5A Championship Game Standouts

On March 7th, the 5A Basketball Championship took place at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It was the #1 Raymond Kellis Cougars taking on #3 Canyon View Jaguars. Kellis had come into the championship game 17-1 in their last 18 games. The Jaguars came in winners of 15 of their last 16 games. The Cougars came out of the gate fast looking to play at their pace. At the half, Kellis had a 21-17 lead in a game that was turning into a defensive battle. In the 2nd half, the Jaguars began to find their groove offensively, and defensively they turned up the pressure. Canyon View held on to defeat Kellis in a battle of West Side schools 44-40. For the second consecutive year, the Canyon View Jaguars are the 2025 5A State Champions.   Here I look at some of the standouts    Flowers played with her normal confidence and composure. She made some clutch plays in the paint down the stretch when her team needed her the most. Flowers finished with a double-double. She had 10 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.      Luz started off slow but picked it up in the final quarter, despite eventually fouling out. In that final period, you saw the whole scoring package. She was in the paint and on the perimeter hitting shots. She finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds in limited minutes.     The senior came up big for her squad. She hit consecutive threes near the end of the third quarter giving her team a boost heading into the 4th. She shot them with such confidence it was like she had ice in her veins. She finished with a game-high 14 points and 5 rebounds.      Shanielle impacted the game out of the gate with her quickness and ability to turn the corner on offense. She also had her floater game going early. On defense, she was a pest. She finished with 12 points 6 rebounds and 5 steals.      Rogers came up big in the final period. She hit some clutch shots and played excellent on the ball defense helping shut down the opposing perimeter players. Aaliya finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.      You won't see Odoms impact in the stat sheet necessarily but her overall play in the 1st half was apparent. Z didn't play like a freshman. She came off the bench early and provided her team with some much-needed toughness, defense, and rebounding.

On March 7^th, the 5A Basketball Championship took place at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It was the #1 Raymond Kellis Cougars taking on #3 Canyon View Jaguars. Kellis had come into the championship game 17-1 in their last 18 games. The Jaguars came in winners of 15 of their last 16 games. The Cougars came out of the gate fast looking to play at their pace. At the half, Kellis had a 21-17 lead in a game that was turning into a defensive battle. In the 2^nd half, the Jaguars began to find their groove offensively, and defensively they turned up the pressure. Canyon View held on to defeat Kellis in a battle of West Side schools 44-40. For the second consecutive year, the Canyon View Jaguars are the 2025 5A State Champions.