By Jacob Seliga
Lead Writer
Once again, welcome back to the Seliga 16!
We’re officially entering the final two weeks of the regular season and with that, region championships and playoff seeding is being battled in different matchups almost every night.
This is the second-to-last regular season edition of the Seliga 16 and third-to-last in total, as the final edition will come in the days following the championship games on March 8 and will feature my award winners, as well.
As we enter the home stretch, I point to the AIA Open Division rankings as of today (Tuesday, Feb. 4) and would like to highlight a few potential matchups.
It goes without saying that these rankings are going to shift dramatically but there’s still the chance at these matchups taking place.
Boys
No. 2 Sunnyslope vs No. 31 Central
Girls
Round of 16: No. 8 Kellis vs No. 9 Valley Vista
Those two matchups have very interesting storylines. On the boys side, John Mattingly left Sunnyslope after being a multi year starter to join the Bobcats. He and his brother Grant have been key in Central looking like one of the best teams in the 5A conference and this game could be a tight battle in a “revenge” game.
On the girls side it’s possibly a changing of the guard type of game. For years, Valley Vista has been one of the staples of West Valley girls hoops and with the open division and reclassification being the great equalizer in basketball as Sunrise Mountain, Kellis, Canyon View, and O’Connor are amongst a handful of programs contenting for championships yearly. With Kellis crashing the West Valley party, the Cougars and Monsoon are potentially lining up to meet for supremacy with a potential matchup against either O’Connor or Millennium in the Elite Eight.
DISCLAIMER: The lists below will be updated every week accordingly based on multiple factors that include my personal viewing of these teams, their wins and losses on any given week, and other varying factors.
The way my power rankings fall goes like this: On a neutral court today I believe the team I have ranked ahead of you would beat you.
EX: Perry would beat O’Connor who I believe would beat Sunnyslope, etc…
I’ve observed many games both in person and via NFHS and feel that my pulse on the current state of high school basketball is one of the best in the state.
Players and Teams eligible for these lists are in the big school conferences (4A, 5A, 6A)
Girls
Salpointe (20-4) (LW: 1)
Millennium (16-6) (LW: 2)
Xavier Prep (17-6) (LW: 3)
Mesquite (23-1) (LW: 4)
O’Connor (13-7) (LW: 5)
Pinnacle (17-5) (LW: 6)
Gilbert (16-6) (LW: 7)
Sunnyslope (15-7) (LW: 8)
Valley Vista (14-7) (LW: 10)
Valley Vista (11-10) (LW: 9)
Kellis (20-2) (LW: 11)
Sunrise Mountain (19-3) (LW: 13)
Hamilton (13-10) (LW: 12)
Canyon View (15-5) (LW: 14)
Campo Verde (18-4) (LW: 16)
Perry (11-1) (LW: UR)
Bubble: Sunnyside (21-1), Red Mountain (15-7), Cesar Chavez (16-6)
Games to watch
Wednesday: Sunnyslope at Millennium
Friday: Pinnacle at O’Connor
Player of the year
Destiny Lunan, Sr, Millennium (LW: 1)
Norah Moo, Sr, Pinnacle (LW: 2)
Cherri Hatter, Fr, Desert Vista (LW: 3)
Noelle Guiamatsia, Jr, Xavier Prep (LW: 4)
Navae Guidry, Sr, Mesquite (LW: 5)
Bubble
Sidney Anderson, Sr, Salpointe
Addison Wiemann, Jr, Sunrise Mountain
Aspen McClees, Jr, Gilbert
Coach of the year
Candice Gonzales, Mesquite (LW: 2)
Joe Luevano, Salpointe (LW: 1)
Savannah Bix, Gilbert (LW: UR)
Bubble
Shanelle Balark, Kellis
Erica Farnsworth, Pinnacle
Jennifer Gillom, Xavier Prep
Boys
Perry (19-2) (LW: 1)
Millennium (14-7) (LW: 2)
O’Connor (15-7) (LW: 3)
Sunnyslope (14-8) (LW: 5)
Basha (16-6) (LW: 4)
Boulder Creek (16-5) (LW: 7)
Liberty (14-8) (LW: 6)
Canyon View (19-1) (LW: 8)
Willow Canyon (20-2) (LW: 9)
Ironwood (15-6) (LW: 10)
Central (22-2) (LW: 11)
Prescott (16-5) (LW: 12)
Brophy Prep (13-8) (LW: 14)
Higley (16-4) (LW: 15)
West Point (16-3) (LW: 16)
Highland (13-8) (LW: UR)
Bubble: Red Mountain (16-5), Mesa (16-5), Hamilton (10-7), Deer Valley (18-4), Desert Vista (11-10)
Player of the year
Koa Peat, Sr, Perry (LW: 1)
Uriah Tenette, Sr, Prescott (LW: 2)
Michael Simcoe, Sr, O’Connor (LW: 3)
Cameron Holmes, Jr, Millennium (LW: 5)
Mason Magee, Jr, Basha (LW: 4)
Bubble: Kingston Tosi, Sr, Millennium
DeNali McNeal, Sr, Canyon View
Jakyi Miles, Fr, Mesa
Mo Carter II, Fr, Willow Canyon
Defensive Player of the Year:
NoNo Brown, Sr, Perry (LW: 1)
Mason Magee, Jr, Basha (LW: 3)
Quincy Kirk, Sr, Canyon View (LW: UR)
Bubble: Colton Watson, Jr, O’Connor (Injured)
James Steward III, Sr, Marcos de Niza
Koa Peat, Sr, Perry
Rico Blassingame, Jr, Tolleson
Coach of the year
Mark Wood, Liberty (LW: 1)
Justin Collard, Boulder Creek (LW: 2)
Joe Colletti, Willow Canyon (LW: 3)
Bubble
Cain Atkinson, Paradise Honors
Brad Quinet, Notre Dame Prep
Jordan Augustine, Ironwood
Jed Dunn, Deer Valley
Games of the week
Tuesday: Boulder Creek at O’Connor
Friday: Highland at Higley
Player Spotlight
Shanielle Mallory, Junior, Kellis Girls
The player spotlight for the first time ever is a girls player, and this girl is one of the special under the radar stars in the state of Arizona.
Mallory has been the main focal point in a Kellis program that is returning to its championship contending status the school once had in the late 2000’s.
As a three year varsity starter, Mallory has averaged 18.2 points and 5.5 steals per game and this season has become a great all around player averaging 4.4 assists and 4.3 rebounds to go along with 16.4 points and 5.6 steals per game.
The Cougars have been the best team in the 5A conference this season and showed why recently against rival Sunrise Mountain. In that matchup, Mallory had 25 points, 8 rebounds, and knocked down 5 three pointers in a 69-53 Kellis victory.
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