By Jacob Seliga
Lead Writer
Welcome back everyone, to the new edition of The Seliga 16, your place for all things involving Arizona high school basketball.
First things first, some housekeeping.
I just want to thank everyone for their support and feedback on the first few editions of this. Your support is great and it means a lot to me. The ultimate goal for this is to provide FREE and positive content for basketball in the state without a paywall. So you sharing this and clicking on means more than I can put into words.
Last week, the state of basketball was chaotic, which is reflected in the movement all throughout my team and player rankings for this week.
Without further ado, let’s do this.
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.
My power rankings work 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 Network, 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: 5)
Millennium (13-5) (LW: 2)
Pinnacle (15-4) (LW: 3)
Xavier Prep (15-5) (LW: 7)
Mesquite (18-1) (LW: 8
Valley Vista (10-6) (LW: 2)
Desert Vista (10-8) (LW: 4)
O’Connor (9-7) (LW: 6)
Gilbert (11-6) (LW: 12)
Sunnyslope (12-7) (LW: 9)
Hamilton (11-8) (LW: 10)
Sunrise Mountain (15-2) (LW: 11)
Kellis (14-2) (LW: 13)
Canyon View (10-5) (LW: 14)
Sunnyside (18-1) (LW: 15)
Perry (9-10) (LW: 16)
Bubble: Notre Dame Prep (11-8), Red Mountain (12-5), Cesar Chavez (13-6)
Games of the Week
Wednesday: O’Connor at Pinnacle
This region rivalry has been one sided in recent years as Pinnacle holds a 2-12 record against the Eagles since 2018 including a six game winning streak over O’Connor entering this matchup.
Regardless of the one-sidedness of this game, these are two of the better teams in the state and both have the ability to make a run at an open division championship this season.
Friday: Valley Vista at Millennium
Every year in girls basketball, no matchup looms larger on the schedule than this west valley rivalry which is the best on the girls side in the state.
These two programs are the definition of rivals and every matchup has the feel of a state championship and Friday night will be no different at the Tigers Den.
After both teams stumbled last week, this game could be huge for both sides trying to finish the regular season strong before their state championship runs begin.
Player of the year
Destiny Lunan, Sr, Millennium (LW: 1)
Norah Moo, Sr, Pinnacle (LW: 3)
Cherri Hatter, Fr, Desert Vista (LW: 2)
Noelle Guiamatsia, Jr, Xavier Prep (LW: 5)
Sidney Anderson, Sr, Salpointe (LW: 4)
Bubble
Navae Guidry, Sr, Mesquite
Addison Wiemann, Jr, Sunrise Mountain
Aspen McClees, Sr, Gilbert
Coach of the year
Joseph Luevano, Salpointe (LW: 1)
Erica Farnsworth, Pinnacle (LW: 2)
Candice Gonzales, Mesquite (LW: 3)
Bubble
Savannah Bix, Gilbert
Justin Delgado, Sunnyside
Jennifer Gillom, Xavier Prep
Boys
Perry (16-2) (LW: 1)
Millennium (10-6) (LW: 3)
O’Connor (12-7) (LW: 2)
Boulder Creek (14-4) (LW: 8)
Sunnyslope (12-7) (LW: 5)
Basha (14-5) (LW: 6)
Liberty (12-7) (LW: 7)
Canyon View (14-1) (LW: 9)
Central (19-2) (LW: 11)
Ironwood (12-5) (LW: 12
Prescott (11-5) (LW: 12
Mesa (13-4) (LW: 13)
Brophy (11-6) (LW: 14)
Higley (12-4) (LW: 8)
West Point (13-3) (LW: UR)
Willow Canyon (15-2) (LW: UR)
Bubble: Desert Vista (10-8), Sahuaro (16-1), Highland (10-8) Casteel (11-7), Deer Valley (13-4)
Player of the year
Koa Peat, Sr, Perry (LW: 1)
Uriah Tenette, Sr, Prescott (LW: 2)
Michael Simcoe, Sr, O’Connor (LW: 3)
Mason Magee, Jr, Basha (LW: 4)
Cameron Holmes, Jr, Millennium (LW: 5)
Bubble
Cisco Llamas, Jr, Sahuaro
Kingston Tosi, Sr, Millennium
Adrian Stubbs, Jr, Maryvale
Jakyi Miles, Fr, Mesa
Grant Mattingly, Fr, Central
DeNali McNeal, Sr, Canyon View
Defensive Player of the Year
NoNo Brown, Sr, Perry (LW: 1)
Colton Watson, Jr, O’Connor (LW: 2)
Mason Magee, Jr, Basha (LW: 3)
Bubble
James Steward III, Sr, Marcos de Niza
Koa Peat, Sr, Perry
Rico Blassingame, Jr, Tolleson
Quincy Kirk, Sr, Canyon View
Coach of the year
Justin Collard, Boulder Creek (LW: 1)
Mark Wood, Liberty (LW: 2)
Cain Atkinson, Paradise Honors (LW: UR)
Bubble
Jed Dunn, Deer Valley
Kenneth Drake, Higley
Keegan Cook, Dysart
Games of the week
Thursday: Sunnyslope at Millennium
This matchup is an open division championship caliber showdown in Goodyear on Thursday night.
These region rivals met in the open division quarterfinals last season where the Tigers pulled out the victory in opposing territory.
The winner in this matchup will have the inside track to the region title which is the first step for both on their path to a potential state title.
Friday: Mesquite at Cactus Shadows
Flying under the radar is this 4A conference showdown in Cave Creek to finish the week.
Cactus Shadows after dropping its first PowerPoint game to Arizona College Prep has rattled off nine consecutive PowerPoint victories and is looking to show that they are true contenders in the 4A conference.
Mesquite after losing multiple pieces from last year’s team has bounced back and is looking for a signature PowerPoint victory to shoot up the rankings and with a win can throw a wrench in the Desert Sky region title race.
Player spotlight: Trevion Turman, Sr, West Point
This week’s spotlight takes us to Avondale, where we meet one of the captains of the Dragons basketball program.
Turman is one of the heartbeat’s of the program as he’s a do-it-all player for West Point.
Whether it’s scoring, rebounding, moving the ball, or playing stellar defense, his impact on the court is crucial to the success of a team that is experiencing its best season so-far since the school opened six years ago.
The highlight game of Turman’s season was a 12 point double double versus Red Mountain, a 67-54 victory for West Point.
Turman is a member of J.A.G. (Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates) on campus, holds down a job, and loves to cook as well.
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