By Richard Smith
Twitter: @rsmithYWV

With every basketball game, the three-point shot seemingly becomes more ubiquitous.

Some hoopheads love it. Some loathe it. For those sick of the long range barrage, we present the 2019-20 Valley Vista girls squad.

The Monsoon just pulled off a rare feat in the modern game, winning a championship game without making a single trey. Valley Vista beat Chandler Hamilton 42-38 in the March 3 final at ASU despite an 0-4 performance from distance.

“For some type of games you have to have shooters on the outside. In this type of game we really had the inside advantage. We were really throwing it in there and it was working,” sophomore guard Jennah Isai said.

Coach Rachel Matakas, herself a Hall of Fame post player at the University of Central Missouri, did not seem to mind. Valley Vista had the clear advantage on the blocks all night and kept pounding to close the Huskies’ lead.

The Monsoon had a 43-27 rebounding advantage with 16 offensive boards. After Hamilton junior guard Graciela Roybal hit a pair of treys in the first half, and fellow junior Amyah Reaves added one, both guards missed their only attempt after halftime.

“I think (it's). It shows you we’re not just a three-point shooting team. Hamilton hit a bunch of threes in the first half and they only made one in the second. That was our goal, to limit the opportunities and close out on (Roybal) and (Reaves),” Matakas said.

The Surprise school’s other emphasis was to use its inside advantage to pile up foul and free throws. Hamilton’s 27 fouls were more than double Valley Vista’s total and the Monsoon’s 22-37 performance from the line dwarfed the Huskies’ 4-10.

Isai alone went 14-18 from the charity stripe for the bulk of her 18 points.

“They were on her hip, and she’s a good free throw shooter,” Matakas said.

Junior forward Marisa Davis was the focal point of the Monsoon’s third 6A title in four years, particularly in the second half.

She scored 14 of her 18 points and grabbed 10 of her 14 rebounds after the break. That included five of her six offensive rebounds, several of which led to layups of the free throw line — or both.

Matakas said it is hard to box out a big forward on the move, which Davis was for most of the second half.

“You don’t have to shoot the three to win. You can win by a layup, or grab an offensive rebound,” Davis said.

Hamilton started the game in a 2-3 matchup zone defense but were getting out on the Monsoon shooters well enough dissuade them from attempting a trey in their two-point opening quarter.

Valley Vista tried two in the second quarter and two in the second half. Their coach credited their adjustments.

“Again, the kids were being smart. What are they going to give us? The middle. They’re closing so hard on us so let’s go,” Matakas said.

All that said, the coach admitted this group has not yet reached the quality of play of the 2017 and 2018 title squads. And the three is a big reason why.

Those teams were led by star guard Taylor Chavez, who connected on 115 three-pointers for those state champions, while backcourt mate Rysha Banner made 79 treys in those two seasons

Of course, Chavez was just named Pac-12 sixth player of the year while playing for national title contender Oregon, so maybe the comparison is not far, at least not yet.

“I’m going to say the level of play. We don’t have the Taylor, Rodarte or Rysha and give them all the credit. Jennah and Marisa aren’t there yet. But they won the way they had to play,” Matakas said. “You could see Jennah getting ahead of herself sometimes. But she settled down. We had to play the hardest path to the state title, which prepared us great.”

Indeed, the good news for the program and bad news for the rest of 6A is that guard Sophie Martinez was the only senior on the Valley Vista roster. She started and was a glue player for the team, but this group is often interchangeable other than Davis and Isai.

Davis, the only player to start on the 2018 and 2020 champions is happy to let the dynasty roll on in relative anonymity.

“There’s a whole lot more. People still underestimate us and I don’t know why. But they can keep doing that because we just keep getting better and stronger,” Davis said.

Along with the big two coming back, juniors Alanis Delgado and Madison Magee could mature into starters. Delgado saved the Monsoon in a 48-47 semifinal squeaker over Gilbert Perry with 12 points and the steal that led to Davis’ game-winning layup.

Meanwhile sophomores Mikela Cooper and Saniyah Neverson and freshman guard Olivia Arvallo have the most growth potential on the team.

“Every time after the summer when we come back for school season you can see how everyone has improved their game. It’s so much better,” Cooper said.

Plus there is a good chance this group will become more dynamic as it gets more court time together.

While Davis in particular raised her game this year, Isai hobbled through a season at less than 100 percent following an ACL tear last summer. As she gets healthier, look out.

“Down the line we can work as a team more, even though I feel like we did that very well,” Isai said. “As you get older you get better basketball IQ and you grow more.”

Richard Smith
Associate Editor | Surprise & West Valley Preps
@rsmithYWV

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.