Millennium girls play like champs in OT to hold off O'Connor in open final

By Richard Smith
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PHOENIX - At times this season, it looked like Millennium would cruise to a second straight girls basketball Open Division title.

O’Connor gave the Tigers a bit of pause in their regular season matchup, storming back from a big deficit before falling 54-47. Chandler Hamilton beat Millennium 57-49 on Jan. 13 in Goodyear, but subsequent results indicated that was a fluke.

Valley Vista nearly won their annual battle in Surprise, with Millennium surviving 52-50 on Feb. 3. In order to repeat on March 7, the Tigers received their most stern test.

O’Connor had its second shot and was making the most of it, leading 42-34 with six minutes left after Franny Sophia’s three. Millennium showed championship resolve, pressing relentlessly to come back and tie the title game at 48, then dominating overtime to win 58-52.

“That’s the beauty of our team. We’re so versatile. We can do so many different things and play different styles in a game. That’s the blessing of having these kids that work so hard. You never feel like you’re out of a game,” Millennium Coach Danny Soliman said.

The run began with freshman Brooklyn Williams’ made free throw, allowing the Tigers to set up their press. A pattern emerged, Millennium forced a turnover – five in the quarter ‑ and freshman center Amaya-Ribbens Brown scored a basket.

Millennium junior guard hit a free throw to tie it at 42. O’Connor junior guard Risi Lancaster and Ribbens-Brown each made one of two free throws.

Junior guard Dashia Richardson stole it and two passes later Ribbens-Brown scored to give the Tigers a 45-43 lead. Eagles senior forward Audrey Bhesania hit two free throws to tie.

Then the 6-3 Ribbens-Brown stepped into a three with the confidence and skill of a 5-6 guard. Millennium lead 48-45 with 1:41 left.

“That three totally changed the game and our bench was hyped,” Ribbens-Brown said.

O’Connor regrouped, with Lancaster hitting two from the line. Then the Eagles forced a Millennium shot clock violation and sophomore wing Sophia Davis hit one of two with 37.8 seconds left to end the scoring in regulation.

This was the #4 seed’s first time qualifying for the final eight for the Open Division, and the North Phoenix school nearly won the whole thing.

“Give them about a week or so and they’ll figure out we’re a really special group. And we’ve got a chance to be back here year after year, if we stay consistent and bought into what we’re doing. I think we’ve got the talent. And experience is the best teacher,” O’Connor Coach Charles Wilson said.

Ribbens-Brown, Richardson and sophomore guard Mariah Brownlee scored in quick succession for #2 Millennium (25-4) seized control. Richardson fed Ribbens-Brown for a layup and 56-48 lead.

The versatile freshman big entered the fourth quarter with three points, then scored 10 points and grabbed four boards in the quarter. Ribbens-Brown finished with 17 points and six rebounds and was named the game’s MVP.

“Both teams grew so much over the last three months since we played. Deja wasn’t starting. Brownlee’s coming back from a neck injury. Amaya has become what you guys saw right now, she’s a force,” Soliman said. “Our kids have learned so much and grown so much. They’re not freshmen anymore.”

The Tigers’ coach to the man press late.

Guard T’Maea Eteuati is the team’s lone senior. She moved in from Utah last summer.

“We run situations in practice a lot. For nervous moments and ends of quarters. We run that, so I have to give it all to coach Soli. He’s an amazing coach. He already put us through those type of situations before we got there,” Etetuati said.

Offensively, Soliman said he trusts Richadson and Brownlee to make the decisions.

A year after Destiny “Ky’She” Lunan ran the show, her 2024-25 backcourt partner Richardson (12 points) had the keys.

“Throughout the season we’ve had our ups and downs and we’ve learned how to battle through adversity,” Richardson said.

As usual, Bhesania, Softa and junior guard Ava Schooler served as the creators for O’Connor (24-3) and sank some threes along the way.

The Eagles were cooking in the second quarter, briefly building a 20-11 lead.

However, Millennium forced seven turnovers in the quarter and the teams went to the break tied.

“We had a seven-point lead at one point and then we had four bad turnovers and it cuts it down. Now we’re going into half tied instead of up. Those are big moments,” Wilson said. “I thought it was really self inflicted.”

Schooler led all players with 20 points, though a hard fall on her hip in the fourth quarter slowed her late. Lancaster added eight points and four assists.

Wilson said he believes the team can be back next year.

They’ll have to do so without the graduating Bhesania, who arrived with Wilson in 2022 and became the foundation piece of the program. She had 12 points and 12 rebounds in her final game.

“That kid works off the court with community service. She works with our special needs team. She’s a 4.5 weighted GPA student. She’s just phenomenal. I can’t say anything bad about her. I call her the goat of OC,” Wilson said. “I kind of compare her to Cam. You hate to see them go out like that because they stuck it out all four years. These are kids that obviously, some people were calling. She made it very clear that she wanted to be here and change things.”

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.