The Arizona Republic

Valley continues dominance with rout of Leading Edge

- MARC DAVID

PRESCOTT VALLEY – Valley (Sanders) entered the 2A Conference girls basketball state championsh­ip game at Prescott Valley Event Center on a nine-game win streak in which it outscored opponents by an average of 42 points.

Valley wasn’t able to maintain that lofty pace but continued its dominance Saturday with a 70-39 win over Gilbert Leading Edge Academy to win the title. Interestin­gly, Valley was the second No. 5 seed to win a girls basketball state title, following St. Michael which won the 1A title by beating the same team that Valley beat last season for the Division V championsh­ip, Rock Point.

Doing things that even surprised coach Dee Mitchell, Valley raced out to a 22-2 lead, had a 32-point advantage at halftime and cruised to its second straight state title with a team that only one senior had significan­t playing time.

“We concentrat­ed on our defense and rebounding,” do-everything sophomore point guard Valiyah Yazzie said. “We knew they were bigger, but who cares? We have to play our game. I was really proud at how all our girls stepped up.”

Yazzie led the way with 24 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. And she was instrument­al in the fast start. After missing five of its first seven shots, Valley caught fire making 8 of 10. Yazzie hit a 3-pointer and assisted on two baskets as Valley (31-2) scored the first 10 points of the game. After Leading Edge's Hallie Price scored, Valley responded with 12 straight points. It was 27-7 after one quarter and 46-14 at halftime.

“They didn’t miss too many shots and made quite a few threes,” Leading Edge Academy coach Erik Gray said. “We knew if they got hot, they would be tough to beat. They hit shots when we had hands in their faces. I was pleased with how our players responded in the second half.”

Leading Edge (25-3) dominated the first 4 minutes of the third quarter, using its height advantage to dominate inside and score the first nine points. And yet, it could only cut the deficit to 23.

“A 30-point hole is tough to dig out of,” Gray said, “especially against a team that good.”

That lead was built on some excellent ball movement and backdoor cuts that created easy baskets in a first half that Valley shot 16 of 30.

“Not something we work on in practice,” Mitchell said of the backdoor cuts. “We’ve been playing like this (at a high level), and I expected it to continue. We go after the ball and shoot it. They came together and started jelling after our two losses (to 3A schools Page and Ganado). These girls have been on a mission. They really wanted it.”

Nizhoni James had 12 points and Cherelle Speen had 10 and nine rebounds for Valley. Samantha Quigley and Tiffany Quigley each had nine rebounds for Valley, which won the boards 49-29.

Price had 17 points and Prima Chellis 13 for Leading Edge, which struggled with its shooting all game and finished 13 of 54 from the field.

 ?? BEN MOFFAT/AZCENTRAL SPORTS ?? Valley High celebrates its win over Leading Edge Academy in the 2A girls state championsh­ip game at the Prescott Valley Event Center on Saturday.
BEN MOFFAT/AZCENTRAL SPORTS Valley High celebrates its win over Leading Edge Academy in the 2A girls state championsh­ip game at the Prescott Valley Event Center on Saturday.

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