HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL: KUHN KEY TO ANOTHER LEAGUE TITLE CANYON HIGH SENIOR IS `GO-TO GUY' ON BASKETBALL COURT.

Byline: SEAN CEGLINSKY Staff Writer

The Canyon High boys' basketball team showed signs of improvement during summer league play, but ultimately, the Cowboys will go as far as Ryan Kuhn takes them once the regular season rolls around later this month.

Last Saturday marked the first official day of practice, and the 6-foot-1 senior was one of the few players in attendance with varsity experience. He played on last season's team that edged out Valencia and Burroughs of Burbank for the Foothill League title.

If Canyon hopes to duplicate the feat, Kuhn will be key.

``This is Ryan's team,'' Cowboys coach Chad Phillips said.

Kris Rincon, Chase Wilmore, Casey Floyd, Bryan Lewis and Lucas Guidroz accounted for most of the offense a season ago. However, they graduated in June, leaving the Cowboys with plenty of holes to fill over the past two months during offseason play.

Jerrid McKenna, Mark Lewis and Cody Anderson appear to be capable replacements, but Kuhn emerged as the leader, without peer or question.

``He was lighting up the scoreboard this summer,'' Phillips said.

``He was good last year, but his improvement has been tremendous.''

It shouldn't come as a major surprise since Kuhn was third on the team in scoring as a junior, averaging 9.3 points per game. He proved to be explosive at times, too, finishing with 15 or more points in eight different games, including three with 20 or more points.

``We're going to be counting on him this year,'' Phillips said.

``When he played well this summer, we did, too. He's our go-to guy.''

There are plenty of questions surrounding the program at Hart heading into this season after the program lost several key players to graduation, most notably being standout Josh Herman, who led the Indians in nearly every significant offensive category as a senior.

Brian Kimble provided some answers over the summer, though, and the 6-foot senior appeared to be close to midseason form this past week during the Indians' practices.

``Brian plays hard,'' Hart coach Tom Kelly said. ``His work ethic rubs off on other players.''

It's somewhat unreasonable to expect him to replace the production and leadership displayed by Herman, who's playing for The Master's.

Those types of qualities develop over time.

Kimble has his own strengths, particularly his versatility. He can play both guard positions and some small forward, which poses matchup problems for opponents regardless of where he's at out on the floor. And he was one of the Indians' top three rebounders as a junior.

``He's not going to score a lot of points but he's going to do the little things for us,'' Kelly said. ``He covers up for other guys' mistakes. He can be a leader for us.''

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Senior Ryan Kuhn averaged 9.3 points per game on last year's Foothill League champion Canyon High School basketball team. Canyon graduated four starters and Kuhn has emerged as the leader of the team.

Alex Collins/Special to the Daily News