Last season, Nogales High School was able to make the Class 4A-I state tournament with senior standout Juan Suarez averaging 15.9 points a game. Suarez, a 5-10 guard who made All-District and Honorable Mention in the All-state rankings will not be easy to replace.
Suarez signed a letter of intent to play for Western New Mexico and will be playing college basketball in Silver City for the next four years.
Suarez was the 10th-best scorer in Southern Arizona, averaged 8 assists and stole the ball three times while shooting 41 percent, these stats say one thing: It will be very tricky for Apache coach Ricardo De La Riva to find a way to replace this output.
De La Riva’s conflict is to find a way to build on the past success while missing his standout guard.
The Apaches were 22-7 last year overall while 14-4 in the regular season, a very respectable record for which the Apaches hope to obtain continued success. The team finished second to Cienega in the Kino 4A regiona and lost a heartbreaking 68-67 game in the first round of the playoffs.
The Apaches play 21 games this year with 12 home games.
Highlight games to watch out for is the November 24 opening regular season game at Canyon Del Oro High School, a school that consistently puts out winning teams and plays tough basketball.
CDO always has a respectable basketball team and plays highly regarded basketball. The score from this game should be a strong indicator right away of what kind of team De La Riva has this year without his college bound standout Suarez.
Other games to watch for are conference games versus Flowing Wells, Sahuaro, Desert View, Cienega and Sabino. Nogales is at a disadvantage in that they travel more than any team in their division because of the location of their schools.
Other games to watch for are conference games versus Flowing Wells, Sahuaro, Desert View, Cienega and Sabino. Nogales is at a disadvantage in that they travel more than any team in their division because of the location of their schools.
Imagine traveling an hour to play basketball once to twice a week and you can see how the team will need De La Riva to keep them sharp, hungry and mentally acute throughout the season.
A season that will stretch from November 24th until the closing game February 4th. If Nogales can build on past success a playoff is scheduled to start later in February.
A season that will stretch from November 24th until the closing game February 4th. If Nogales can build on past success a playoff is scheduled to start later in February.
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