Tigers girls basketball’s lone senior moves in to Goodyear, fits in

By Richard Smith
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Millennium girls basketball remains the favorite to repeat as Open Division champions despite the fact its only senior is the new girl in town.

In this case, it helps greatly that the newcomer is T’Maea Eteuati. The 5-8 guard does a bit of everything on the court and is talented enough to have committed to play Division I ball at Colgate next season.

Even better for the Tigers, who entered a Jan. 10 home showdown with Tucson Salpointe Catholic with a 9-3 record, Eteuati is proving to be a no fuss star player who showed up on Millennium’s doorstop.

“I’d never seen her before. The Lord works in mysterious ways,” Millennium Coach Danny Soliman said. “She’s been a blessing for us to have and is a great kid.”

Her family reached out to athletic director Remigo Gordillo as summer began. Eteuati played her first three years at Davis High School in Utah.

Eteuati played in the Lady X tournament the last two days of May before moving into Millennium or really seeing the school.

But she quickly found the team and type of game she was looking for when she moved to Arizona.

“It definitely was something I was looking forward to just because I was able to play a different type of basketball. Arizona is very different than Utah basketball,” Eteuati said. “Arizona is more aggressive and defense oriented. Utah is more like shooters. It’s not as fast paced. It’s more of getting in our sets. There’s only a couple of good teams in the state, and I feel like AZ has a little more widespread talent.”

She said she connected well with three fellow guards — sophomore Mariah Brownlee, junior Daisha Richardson and Brooklyn Williams. Their play styles complement each other.

The Tigers were very welcoming and their family principles stood out immediately, she said.

“We pass up good shots for great shots,” Eteuati said. “Everyone on our team is super talented. We can depend on each other to have each others’ backs.”

Eteuati is the most balanced aspect of a very balanced team. She leads the Tigers in rebounds (5.9 per game), assists (3.8) and steals (3.3) and is second in scoring (12.8).

Soliman said he can get on his new star player for mistakes without worrying if she will withdraw.

“She’s a dawg out there, diving on the court. She’s just a winner who does all the little things,” Soliman said.

Millennium’s roster is full of younger players still tapping into their potential like juniors Richardson, Jayda Hunt and Niya Nsonwu and sophomores Brownlee and Tiana Grant. Then there are complete newcomers to the program like Eteuati, Williams and freshman center Amaya Ribbens-Brown.

When it’s all clicking, the results can be spectacular, like a 23-10 third quarter against O’Connor on the Eagles court.

Eteuati said the ceiling is very high for this team, but the Tigers need to avoid lapses.

“The type of player I am, I’m very outgoing. So I knew when I came in, I was going to have to earn their trust,” she said. “My way of earning their trust was just to come to practice and work as hard as I can to show them I really love this game. I’m going to be there whenever they need me.”

Eteuati plays guard, but can rebound and function defensively like a forward.

She also is able to run the offense.

“It’s always good to have another ballhandler,” Soliman said after the Dec. 15 game at O’Connor. “In case Daisha is having a hard game, and she was great tonight, we have her. I know I can trust her on both ends of the court.”

In December, Eteuati signed with Colgate. The school is known for its academic programs, and she wants to study psychology and become a psychiatrist.

But the school appealed to her for basketball reasons as well. She said her official visit showed that the Raiders are competitive, gritty and intense at practice.

”I had to decide what was most important to me. I felt like Colgate gave me the best of both worlds, academically and in basketball. I feel like they’re a very underrated team,” Eteuati said. “The coaches at Colgate are the best people and I had the best time on my visit. When I went and watched the girls, I felt like all the players had the same mindset as me.”

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.