It wasn’t great news for any basketball team to hear midway through a season.

A 7-foot star decides to depart for a prep school, taking with him a much-needed inside presence on both ends of the court.

Say this for the Sierra Vista boys team — it never missed a beat.

Stared adversity in the face and never blinked.

The Mountain Lions responded by running the table in the Desert League and next face Clark in a 4A state semifinal Friday at Valley.

They responded just as coach Joe Bedowitz had hoped.

He thought it might happen before the season. That four-star center Xavion Staton — with offers from the likes of Arizona, Michigan, USC, Stanford, Kansas and others — might head to Utah Prep before things tipped off.

But the BYU commit didn’t leave until after a Christmas tournament.

Facing the challenge

Staton’s departure forced Sierra Vista to play differently, especially on defense. He was no longer on the back end to clean up mistakes. No longer there to protect the rim.

And yet the remaining players took it as a challenge. They more than stepped up. More than embraced the idea of putting their bodies on the line and taking more charges.

“We used it all to galvanize ourselves in the second half of the season,” Bedowitz said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy without (Staton) and some of the changes we had to make. It was definitely a mixed bag of (feelings). He had been here since his freshman year, a mainstay.

“We just didn’t quit. We found a way to come together. We always seemed to find a way and are now playing some of the best basketball we’ve played this year.”

Bedowitz set a difficult schedule to start and finish the season. For good reason. Sierra Vista (24-5) lost three games early, all to nationally ranked teams. Then as the season wound down and the playoffs were about to commence, the Mountain Lions lost to Bishop Gorman.

In between Sierra Vista beat Coronado, which won the 5A Southern League regular-season title.

It was all part of the plan.

Bedowitz wanted his team to be prepared for the playoffs. It has certainly looked the part.

“It’s one of those things where a coach sees the ability of his team and wants to challenge it,” he said. “It was a beneficial way for us to (schedule). No disrespect to any of my league comrades, but I wanted us going into the playoffs having seen a strong team (like Bishop Gorman).”

Sierra Vista is not the same without Staton, and nobody would expect it to be.

But it’s a credit to Bedowitz’s coaching and the buy-in from his players that the team is two wins away from defending its state championship. Sierra Vista won it all last year after defeating Reno High in a semifinal and Damonte Ranch in the title game at UNR’s Lawlor Events Center.

So much for the top Northern schools dropping down to 4A for an easier path to a championship. At least on the boys’ side of things.

Sierra Vista undoubtedly became smaller in Staton’s absence. Colton Knoll, a 6-foot-3 senior, was suddenly the team’s big man. Things can go awry for the Mountain Lions sometimes — they did against Bishop Gorman — when their remaining frontcourt players get into foul trouble.

Knoll, however, knows something about winning a championship.

He was on the 2023 Durango team that captured a 5A title, the one that beat Liberty when the Patriots were led by now-UNLV sophomore point guard Dedan Thomas Jr.

Sticking together

Sierra Vista senior guard Jevon Yapi also played on that Durango team. He and Knoll now aim to hoist another trophy along with their Mountain Lions teammates and coaches.

“We’ve had to go through some situations this season,” Knoll said. “But we decided to stick together and not fall apart and not let anything on the outside get to us. Players come. Players leave. We’re excited for this week. We think we have a great shot. Just have to do what we do best and stick together and we’ll be good.

“The most special thing about this team is how close-knit it has become. We don’t have a lot of size now, so we just have to do our best.”

It has been more than enough.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at [email protected]. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.