists to lead the team. 

Add Peter Oguama who is hitting his stride at the right time, scoring the basketball for the first time in double figures at 12 points per game, a huge leap for the 6-foot-4 senior at that, and you’ve got a very dangerous four guys who can carry Cottonwood at any point in time. 

Then there are another three guys in Ryan Nielson, Bo Smith and Mason Tolley who average between five and seven points an outing and another seven guys beyond those mentioned who can come in and play minutes if needed.

It’s a far cry from last year’s team that could really only go eight guys deep, according to Southwick who believes we haven’t seen even one-third of what this team is capable of.  

“I think what makes these guys so dangerous is that we really haven’t seen how good they can be.” λ