Millennium, O'Connor girls book rematch for Arizona Open Division crown

By Richard Smith
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Millennium’s 54-47 win Dec. 15 at O’Connor felt like an opening skirmish with a bigger battle down the road, possibly for the main state title.

The stakes for the rematch could not be higher, as #2 seed and defending champion Millennium (24-4) and #4 O’Connor (24-2) won their Open Division semifinals Wednesday. They will play for the big trophy at 5 p.m. Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 1826 W. McDowell Road, Phoenix.

Both teams are considerably different than they were nearly three months ago.

Sophomore guard Franny Sophia is a crucial cog for the Eagles that was sitting out then after transferring from Liberty. Millennium freshmen Brooklyn Williams and Amaya Ribbens-Brown  are different players now and senior T’Maea Eteuati has a full season with the team.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” O’Connor Coach Charles Wilson said. “I think we’ve learned about how to finish games. That game was early, before the Texas trip and a lot of things. We hadn’t learned how to win as a team yet. I’m glad that we got to see that.”

O’Connor holds on against top seed

The Eagles led the entire game against top seed Gilbert Perry (25-3) but by the fourth quarter its offense was wheezing. Midway through the fourth quarter they had only scored five points in the quarter and their 41-36 lead was tenuous at best.

Perry was having success scoring in transition. Buy O’Connor junior guard Ava Schooler, then Sophia, picked off outlet passes on consecutive possessions to maintain the five-point lead.

“We talked about it in film. We saw it against Higley and Basha. We saw it when they went to their out of state tournament. I’m proud of our girls for being disciplined and having that awareness,” Wilson said.

Schooler is the team’s leading scorer and was having a quiet five-point night offensively. Following the steals, she made another pivotal play late in the fourth quarter.

After a disjointed possession led to a heave from three, Schooler grabbed an offensive rebound, wheeled and passed to a cutting Risi Lancaster. Her layup gave the Eagles a 43-36 lead that they would not lose.

“We actually work on that all the time during practice. That’s the main thing we go to when everything breaks down is to just cut to the middle. I knew everything was going to work out,” Lancaster said.

It was only fitting. Tuesday was Lancaster’s night.

While Schooler made winning plays in other aspects of the game Lancaster, the Eagles’ defense-first guard, was feeling it. She hit threes for O’Connor’s first two buckets, then another trey in the second quarter.

“My threes were falling (in warmups). I’ve worked real hard on it every day in the gym since playoffs. It just started falling this game. I’m very blessed,” Lancaster said.

Her final three started the fourth quarter after Perry scored the final two buckets of the third quarter to cut its deficit to 36-33. A pair of free throws and that diving layup later, she finished with a game-high 16 points.

“The media guys from AZPreps asked me who is going to be the difference. I said, ‘It’s Risi,’” Wilson said. “I was shocked when they left her. Coach was telling one of their players, ‘Just leave her.’ I thought okay let’s fire away. I knew she was due for one of the offensive side of the floor. She’s been a juggernaut defensively.”

Junior forward Trinity Jones was the Pumas’ best player on the night. She scored to cut the Eagles’ lead to 43-38.

With less than a minute left, another key steal put it to bed. Senior forward Audrey Bhesania tipped a pass to a Puma in the corner with the back of her hand and turned around to grab the ball.

She was fouled, but it was Perry’s fourth in the quarter. The Pumas pressed the inbounds pass but Lancaster threw it ahead to sophomore wing Mia Davis, who passed off to Schooler to bleed some time – but she laid it in.

“Mia was getting on Ava about that layup too, in the time out. She said, ‘I was trying to hold and run clock.’ I get it but Ava wanted to seal the deal,” Wilson said. “Ava came up big in the second half on the defensive side of the ball.”

Millennium girls basketball celebrates March 3 on punching its ticket for the Open Division title game. (Richard Smith/West Valley Preps)

Millennium leaves no doubt

The first semifinal at Corona del Sol High School featured a bigger, louder crowd as Agua Fria district schools Canyon View and Millennium renewed their rivalry after two years off.

But the Tigers removed the drama from this game in the second half, building a three-point halftime lead to as many as 17 points before easing off the throttle. #2 Millennium (24-4) beat #11 Canyon View (22-7) 48-37.

The Jaguars had difficulty scoring in half court sets all night. Canyon View cut its deficit to 22-19 late in the second quarter, converting three steals into two layups and a pair of free throws.

“Going into half we knew that we were just throwing the ball away. So we knew after halftime to just take care of it because our defense was already doing what it needed to do,” sophomore guard Mariah Brownlee said.

Message received. The Tigers scored the first seven points of the third quarter and never really looked back.

Brownlee scored two of those buckets, then sank a pair of free throws. She sliced through the Canyon View defense, leading all scorers with 17 points.

“At halftime we talked about how they were sitting in the paint. We needed to attack off one more kick. With my man, I knew to do one more shot fake and then attack the gaps.”

Junior guard Daisha Richardson scored the Tigers first seven points and finished with 16. She also played a crucial role on the defense that held the Jaguars under 40 points.

Millennium puts the clamps on the Jaguars in a five-point third quarter.

“We were able to scout them and have a great scout team on our side. We were well prepared for this game, and even though we had our ups and downs we were able to stay composed and get the dub,” Richardson said.

Brownlee said she watched the last Millennium vs Canyon View playoff game from the stands two years ago. The middle school student saw the Jaguars win 49-46 in the 5A semifinal on the way to their first state title.

Richardson was a freshman in that game, which remains Millennium’s last playoff loss. So Tuesday’s win was extra sweet.

“It’s a great feeling. At the end of the day, we worked super hard for this,” Richardson said.

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.