By Jacob Seliga
Lead Writer
Welcome back to the Seliga 16!
First things first, I’m sorry for the delay on the release this week! As our returning viewers will attest, this is usually released on Tuesday morning/afternoon. However, a few issues took place which delayed it 24 hours for this week and this week only.
The start of the week has caused some movement that typically wouldn’t be seen until next week.
Monday night saw a classic in Surprise between Willow Canyon and Ironwood that had the Wildcats escape a wild Eagles comeback attempt. On the girls side, Kellis dominated Sunrise Mountain to establish the Cougars as the queens of the 5A conference so far.
And on Tuesday, Liberty knocked off Boulder Creek at home on the boys side. Meanwhile the girls saw Sunnyslope roll over a Cherri Hatter-less Desert Vista and Millennium knocked Xavier off on the road.
The new thing this week is the weekly update of the award races but we have the announcement of the semi finalists for the player awards.
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 (16-4) (LW: 1)
Millennium (14-5) (LW: 2)
Xavier Prep (16-6) (LW: 4)
Mesquite (21-1) (LW: 5)
O’Connor (11-7) (LW: 8)
Pinnacle (16-5) (LW: 3)
Gilbert (15-6) (LW: 9)
Sunnyslope (14-7) (LW: 10)
Desert Vista (11-9) (LW: 7)
Valley Vista (12-7) (LW: 6)
Kellis (17-2) (LW: 13)
Hamilton (13-9) (LW: 11)
Sunrise Mountain (16-3) (LW: 12)
Canyon View (14-5) (LW: 14)
Sunnyside (20-1) (LW: 15)
Campo Verde (17-4) (LW: UR)
Bubble: Perry (10-11) Notre Dame Prep (12-9), Red Mountain (14-7), Cesar Chavez (14-6)
Games to watch
Wednesday: Campo Verde at Notre Dame Prep
Friday: McClintock at Kellis
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: UR)
Bubble
Sidney Anderson, Sr, Salpointe
Addison Wiemann, Jr, Sunrise Mountain
Aspen McClees, Jr, Gilbert
Coach of the year
Joseph Luevano, Salpointe (LW: 1)
Candice Gonzales, Mesquite (LW: 3)
Erica Farnsworth, Pinnacle (LW: 2)
Bubble
Savannah Bix, Gilbert
Justin Delgado, Sunnyside
Jennifer Gillom, Xavier Prep
Boys
Perry (17-2) (LW: 1)
Millennium (14-6) (LW: 2)
O’Connor (13-7) (LW: 3)
Basha (16-5) (LW: 6)
Sunnyslope (13-8) (LW: 5)
Liberty (14-7) (LW: 7)
Boulder Creek (16-5) (LW: 6)
Canyon View (18-1) (LW: 8)
Willow Canyon (19-2) (LW: 16)
Ironwood (14-6) (LW: 10)
Central (21-2) (LW: 9)
Prescott (14-5) (LW: 11)
Mesa (15-4) (LW: 12)
Brophy (12-8) (LW: 13)
Higley (15-4) (LW: 14)
West Point (15-3) (LW: 15)
Bubble: Highland (12-8) Hamilton (9-7), Deer Valley (15-4), Sahuaro (17-2) , 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
Cisco Llamas, Jr, Sahuaro
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: 2)
Justin Collard, Boulder Creek (LW: 1)
Joe Colletti, Willow Canyon (LW: UR)
Bubble
Cain Atkinson, Paradise Honors
Brad Quinet, Notre Dame Prep
Jordan Augustine, Ironwood
Jed Dunn, Deer Valley
Games to watch
Wednesday: Centennial at Willow Canyon
Friday: Highland at Williams Field
Player spotlight
Kaleel Kelly, Senior, Willow Canyon
This week’s spotlight is the heartbeat of the Willow Canyon basketball program.
Kelly is a stat sheet stuffer who is one of the few players in program history that has reached 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds and is the second player in program history to eclipse 400 assists.
As a four year varsity player, Kelly has helped lead the charge to turn the Wildcats into a perennial playoff program and is currently the leader of the best team in program history.
The Wildcats are currently 19-2 and in 18 games played he’s averaging 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists per game.
On Monday versus Ironwood, Kelly had 16 points, his 12th time reaching that mark this season.
Awards Semifinalists
With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, it’s time to announce the semifinalists for my regular season awards. The announcement of these lists are similar to the awards lists that take place in college basketball (watch list, semifinalists, finalists, etc…)
*Transfers are not eligible for these regular season awards but will be eligible for postseason awards.
Boys Player of the Year
Koa Peat, Senior, Perry
Uriah Tenette, Senior, Prescott
Michael Simcoe, Senior, O’Connor
Kingston Tosi, Senior, O’Connor
DeNali McNeal, Senior, Canyon View
Stephan Miller, Senior, Liberty
James Steward II, Senior, Marcos de Niza
Cameron Holmes, Junior, Millennium
Mason Magee, Junior, Basha
Cisco Llamas, Junior, Sahuaro
Rico Blassingame, Junior, Tolleson
Adrian Stubbs, Junior, Maryvale
Jakyi Miles, Freshman, Mesa
Maurice Carter II, Freshman, Willow Canyon
Adan Diggs, Freshman, Williams Field
Boys Defensive player of the Year
Koa Peat, Senior, Perry
James Steward II, Senior, Marcos de Niza
NoNo Brown, Senior, Perry
Michael Simcoe, Senior, O’Connor
Quincy Kirk, Senior, Canyon View
Kaleel Kelly, Senior, Willow Canyon
Maurice Brown, Senior, Moon Valley
Lamar Anderson, Senior, Dysart
Devin Murphy, Senior, Maryvale
Cameron Holmes, Junior, Millennium
Rico Blassingame, Junior, Tolleson
Mason Magee, Junior, Basha
Colton Watson, Junior, O’Connor
Elijah White, Junior, Apollo
Girls Player of the Year
Destiny Lunan, Senior, Millennium
Norah Moo, Senior, Pinnacle
Nevae Guidry, Senior, Mesquite
Sidney Anderson, Senior, Salpointe
Clara Mae Hager, Senior, Catalina Foothills
Audrey Bhesania, Junior, O’Connor
Shanielle Mallory, Junior, Kellis
Lamaiya Woodberry, Junior, McClintock
Maggie Luba, Junior, Sunnyslope
Noelle Guiamatsia, Junior, Xavier
Aspen McClees, Junior, Gilbert
Addison Wiemann, Junior, Sunrise Mountain
America Cazares, Junior, Pueblo
Cherri Hatter, Freshman, Desert Vista
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