Girls HS basketball: Millennium enters season as favorites for fourth-straight crown

A year ago, Goodyear Millennium was two-time defending 5A state champions. But the task for new head coach Kevin Thomas was daunting.

The Tigers had lost their two top scorers, including Alexandra Zelaya, who now plays at North Carolina. The six-girl senior class was gone.

In their place, the class of 2023 stepped up. As sophomores in 2020-21, they made up eight of Millennium’s 13-player roster. In the middle of the season, that inexperience threatened to derail the Tigers, with four losses in six games.

But by March, Millennium found its groove, storming to a state title run in which only one opponent held it within 23 points.

The Tigers graduated two starters from last season, including second-leading scorer Kassidy Dixon, who is now at Grand Canyon. Their other senior, Reese Grimsley, is at Oklahoma City University.

“We lost some experience,” Millennium coach Kevin Thomas said. “But our entire roster, essentially, has returned. So while we lost those two that were seniors and we were young last year, now we don't have the youth or lack of experience excuse anymore.”

Millennium’s roster doesn’t end with its juniors, either. Sophomore guard Elli Guiney led the team in scoring with 13.6 points per game as a freshman and now carries a year of experience into her sophomore season. After her beginning her career with the anticipated ups and downs of a freshman, she scored in double figures in 12 straight contests from Feb. 10 to March 17.

“Elli Guiney’s an outstanding player as a freshman last year who's now just a sophomore,” Thomas said. “So we are really bringing back a lot of the firepower that we had.”

There’s also the return of senior Trayanna Crisp, who averaged 14.8 points per game at Millennium as a sophomore in 2019-20 before playing last season at PHH Prep. An Arizona State commit, she will likely lead the Tigers in scoring.

But while Millennium will be the team to beat, they do face competition from elsewhere in the state.

Queen Creek Casteel was last year’s No. 1 seed on the back of an undefeated season that ended in a COVID-19 outbreak in the playoffs, but the Colts face an uphill battle to repeat those successes. They graduated last year’s top four scorers but do have a talented senior class that mostly featured as role players a year ago. Guard Jaleah Hendrix ranked as the state’s No. 24 player in The Republic’s preseason rankings, while wing Ryan Holton came in at No. 28.

Kaisha Henry from Buckeye Verrado is another 5A player who made that list, slotting in at No. 31. “She's a really good player, really good athlete,” Thomas said, recalling Millennium’s 31-28 loss to Verrado on Feb. 9, when Henry scored a game-high 12 points.

Millennium eventually avenged that defeat in the state semifinals, but Verrado will be one of its strongest adversaries again this year. The Vipers, who went 18-2 last year, lose four seniors but return their six leading scorers, including Henry. Junior Isabella Barrett, a 6-foot center, will be key for them on both ends of the floor. She averaged 11.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game a season ago.

Elsewhere, Waddell Canyon View is a team that could take the next step this season. The Jaguars went 0-4 against Millennium and Verrado in 2020-21 and lost in the first round of the 5A tournament to Tucson Flowing Wells, but they did not graduate a single senior.

This season, they’ll be led by senior guard Caidyn Spickler, who averaged 14.6 points per game last year. Sophomore guard Madison Reibel also figures to be a key piece. As a freshman, she scored 11.8 points per game, helping form a dynamic backcourt with Spickler.

Flowing Wells — which eventually made it to the state title game before losing, 62-39, to Millennium — will also be dangerous.

The Caballeros lost leading scorer Milinda Arguellez along with eight other seniors, but they have a strong junior class that featured three of their top four scorers a year ago. Navine Mallon and Leamsi Acuna came in at No. 33 and No. 35, respectively, on The Republic’s preseason top 50, while Sydney Lomeli-Capen was an honorable mention.

Theo Mackie covers Arizona high school sports and Phoenix Rising FC. He can be reached by email at theo.mackie@gannett.com and on Twitter @theo_mackie.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Girls HS basketball: Millennium enters season as favorites for fourth-straight crown