Cottonwood girls face major hurdle on court

Looking at this year’s prospectus for Cottonwood High’s girls basketball team, it’s hard to imagine this is the same team that reached the state quarterfinals last season.

After averaging seven wins and 14 losses over the previous nine seasons, the Colts had a major breakthrough last year, finishing 15-6 overall and reaching the 5A quarterfinals, where they lost to state runner-up Syracuse 40-31. Along the way, Cottonwood handed Skyline its only region loss and defeated Taylorsville to claim its first playoff victory in almost two decades.

Flash forward to this season and the Colts seem to be starting over from scratch. Top scorers Vika Havili and McKenzie Anderson have each graduated, leaving Tina Hosea and several untested players to pick up the slack. Havili, who averaged 12 points per game, made first team All-Region and third team All-State. Anderson, who averaged 10 points, made the All-Region second team and earned All-State honorable mention. Hosea is the top returning scorer after averaging seven points per game last year.

Cottonwood played consistently well throughout region play last year, finishing 9-3 and tied with Hunter for second place behind Skyline. After losing to the Eagles 47-19 in their first meeting, the Colts stunned Skyline 33-31 in the rematch. Cottonwood also had separate winning streaks of four and seven games during the season and won seven more games than the previous year.

Sierra Durfee and Whitney Taylor have also graduated, while Kari Uncles is being counted on to support Hosea and lead the Colts this season.

The Colts’ move to Region 3 this year could be a positive one. Reigning 5A state champion Alta and perennial power Brighton seem to be the top two teams, but Copper Hills, Jordan and West Jordan went a collective 14-49 last season in their respective regions. Cottonwood was scheduled to open the season Nov. 22 at Payson.