Millennium junior guard Maurice Carter II looks over the defense with the ball while seniors Adan Diggs (#1) and Gabe Coronado (#5) wait around the perimeter during a June 13 game against Rolling Hills Prep in Mesa.
Their debut two-point loss to Bremerton (Wash.) June 12 at a top Section 7 bracket was framed as a crushing defeat for a team ranked No. 1 in MaxPreps way too early national Top 25.
Millennium’s core four of seniors Adan Diggs and Adrian Higuera , plus juniors Trey McKinney and Maurice Carter II, were playing together for the first time. The team had two practices together before Section 7.
Such is life in the summer on teams in the upper reaches of the high school basketball ecosystem.
“I told these guys if we would have won every game by 50, no big deal. If we lose every game by 20, no big deal. It’s about getting better every day,” Millennium coach Rich Thornton said June 13. “We’ve got to be good from late February through March.”
The next two days went better, with three wins — all by 10 points. Millennium beat Deer Valley and San Pedro (Calif.) Rolling Hills Prep June 13 and Phoenix Mountain Pointe June 14.
Against Rolling Hills Prep, Carter was more settled in. The Willow Canyon transfer hit all five of his pull-up jumpers for 10 points in the second half.
Thornton said Carter gives the Tigers another dimension.
“It’s hard to do, to just jump on a team that has chemistry. And you’re used to being the Alpha male where you come from,” Thornton said. “He knew coming in that Adrian Higuera is our point guard. All respect to him. He wanted to be on a bigger stage and practicing every day against the kind of players we have.”
The other development during Section 7 was the emergence or a largely new crop of Millennium role players.
Junior shooting guard Kristian Davis impressed his coach. He played on the JV squad last year.
Thornton said he loves to see his hard work pay off.
“He’s such a hard worker. He’s been patient and trusting the process. He’s not one of them guys — and they’re not one of those families — that want everything right now,” Thornton said. “Those are the guys I relate to. He’s got such a great attitude and is such a great team player.”
Senior wing Gabe Coronado just came back from injury. He is the one bench player returning from last year and was an honorable mention all-6A Central Region player.
Offensively, he’s there to punish teams that send double teams to the Tigers’ star players.
“That kid is one of the best shooters in the state when he gets healthy,” Thornton said.
Two incoming freshmen add more options at guard for a program already overflowing with them.
Myles Scott made a pair of threes late in the first half against Rolling Hills. Tyler Dwyer Jr. is considered one of the top incoming players in the state.
“I’d rather have to work on chemistry with a bunch of talent than work on chemistry with not a lot of talent,” Thornton said.
Richard Smith Senior News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps
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.
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