Junior Guards Under the Radar

Introduction: There are a number of unheralded junior guards throughout Arizona. All are outstanding players on both ends of the court. Here's a profile of five of the best:     ANDREA BECENA - is a 5-5 junior combination guard who plays for Dream City Christian High School in Glendale. As a freshman in 2020-21, she averaged 17.4 points per game. Her team lost in the state tournament in 2021 to Ridgeline Academy, 64-45. In 2019, as a first-year player, Andrea was selected as Player of the Game vs. Tri-City Christian Academy by Max Preps. She also played on the varsity as an eighth grader, averaging 15.2 points per game. Playing for Head Coach Jaime Willimas, she is an outstanding scorer with three-point range as well as the ability to drive the lane and finish at the rim.       [player_tooltip player_id='263399' first='MIA last='KELLEY'] - is a 5-6 junior guard who plays for Cienega High School. Her team lost in the State Tournament last February to Canyon View High School, 43-28. As a sophomore, Mia was selected by Max Preps as Player of the Game against Sabino High School last December. She finished the game with 12 points and four assists. In 2021, Cienega lost in the AIA Tournament to Milennium, 73-26. Over 26 games in her first two seasons, she averaged 5.0 points and 1.3 assists. This included averaging 4.8 points as a freshman. Mia showed remarkable improvement over the summer and is ready for a breakout junior season.       TOCAH DIAL - is a 5-5 junior shooting guard from Dysart High School in El Mirage. She was selected as captain of the Demons as a sophomore. Her team went 15-11 overall last year and she averaged 6.2 points per game to go along with 3.0 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game. Dysart lost to Saguaro in last February's State Tournament game, 61-51. Last February lst, Tocah was selected by Max Preps as Player of the Game vs, Buckeye High School in which she had a double-double: 20 points and 10 rebounds. She also had four steals in two different games. In her first two seasons, a total of 42 games, she averaged 5.3 points a game as a freshman and 6.2 points per game as a sophomore. She was also Player of the Game against Youngker High School on January 25th. Tocah's older sister Talia is one of the most decorated players in Dysart's history. She has broken multiple school records in her three years on the varsity.     KORAL ORTIZ - is a 5-5 junior shooting guard for Sahuarita High School. Playing for the Mustangs, one scout commented on her game: "As a freshman in 2020-2021, Ortiz helped her teammates by averaging 10.0 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per contest. During her time on the court, she defends the ball well and is able to use her quick hands to take the ball from the other team. She had 18 steals for the year, showing that she is not afraid to play tough with the older kids. As she becomes more and more in the basketball scene, I think we will see her come out of her shell even more." Showing recent improvement both offensively and defensively, Koral is primed for her junior season.       [player_tooltip player_id='263394' first='ELLA' last='MURAKAMI] - is a 5-10 shooting guard from Basha High School who also plays for her club team, AZ Elite. She is a transfer from Perry High School, While there, Ella was both All-CUSD and All-Academic first-team selections. She plays for the 16U grassroots team and has a GPA of 4.10. She was named to the All-Region team two years in a row. Ella played during the spring and summer in a number of tournaments in both Pennsylvania and Ohio. Last season she averaged 9.9 points per game and 4.8 rebounds. Her older sister Chloe also played on the team and received an appointment to West Point. Ella had an outstanding game vs. Casteel with 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 assists. Before transferring to Basha, she played for two years at Perry a total of 42 games. She averaged 12.7 as a freshman and 10.4 as a sophomore. She was nominated for a Player of the Week award in December with a 17-point, 12 rebounds, and 5-assist game against Corona del Sol. Besides basketball, Ella is a member of the Basha Beach Volleyball team.    [player_tooltip player_id='263402' first='Andrea' last='Becerra'] - she is an outstanding offensive player and is only going to get better each year. The fact that she played on the varsity as an eighth grader and averaged over 15 points per game is reason enough to know about her offensive skills. She has three-point range, can drive the lane, and can finish at the rim.       Mia Kelly - she is a steadily improving player offensively as both a shooter and distributor of the basketball. Mia gets her teammates involved on offense and plays strong team defense.     Tocah Dial - last season Tocah had a double-double in a game against Buckeye High School (20 points and 10 rebounds). She is an outstanding defensive player having multiple steals in most of the 42 games she's played in her first two years on the varsity.     [player_tooltip player_id='263396' first='Korol' last='Ortiz'] - She is an improving defensive player who has great court awareness. Her quick hands help her make lots of steals. Korol has also shown great improvement on offense, both as a shooter and ball-handler.     [player_tooltip player_id='263394' first='Ella' last='Murakami'] - Her play throughout the spring and summer with her club team, AZ Elite 16U, helped her game, primarily on offense. She played in a number of tournaments, including one's in both Ohio and Pennsylvania,b and improved her overall game. She is both an elite rebounder and defender.

Introduction: There are a number of unheralded junior guards throughout Arizona. All are outstanding players on both ends of the court. Here's a profile of five of the best: