PHOENIX - Like fellow west sider Valley Vista, the Millennium Tigers jumped out to a great start in their Open Division semifinal matchup. 

Then the #14 seed Desert Vista Thunder did all they could to throw a wrench in the all-West Valley Open final from materializing. The Thunder, like the Tigers, have been in their share of regular and postseason battles.

So a team with experience, excellent guard play and Desert Vista coach Erin O’Bryan, a former standout guard herself, wasn’t about to step aside quite easily. The Thunder made sure that Millennium gutted out its 50-45 overtime victory Tuesday at Mountain Pointe High in Ahwatukee. 

“Erin does a great job at Desert Vista,” Millennium coach Danny Soliman said. “(Desert Vista’s) Cherri (Hatter) and Trinity (Jones) are tough kids. We got rattled a little bit, but I love what our girls did. They stayed together.”

After shooting 55 percent in the first half, when it held the state’s top scoring freshman, Hatter, scoreless and leading 33-19, the struggles then commenced for #2 Millennium. 

Desert Vista’s tenaciousness on both ends deserves some credit for that. Throughout the game, the Thunder stuck with their zone. 

As Millennium began settling for outside shots that missed the mark, the Thunder chipped away at the lead. Hatter set the tone when she made her team’s first and third baskets of the second half. 

Desert Vista held the lead only once in the game, when senior Saniya Jones found a cutting Hatter, who was freed up by Trinity’s screen, for a layup that put Desert Vista up 45-43 with 40.6 left in regulation.

Jones (16 points) was the only player to score in double figures for the Thunder (16-13).

With 28.9 on the clock, Dashia Richardson tied the game at 45-45 after she was fouled and made two free throws. The Tigers eventually got the ball back but missed their final two shot attempts to send the tension-filled contest to overtime. 

That’s when Millennium outscored its tough opponent 5-0. Millennium only scored 17 points in the final 20 minutes of the game.

“It was very tense,” Richardson said. “We missed some open shots, but at the end of the day we stayed and fought together and pulled it out in the end.”

Richardson, who was wincing in pain after being intentionally fouled in the first half, remained in the game and scored a game-high 17 points. 

Her highly-touted teammate, senior  guard Destiny Lunan, tallied 16.

The Valley Vista-Millennium Saturday Open championship game will be a reunion of sorts for Lunan. As a freshman, she helped Valley Vista win a state title before transferring to a prep school and then to Millennium.

Add to it that Valley Vista and 23-6 Millennium is arguably the best big school girls basketball rivalry in the state, and Saturday’s game has the potential to turn into a classic.

Valley Vista has won 11 in a row. Millennium’s current win streak is at 10, including a 66-50 victory over Valley Vista Jan. 24 in Goodyear.  

“I would argue that we are right there with (Valley Vista) as the hottest team in the state,” Soliman said. “It’s great for high school basketball. It’s the best rivalry in the state. And to have a chance to play on a such a large stage, it’s the best feeling you can have.”

Buckle up.

Valley Vista left no doubt

During the regular season, the #9 Valley Vista Monsoon lost to semifinal Open opponent #5 Pinnacle in its Phoenix gym 61-58. 

But since losing to Millennium, the Monsoon has undergone a transformation. For proof, Pinnacle may not have recognized Valley Vista Tuesday at Mountain Pointe.

That’s because the Monsoon kept whizzing by all the way to a convincing 68-45 victory. Others may have been surprised by the thorough victory but not Valley Vista (24-7). 

“Here’s the deal,” said Valley Vista coach Brooklynn Hinkens as she held court after the game, “Everyone can doubt us year in and year out. But I know my team is going to show up when it matters. The first time we played (Pinnacle) I don’t think we played our best basketball. But we are peaking at the right time, and I just want us to play this hard on Saturday.”

Six players, including guard Tysyn Johnson (17 points), scored at least eight points for Hinkens’s squad. 

That team effort allowed the Monsoon to jump ahead 17-3 in the first quarter and never look back. Defensively, that was also part of the story, because a freshman, Emma Bremer, may have outplayed one of top post players in the state, senior Norah Moo, in the early going. 

Bremer did all she could to stay in front of Moo and not allow one of the state’s double-double leaders to take control. 

“We scouted her (Moo) a lot,” Bremer said. “We knew she was going to be the biggest assignment. It was just about going hard and matching he physicality.”

Bremer was inserted in the starting lineup in January. 

Pinnacle (24-6) did lose a key piece when starting point guard Rylee Fraley left near the start of the second quarter with a painful knee injury. After the game, every Valley Vista player went to give Fraley a hug. 

Saturday’s Open championship affair won’t be the first time that Valley Vista and Millennium will play for a title. It happened in 2017, when Valley Vista won 44-36, the early showcase of the rivalry and regional prowess. From 2015-25, Millennium and Valley Vista have appeared in a state title game a combined 15 times. 

“I don’t think we played our best performance against them (Millennium) earlier in the season,” Hinkens said. “I think we crumbled under pressure. But now we’ve been in certain positions where we understand pressure, and I think we are ready to go.”