How will the girls' Arizona high school basketball Open tournament shake out?
For the first time in the state's history, the Arizona Interscholastic Association is holding an Open Division playoff tournament format in both boys and girls' basketball.
The top 32-rated teams from among the 4A through 6A conferences will play against each other in an opening round that begins this week. Teams that lose in the first or second rounds will then be able to return to their respective conference playoffs, which will begin next week.
For the girl's side, there are a variety of schools from 4A to 6A that are in the tournament. First-round games get underway Tuesday, with the No. 1 seed playing No. 32, No. 2 playing No. 31, and continuing with that format. The higher team will host the game.
Here are teams in the girls' tournament and their seedings announced by the AIA, showing teams selected by their conference and overall seed:
6A teams
No. 1 Desert Vista Thunder, No. 2 Perry Pumas, No. 4 Xavier Gators, No. 7 Pinnacle Pioneers, No. 9 Hamilton Huskies, No. 11 Sandra Day O'Connor Eagles, No. 13 Dobson Mustangs, No. 14 Mesa Jackrabbits, No. 17 Valley Vista Monsoon, No. 23 Mountain Ridge Mountain Lions, No. 24 Gilbert Tigers, No. 27 Boulder Creek Jaguars, No. 28 Sunnyside Blue Devils, No. 29 Corona del Sol Aztecs.
5A teams
No. 6 Millenium Tigers, No. 12 Canyon View Jaguars, No. 15 Betty H. Fairfax Stampede, No. 16 Sunrise Mountain Mustangs, No. 18 Campo Verde Coyotes, No. 19 Catalina Foothills Falcons, No. 20 Notre Dame Saints, No. 21 McClintock Chargers, No. 26 Nogales Apaches, No. 31 Williams Field Black Hawks.
4A Schools
No. 3 Seton Catholic Sentinels, No. 5 Mesquite Wildcats, No. 8 Salpointe Catholic Lancers, No. 10 Flagstaff Eagles, No. 22 Deer Valley Skyhawks, No. 25 Pueblo Warriors, No. 30 Sahuaro Cougars, No. 32 Flowing Wells Caballeros
Favorites going in
The favorites entering the tournament are No. 1 Desert Vista and No. 2 Perry Pumas, which ended the season on a 14-game winning streak and a 15-game winning streak respectively, according to MaxPreps.
Both teams are looking to carry that end-of-season momentum into the tournament.
"We've got to be consistent," said Desert Vista head coach Dave Williams. "We have to have discipline, and we got to have character. We have to make sure that our mental state of a team is evident, we care for each other, we make the right pass, nobody's worried about who's getting the most points and nobody's worried about who's getting the clippings, we're here to win."
Perry head coach Andrew "Mike" Curtis said the Pumas' play during the regular season has prepared them for the playoffs.
"Just staying in our routines," he said. "Everything that we do, and we have done is to prepare us for the open tournament. Who we've played, practices, the different events that we've been to. Everything we've done is just try to prepare us to make another deep run in the tournament.
Both teams also have postseason experience as well, as Desert Vista made a run to the Final Four in the 6A tournament last year, and in that same tournament, Perry finished as the runner-up to 6A champion Valley Vista.
The open format also opens up the opportunity for smaller schools to go up against bigger schools. Seton Catholic, which comes into the tournament seeded No. 3, is the highest-rated non-6A team. Seton Catholic head coach Karen Self is looking forward to the challenge of the open format, opening against No. 30 Tucson Sahuaro, also from 4A.
"It certainly gives us an opportunity to compete with the biggest schools out there," said Self. "We'll match up and see how we do."
Games to watch for
No. 32 Flowing Wells vs No. 1 Desert Vista: Flowing Wells is coming off of being runners-up in last year's 5A tournament, losing to Millenium. While they aren't as dominant as they were in 2022, they still have the postseason pedigree to pull off an upset.
No. 17 Valley Vista vs No. 16 Sunrise Mountain is a true coin flip. Valley Vista, the defending champion in 6A is on an eight-game winning streak, according to MaxPreps. Sunrise Mountain, while in 5A, is also in great form, on a nine-game winning streak.
A potential upset to watch for is No. 28 Sunnyside versus No. 5 Mesquite. Sunnyside, while being one of the lowest-ranked teams in the tournament, is on a 10-game winning streak. However, in order to do that, they must crack one of the best defenses in the state, as according to MaxPreps, Mesquite has only allowed 897 points throughout the whole season.
Another potential upset to look out for is No. 21 McClintock versus No. 12 Canyon View. McClintock comes into the game having a 23-2 record.
No. 23 Mountain Ridge versus No. 10 Flagstaff could be a competitive contest. Flagstaff comes into the game riding high, with a 13-game winning streak. Mountain Ridge's 17-7 record includes victories over other tournament teams such as Gilbert, Boulder Creek, Deer Valley, Hamilton and Pinnacle. They're more than capable of an upset.
No. 18 Campo Verde vs No. 15 Betty H. Fairfax will be a toss-up, as both schools come into the matchup with great 5A section records. Campo Verde is 10-0 in section play, and Fairfax is 11-1 in section play.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How will the girls' basketball open tournament shake out?
