Goodyear's silent slasher: Tosi’s play demands attention

By Richard Smith
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Kingston Tosi has lived in Arizona for five years, yet on a Millennium boys basketball team that has mostly played together since elementary school, he’s still a new guy.

The Tosi family moved from Alaska to Arizona when Kingston was in the eighth grade and got to know Millennium coach Ty Amundsen through the Arizona Storm club. He immediately started for the Tigers as a freshman and became one of the cornerstones of that team.

Yet on a team in the national top 40 in 2023-24, Tosi remained in the shadows despite growing to 6-8, becoming a deadly attacker and finisher and averaging close to 20 points. Then he led the Tigers to a win in the toughest Section 7 bracket while averaging 27 points a game, and received 13 more Division I offers before June 2024 ended.

“It was a blessing. Before that I thought I was being underrated,” Tosi said. “But I stayed confident and I trusted in my abilities. I had time. It put us on a great platform to be seen. All those coaches texting me was overwhelming, but in a good way.”

More people should have paid attention all along. His father, Mao, played two years for the Arizona Cardinals, and also was a part of a legendary Anchorage (Alaska) East High School basketball team in the 1990s.

Kingston tried football at a youth camp but decided to stick with basketball. His older brother, Bishop, plays college hoops for Alaska-Anchorage.

“We didn’t know he was going to be 6-8. Obviously there’s his pedigree and genes, with his dad playing in the NFL. He was already super athletic. Then the finishing ability and the strength and all that started to come in going into his sophomore year, when he started to make a jump,” Amundsen said.

Tosi said Amundsen and veteran Millennium players like Reginald Orr helped him get used to high school ball. He also built more chemistry with fellow freshmen JT Amundsen and Quincy Everson.

Freshman wings Cameron Holmes and Brayden Barrett joined the mix in 2022-23. The Tigers lost a close second-round Open Division game at Liberty, then reached the 5A final at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, losing to Gilbert Campo Verde.

That team also set the dynamic for the next three years in place. The stoic Tosi sliced up teams silently, taking the ball to the basket and hitting enough jumpers to keep the defense honest while the flashier, emotional Holmes hit the big threes and dunked in the open court.

“When we first got those two together, we said, ‘sugar and spice.’ Kingston is so even keeled and it doesn’t matter what the score is,” Amundsen said.

Tosi said his favorite trip with the frequent flying Tigers was a sophomore year tournament in Hawaii.

Millennium added more miles last season, as star senior guard Sabien Cain arrived from Indiana and Amundsen’s best team yet went 21-4 in the regular season and undefeated in Arizona.

Inexplicably, the Tigers entered the Open Division playoffs as the No. 6 seed, and took down 2023 Open runner up Sunnyslope in its Phoenix gym and obliterated No. 2 Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep 65-38 in the semifinals.

Millennium grabbed a first-half lead against two-time defending champ Gilbert Perry and five-star forward Koa Peat before losing an epic Open Division final 71-67 at Veterans Memorial.

“Losing two in a row is tough. But we want it more than anything this year. We’ve got guys who are going to leave. We’ve got to finish our senior years off right,” Tosi said.

Millennium junior forward Kingston Tosi finishes a layup during the Open Division boys basketball final against Gilbert Perry March 2, 2024 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. Tosi signed in November to play for Utah State next year. (Arianna Grainey/West Valley Preps)

If this is the breakthrough team, it will most resemble the youth club squad Tosi joined when he moved here. Everson and Holmes were already in the mix. JT Amundsen, Darius Alegria and Damian Castro have played together since third or fourth grade.

Cain graduated, Barrett transferred to Verrado and two out-of-state players originally headed to Millennium ended up at smaller East Valley schools. The core is still strong, with sophomore guard Adrian Higuera now the new guy.

“Everyone cares about each other very deeply. Aside from basketball, we’re all going to be friends at the end of the day,” Tosi said.

Holmes and Tosi can both erupt for 30-plus in any game and set up shooters Amundsen, Everson and Higuera.

As Section 7 and a couple of tournaments this year showed, this combination can take down national top 20 teams.

“A lot of that credit goes to Kingston,” Amundsen said. “I called all my coaching friends when he had two or three offers, and I said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to offer this kid. It’s a chance to get in now.’ After Section 7 they’re calling me and he’s got 28 offers. ‘What do you want me to do now?’ I think he made a great choice.”

Tosi verbally committed to Utah State in September and officially signed with the Aggies Nov. 15.

He said he felt comfortable in Logan, and also liked the Aggies plans for him and their play style.

“They’ve always had success, so you can trust in what their results have shown before. Coach Calhoun is a great guy and a great coach. And you see that they’re doing really well this year,” Tosi said.

Following early losses to O’Connor at two top California private schools, Millennium found its footing in City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., before Christmas.

The standout result is a 68-63 loss to national power Montverde Academy.

“We played Montverde and a lot of people weren’t expecting much but we ended up only losing by five. So we know we can go out and compete with anyone, no matter where we are,” Tosi said.

Then the Tigers went 2-1 at the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions in Springfield, Missouri, knocking off national top 20 team Milton (Georgia).

Tosi is not there for the mixtape crowd, despite being the dunk contest winner at Bass Pro.

“That’s what the college coaches really loved about him, his demeanor. He’ll dunk on somebody and not even do or say anything,” Amundsen said. “I think he’s earned a lot of respect around Arizona because of that. He doesn’t show that flash.”

In that respect, Amundsen said Mao Tosi has a very similar personality.

“I think his dad and his family taught him to be respectful, respect the game and your opponents and your coaches. I haven’t heard anything from them in four years in terms of what Kingston’s development looks like. They wanted me to be very involved in the college choice, which is very unique nowadays,” Tosi said.

Millennium is ranked No. 3 in the Open Division after splitting region games with No. 2 Sunnyslope. Perry still looms at No. 1.

“Playing with Cam, I think we’re the best duo in the state. Teams try to focus on us two, but it’s hard to contain us two because we’re that good,” Tosi said.

While Amundsen rarely goes beyond one or two players on the bench, he likes where this team is at as the playoffs start.

“I told everyone I’m not going to get emotional tonight, but at the banquet, when I have to say bye, that’s different,” Amundsen said. “We’ve got the experience and the schedule to be able to do it. We’ve got the players to do it and the system to do it. On any given day anybody can beat anybody. We’re in a lot better situation this year than we were last year, coming in at 6 and going through the gauntlet. We had to go to Sunnyslope in the quarterfinals.”

Richard Smith
Senior News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps

rsmith@iniusa.org

Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.

An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.

For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.

As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.