From the onset of the 2021-2022 season the goal has been clear for Sedona Red Rock High School boys basketball: Set the standard for the program’s future. Four seasons removed from the team’s last playoff win following an 18-17 record in 2017-2018, the Scorpions have been stuck in limbo.

In the three full seasons since, Sedona has teetered on the scale of average, showing flashes of potential at times but with mostly negative results. The Scorpions have had great players funnel in, but a revolving door of coaches has made the ground unstable for the program to mount any long-term success.

Head coach Pedro Ortega, in his second year since taking the reins of the Scorpions’ boys basketball squad, has made strides on that front. He guided Sedona to a 6-5 record in the pandemic-altered 2020-2021 schedule, marking the first winning season for the Scorpions since that No. 7 finish in the 2A Conference four years ago.

But as with most successful teams at the high school level, the Scorpions had to start fresh, losing three starters to graduation and two key bench pieces. This opened the door to some young talent, but that typically doesn’t lead to on-court success right away.

At the beginning of the current season Ortega laid out expectations bluntly — this is a young team, and it’s going to take some time. And it has.

“It’s been a challenge,” said sophomore guard Ben Cook after a team practice Monday night. “We’re really young … We have chemistry because we know each other, but I’d say its been a challenge. Most of us are first year varsity players, so it’s had its ups and downs.”

As of press, the Scorpions are 6-11, when taking a late-December invitational tournament into account, leaving them with the No. 37 ranking among 2A’s 48 ranking-eligible squads. But for a team that regularly starts just one senior in center Dorian Stevens’, it’s all going according to plan.

The “ups and downs” Cook refers to have taken hold on this team. The “ups” have been extraordinarily high. The Scorpions took down 3A Chino Valley on Jan. 8 for its biggest win thus far. While the team has the “no moral victories” mentality, Sedona fell by just two points to 2A Central region rival Scottsdale Prep. on Jan. 28, after losing by 13 to the same team three weeks prior.

Those strides are being taken into account by the young roster.

“At the beginning of the year we didn’t really know ourselves as a team,” said junior point guard Max Metzger. “We’re getting closer to figuring out who we are and we’re building up to get better and better.”

Metzger and Cook makeup an impressive backcourt unit that has gotten stronger as the season goes on. Ortega told the Red Rock News early on in the year that confidence would be key for that tandem, and it has proven to be true.

After a string of solid shooting performances, Cook was inserted into the starting lineup and delivered with multiple games over 20 points. Metzger has proven to be one of the clutch shooters, hitting big shots when the Scorpions need them most.

Sophomore Joan Rodriguez, the presumptive replacement for Dorian Stevens next year, has perhaps shown the biggest growth throughout the year. When Stevens missed time due to an ankle injury, Rodriguez filled in more than adequately in the “dirty work” role, providing rim protection on defense and being physical on the boards.

Those strides give hope to a team who’s results haven’t quite been there thus far.

“From the start of the season to now, we’re a lot better,” Cook said. “A lot of these games, last year we may have lost by 20. Now we’re competing against some of the best teams.”

But those intangible steps aren’t good enough, these players say. With one year remaining for Metzger and two for others like Rodriguez, Cook and Carlos Gonzalez, who should have a larger role next season, looking ahead to the future isn’t always going to be a fall back plan. They know that more work is required in order to make Sedona a contender in the 2A Central region.

“I expect [Gonzalez] to take a big leap,” Metzger said. “I expect [junior center Kale Emerson] to take a big leap. Ben [Cook] and I need to take leaps, everybody needs to take big leaps. Everybody needs to develop their games and get better and better next year.”

Before that can happen, the Scorpions hope to finish strong this season. They’ll play their final home game Friday night at 7 p.m. as Sedona hosts Desert Heights Prep. Acadmey for Senior Night at Sedona Red Rock High School.