The Top Five Girls Point Guards in Arizona for 2021

Sports, at all levels, needs an asterisk for 2020. The Covid 19 Pandemic wrecked havoc on just about everything from Pop Warner football to the World Series. But with the potential success of a number of vaccines, sports should return to some sense of ‘normalcy’ in 2021. It may come in January with a full slate of Arizona high school girls basketball games scheduled. The 2021 edition includes an exceptional group of point guards. Here’s a profile of the top five: <strong>1-[player_tooltip player_id="217490" first="Zari" last="Watkins"]</strong> – Valley Vista High School – a 5’4” senior, Watkins started as a freshman for Aqua Frier High School, leading the team in scoring. As a freshman, she also made Honorable Mention on the All-Academic Arizona Girls Basketball team with a 3.67 GPA. After transferring to Valley Vista High School in Surprise, Watkins sat out most of her junior year with injuries. She is considered relentless on the defensive side of the court and knows how to take care of the ball. Coach Rachel Matakos believes Watkins has high energy and is a great penetrator. “Zari has a knack for finding the open player,” said Coach Matakos. “She reads defenses well, has a good mid-range jump shot and has a high basketball IQ.” &nbsp; <strong>2- [player_tooltip player_id="217475" first="Faith" last="Diggs"]</strong> – Mountain Pointe High School – It was resolved in September, 2019 that former coach Justin Hagen had shared football game strategy with an opponent. After an investigation, Hagan was terminated and Donnis Henry was named head coach. The team placed the words “The Hunt” on their warmups, signifying the closeness of the team and that they were all sticking together throughout the season This fall new coach Raheema Stephens asked the 5’6" Diggs to take more of a leadership role.Diggs runs the offense and sets it up every time down the floor. She has now embraced the leadership role.  “At first I was kind of uncomfortable with it but realized I could do it,” said Diggs. “Sometimes it can be a lot of pressure but I try to have fun with it.” Diggs is a battle-tested senior and is an outstanding shooter as well as defender. She also made Honorable Mention on the Arizona All-Academic Girls Basketball team with a 3.80 GPA. &nbsp; <strong>3-[player_tooltip player_id="217485" first="Yvette" last="Ruiz"]</strong> – is a 5’6” senior who plays for Michael Lee at Moon Valley High School in Phoenix. Ruiz has been taught, ‘hustle, discipline and respect’ and swears by those principles. She is also a member of the Moon Valley Lady Rockets track and field team and plays club basketball for the Arizona Elite Gold. She has a 3.7 GPA and is considered both a defensive standout and excellent player in the passing lanes. She is improved as an on the ball defender and is considered a pass-first lead point guard. Both her court awareness and mid-range jumper have gotten better each season. &nbsp; <strong>4-[player_tooltip player_id="217476" first="April" last="Tuason"]</strong> – Tempe High School – April is a 5’3’’ point guard who plays for the Tempe Buffaloes and Coach Dave Morton. She also plays for the 602 Lady Nation’s AAU team. A point guard, April can also play shooting guard. She is tough-minded and physical and can play through contact. She is very good at playing on-the-ball defense. April has a good feel for the game with solid leadership qualities and is a game manager, efficient with the ball and fundamentally sound. “My goal is to surround myself with teammates and staff that have their best interests in me to become a better player and person,” said Tuason. “I am a team leader and my priority is to make everyone around me better.” According to Coach Morton, “April is a great kid and brings it every day. She is an excellent teammate, a great outside shooter and penetrator but her most admirable quality is her patience. She has improved defensively and made the first team all-regional squad. She should have a great college career.” <strong> </strong> <strong>5-[player_tooltip player_id="218203" first="Nohema" last="Romo"] –</strong> Nohema is a 5’2” point guard for Buena High School in Sierra Vista. She is averaging 12.5 points per game and combines tenaciousness with speed and quickness. She starts the offense and controls the pace. She likes to drive the lane and control the ball. She is very good at creating space on taller defenders. Defensively, Nohema displays great quickness. She steals lazy passes and plays solid man-to-man defense. She uses her tenaciousness to get her opponent off their game. A hard worker and multi-sport athlete, she has played on boys baseball and basketball teams and also played on an Olympic Development team in soccer. “I never give up and try to put myself in a position to be the best person and athlete I can be,” she says. “I will continue to work hard so I can reach my dream and goal of playing college basketball.” Her AAU coach Marvin Beckwith feels Nohema is both a fierce competitor and an extremely unselfish player. “She first looks to get her teammates involved, “said Beckwith. “Nohema also shows great leadership qualities.” &nbsp;