Final Four preview: Title game on the line for Arizona girls' HS basketball teams

By Jacob Seliga

Lead Writer

Welcome to semifinal Tuesday for girls basketball. Sixteen different girls basketball teams will battle for eight spots this upcoming championship weekend.

This has been the most wide open season girls basketball has seen in quite some time. However, the conference brackets have been quite chalky with three of the top four seeds remaining in 4A, the top four in 5A and three of the five in 6A. 

Below are my predictions for each semifinal and a breakdown of each predicted winner. 

4A Conference 

No. 1 Estrella Foothills vs No. 4 Eastmark

No. 3 Flagstaff vs No. 10 Mingus Union

Out of the four teams remaining, no player is as dominant or as talented as Estrella Foothills senior Eva Amenhauser. 

During the Wolves postseason run, Amenhauser has averaged 15 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 steals per contest. When she’s on her game, the Wolves roll through the 4A Conference as Estrella has not lost to a 4A opponent and only has two in-state losses to bigger conference teams.

Flagstaff has been a consistent sight this deep into the postseason, as the Eagles enter their fourth consecutive semifinal hoping to win their second championship in three years. 

After losing multiple pieces from the past few runs, the Eagles were expected to take a step back. But Tyrone Johnson’s unit has relied on multiple players who have stepped into new roles to help lead them to this point.

Senior Teagan Martin and sophomore Nidaya Nez have been a 1-2 pinch that has dominated teams defensively hoping to generate quick offense out of opponents mistakes. 

5A Conference 

No. 1 Kellis vs No. 4 Pueblo

No. 2 Catalina Foothills vs No. 3 Canyon View

The Kellis Cougars have been considered the favorite since the bracket came out and have lived up to that billing through the first two rounds of the tournament. After not losing for two months, Kellis used its loss in the Sweet 16 of the Open Division to reset their perspective on the bracket.

Playing with a chip on their shoulder, the guard duo of Shanielle Mallory and Janelle Walker --- after struggling against Valley Vista -- rolled through Chaparral and Horizon entering the semifinals against Pueblo. 

To say I might be the most hated person on Canyon View’s campus right now might be an understatement. The girls basketball program paid close attention to my prediction for them to fall short in the quarterfinals to Sunrise Mountain, and yet here they are one win away from the championship game for the third year in a row.

The Jaguars lost Keira Lewis earlier in the postseason but Aaliyah Rogers and Jaila Flowers have stepped up from their already large roles offensively. Katelyn Jewell and Cynthia Tewksbury have been lock down defensively and have the Jaguars in position to repeat. 

6A Conference

No. 1 Gilbert vs No. 5 Sunnyside

No. 3 Hamilton vs No. 7 Mesa

The most shocking team to most this season has been Gilbert simply because the majority of people did not expect the Tigers to be one win away from competing for a championship. But here they are as the favorite to walk away with a gold ball on Saturday. 

The Tigers have been led by the trio of Aspen McClees and sisters Contessa and Isabella Ivy, who have been by far the best group in the 6A bracket so far and are a last-second basket away from likely being in the Final Four of the Open Division right now.

Hamilton, out of each team remaining, has been the most battle tested due its brutal non-region schedule coupled with the Premier Region being the most balanced it has been in quite some time.

Guards Sage Henry and Destinee Benway have joined post player Taylor Sipfle to form a formidable offensive attack that has averaged just under 40 points per game amongst the three, as well as 20 combined rebounds per contest. 

Open Division

No. 5 Pinnacle vs No. 9 Valley Vista

No. 2 Millennium vs No. 14 Desert Vista

As expected, three underdogs and arguably the best team in the tournament remain… How fitting for the most wide open year of girls basketball the state has seen in quite some time.

Valley Vista, after its loss to Millennium on Jan. 24, had to hit the drawing board again. It was the third non-region loss in a row for a Monsoon team searching for their identity.

Since then, no team may be playing with more confidence than the eight girl rotation Valley Vista trots out on a night to night basis. On one night it may be Kinsey Murray shouldering the scoring load, the next it may be Tysyn Johnson or Jada Wilson. 

The team basketball has been effective and it showed in back-to-back road trips to No. 8 Kellis and No. 1 Salpointe before Tuesday’s semifinal.

Millennium, since the beginning of the year, has been the best team in the state and outside of a week-long stretch in January has held on to that top spot. 

Leading the way for the Tigers has been do it all superstar Destiny “Kyshe” Lunan, who typically shoulders the scoring load but has showcased her playmaking ability throughout the postseason. That includes a 6 assist performance against No. 7 Xavier Prep in the quarterfinals and a 7 assist performance against Campo Verde in the Sweet 16.