A strange combination of circumstances has made the Region 4 boys basketball picture look a bit muddier than it has been for the past few years.

Except at the top.

"Lone Peak is for sure the one to beat as far as the region championship goes," said Pleasant Grove coach Randy McAllister.

Lehi coach Craig Gladwell agreed.

"With (Tyler) Haws and (Nate) Austin back and with their other kids rounding into shape, the Knights are going to be very good again," he said.

Despite that assessment, however, no one is planning on handing over the league trophy just yet, and Lone Peak coach Quincy Lewis isn't taking it for granted, either.

"For teams in our region, the best basketball is yet to be played," he said. "In the last three or four years, we've had two or three teams from our league on a major roll going into the region season.

"This year, I don't see anybody like that," the coach continued. "There are a few teams that are playing pretty well, but I think the teams in our region are going to get much better than they are now by the time February rolls around.

"I realize we have a team with a new coach, and others where youth and inexperience are replacing kids who've played a few years.

"At the end of the day, though, the teams in our region still have a good level of talent and basically the same group of coaches," Lewis added. "That tells me it's going to be the same tough region by the time all is said and done.

"A few teams may be down from a year ago, but I'm not sure how far you can go with that," Gladwell said. "Pleasant Grove still has the Wilcoxes with a lot of experience and some other good players. It's going to be a real challenge just to give either the Vikings or the Knights a close game."

McAllister had some praise for the Pioneers as well.

"Lehi is exactly what I saw them to be in the summer," he said. "They're a really, really solid team this year and they have a real shot at making the playoffs and competing for a region championship. The other three teams are all doing the best they can with who they have. It's unusual to have those exceptional situations all in the same season.

"Since we get only three slots to the tournament this year, when it comes down to it, it might be about who's going to lose to those teams, because they will get their wins," McAllister predicted.

Here's a look at how the squads in Region 4 are shaping up:

CONTENDERSSFlbLone Peak (8-2)

With only one returning starter back from last year's championship season, the Knights have been very much a work in progress.

"I think the defense is playing better than when we started and we're shooting much better," Lewis said. "Our players have taken a step forward."

Of course, it doesn't hurt to have the reigning Mr. Basketball as someone to build your team around. Haws is averaging 23.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.

"Tyler is doing what he normally does and more," his coach said. "He's adjusted to his new position rather well."

Austin is averaging a near double-double, and the team is getting solid contributions from the rest of the regular rotation as well.

Lehi (8-2)

"We're a lot farther ahead than we were a year ago," Gladwell said. "There's a couple of reasons for that. We'd just moved to 5A last year and we had no experienced players, but now we have some. It's hard to say right now where we are in the region, but I'm sure we have the same goal as the others to make the top three," the coach continued. "I've seen that some are picking us to finish in that group, but picking and finishing are not the same thing.

"Record-wise, we've done well so far and we've been getting good experience for some of our other kids. We need more consistent play out of some of them. If we get it, we've got a shot to make the playoffs."

Athletic senior forward Jacob Obioma and junior center Will Walker are leading the charge so far, but the other Pioneer starters are also showing well and they have a deep bench.

Pleasant Grove (7-4)

"I see us in a place where we know more about ourselves than we did a month and a half ago," McAlister said. "It's been very eye-opening putting all these kids together for the first time. The learning and growing process is a lot farther along now. I'm not disappointed in our showing at this point," he went on. "We have room for improvement with some issues we're addressing and need to address.

"For us, it will be a matter of beating the teams we're supposed to beat and maybe getting a couple wins that we're not supposed to get."

Just in case anybody forgot how good CJ Wilcox is, he just hung 39 points on No. 5 Alta on Tuesday, and LeSean has outscored CJ a time or two already. Sefa Tanoai is another guy that can't be left open.

BUILDING FOR NEXT YEARSFlbTimpanogos (2-9)

The Timberwolves are senior-heavy and show potential, but they are still working at putting things together under new coach Brad Crowther.

"They're a big, physical team that has some athletes," Gladwell said. "That's the kind of group that can get you if you're not paying attention."

Senior guards Parker Brown, Jensen Nelson and Trevor Thomas can all go off, but Timpanogos has struggled at the free throw line and needs to improve its overall offensive efficiency.

Spanish Fork (2-8)

The Dons lost a lot of their seniors to new school Salem Hills, but Breck Lewis is one of the two that's left, and he's a dangerous player.

Add solid athletes like Adam Duke, Travis Still, Ren Williamson and others, and this team will always be a threat to upset.

"I just remember how tough they were last year," Gladwell said. "We're not going to assume anything."

American Fork (0-11)

Coach Doug Meacham is almost starting over with a bunch of underclassmen, but those kids are getting a lot of experience and will continue to get better.

"It's always such a rivalry game with them, we can't ever count them out," Gladwell said.

Sophomore Tanner LeBaron and juniors Ben Beddes and Jake Blackhurst have provided most of the offensive punch so far.

The opening night matchups feature American Fork at Lehi, Spanish Fork at Lone Peak and Timpanogos at Pleasant Grove. All are set to for tipoff at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

• Beky Beaton can be reached at bbeaton@heraldextra.com.