Five Prospects Under the Radar for 2021

Arizona prep girls basketball has some outstanding seniors, many of which have already received scholarships to Division I colleges. There are, also, many seniors that are playing under the radar but are deserving of a closer look. Here’s a profile of five of them: [player_tooltip player_id="136291" first="<strong>Madeline</strong>" last="<strong>Greene</strong>"]: is a 5-11 guard and forward for Rincon University High School and is the daughter of Kim Conway Greene, who played for the University of Arizona. Madeline’s mom was one of the best shooters in the history of women’s basketball at Arizona and ranks third all-time in field goal percentage (56.2%). Madeline is the captain of the team and currently averaging 17.7 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per contest. Madeline was selected as Player of the Game as both a freshman vs. Marana High School and as a sophomore. vs. Marshfield High School. She is considered a fierce competitor and is all business on the court. Madeline is an outstanding junior golfer as well and plans to play golf in college. She is also a member of the Sport360AZ All-Academic team with a weighted GPA of 4.27. As a basketball player, Madeline wears the same number her mother did - #32 - while at the University of Arizona. &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="218408" first="Abigail" last="Benally"]</strong>: is a 5-2 point guard who recently transferred from Ganado High School to Holbrook High School. Ganado discontinued their basketball program for 2020-2021 and last October Abigail was able to complete the transfer. In her three years on the varsity at Ganado, she averaged 7.1 points per game, 3.3 assists per game, and 2.8 steals per game. This was in a three-year total of 88 games. At Ganado, Abigail led the Lady Hornets to the Final Four as a freshman and also as a junior. She also played softball, track and field, and volleyball during her three years at the school. She recently lost two relatives to the Covid19 virus. As a player, she is considered a hard worker, good shooter, and ball handler. According to her new coach, Greg Perkins, "Abigail is a great player and we welcome her to our program. I feel terrible for the teams, coaches, and players that are not playing this year but I fully understand the situation. I think we’re fortunate to be playing." Last year Holbrook was 25-7 and with the addition of [player_tooltip player_id="218408" first="Abigail" last="Benally"], they could even have a better record in 2021. &nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id="136285" first=<strong>"Naomi"</strong> last="<strong>Hernandez</strong>"]: is a 5-6 guard from Valley Lutheran High School in Phoenix. A member of the National Honor Society, Naomi averaged 22.6 points per game on a team that went 12-2. She also is an outstanding softball and volleyball player for Valley Lutheran. Naomi has been named Basketball Player of the Game four times in her career and she has won the Volleyball Player of the Match six times. She is also the first junior in school history to score over 1,000 points. "Naomi is the first junior to score 1,000 points," said her coach, Ed Measel. "That is how great she has been for us. She could become Valley Lutheran’s all-time leading scorer by the end of her senior year. When we need a big bucket, she has delivered for us many, many times." Naomi’s career-high is 36 points and last year ranked #4 in the state in steals, averaging 6.5 per game. &nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id="218204" first=<strong>"Lauryn</strong>" last="<strong>Manion</strong>"]: is a 5-8 wing player for last winter’s 3A State Champion Sabino High School. In their fourth trip to the state finals, Sabino defeated Page High School 42-35 and Lauryn contributed 12 points in the win. The Sabercats beat Ganado in the semi-finals with the games played at the Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum. Sabino ended up 28-4 and Lauryn averaged 7.3 points per game, 3.4 rebounds per game, and 2.3 steals per game. She made the All-Region second team and All-State Honorable Mention. Last January, Sabino upset rival Sahuaro, 51-41, in the MLK Classic held at the McKale Center on the campus of the University of Arizona. Sahuaro was the last undefeated girls’ prep team and with the loss went to 18-1. Lauryn contributed nine points, nine rebounds, and four steals in the game. With many veteran players back, Sabino should be able to make another title run in 2021. &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="136276" first="April" last="Martinez"]</strong>: is a 5-5 point guard for Rio Rico High School who is averaging 20 points per game in 2021. She scored her 1,000 point in January of 2020 as a junior. Since playing as a freshman, April has played in 72 games before getting that milestone, averaging 13.8 ppg and hitting a staggering 47% from beyond the arc. She scored 331 points as a freshman and 444 as a sophomore and made 98 three-pointers that season, the most of any girl prep player in the state. April made second-team All-Gila Conference as a freshman and first-team All-Conference as both a sophomore and junior. Since 2017, April has won 15 different Player of the Game awards. One of those awards was earlier this month against Amphitheater High School. She scored 31 points and, according to the Rio Rico girls basketball coaching staff, " She took over the game. With pressure applied by the defense, her leadership skills came out quickly. April made sure the ball was in her hands and the game was at her pace. She was aggressive on the defensive side of the ball and scored nearly half of our team’s points. More importantly, she helped the younger players through a difficult game, telling them where to be and why." Against Walden Grove earlier in February, April scored a career-high 38 points. With a veteran cast, Rio Rico should make a strong playoff run in March. &nbsp;