Under the Radar: Arizona 6A Desert Southwest Region

With the 2021-2022 high school basketball season closing in, let’s take a little bit of time to look back on the last season and some of the elite players that may have fallen a little Under the Radar in the state of Arizona Class AAAAAA Desert Southwest region. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="214698" first="Myna" last="Johnson"] - Senior - 5’6" - Cibola High School </strong> This Cibola Lady Raider is a name that you have probably heard before but one that I think deserves some extra attention in the Desert Southwest region. [player_tooltip player_id="214698" first="Myna" last="Johnson"] was a five-foot-six junior last season that ended off the year averaging 12.2 points per game, 4.5 assists per game, followed by 3.5 rebounds, and steals per game. She is the type of player that will not let up during her minutes on the floor and truly makes them count. In the first six games of the 2020-2021 basketball season, Johnson had 15 points or more helping her team start off the season as 5-1. Her seniority is definitely going to come into play this year making her one of the top dogs to watch for in the region. <strong>Skylar Begay - Senior - 5’9" - Tucson High Magnet School </strong> Begay will be returning for one last season with the Tucson Lady Badgers to put a cap on her high school basketball career. She has played all four seasons for the Varsity squad bringing energy and talent each year. Throughout her junior season, Begay averaged 7.9 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game and, 1.7 steals per game leading to an overall record of 8-6. She had three games where she finished with a double-double, Catalina Foothills (16 points, 10 rebounds), Rincon (11 points, 10 rebounds), and Mesa (10 points, 10 rebounds). After the past three years playing on the varsity team, it only seems right that Skylar will come out as a leader and someone to look up to in the Desert Southwest region. <strong>T</strong><strong>amia Clardy - Senior - 5’4" - Tucson Magnet High School </strong> Another top-performing senior coming out of Tucson Magnet High School is five-foot-four combo guard, [player_tooltip player_id="214592" first="Tamia" last="Clardy"]. This scrappy athlete averaged 7.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 2.2 steals per game during the course of the 2020-2021 high school basketball season. In a big win over Queen Creek in the middle of the season, Tamia scored 14 points and had 5 big-time steals to push towards a double-digit victory for the Lady Badgers. I think that #22 will be a playmaker for her team again throughout her senior year. <strong>Rori Hoffmeyer - Senior - 6’1" - Cibola High School </strong> Six-foot-one senior for the Cibola Lady Raiders, Rori Hoffmeyer will be returning to the court one last time to finish off her high school career. The lengthy center averaged 7.4 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game that helped push her team to a successful overall record of 13-4 for the 2020-2021 basketball season. Hoffmeyer was awarded the MaxPreps Player of the Game award for her outstanding performance in a win over San Luis High School. During that game in February, Rori scored 18 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals, and 4 blocks. That is a pretty nice set of stats for the junior and I know this will not be the last that we hear of #12. <strong>Isabella Molina - Sophomore - 5’4" - Cibola High School </strong> As a freshman point guard last season for the Cibola Lady Raiders, Molina shook the Desert Southwest region by averaging 5.0 points per game along with 2.6 rebounds per game in 17 games played. The five-foot-five point guard also demonstrated her awareness of the court while averaging 2.9 assists and 2.6 steals per game. She was selected as the MaxPreps Player of the Game on February 5th against Kofa High School after a double-double performance. Isabella scored 14 points, had 10 steals, 7 assists, and 2 rebounds. This is a young and hungry athlete who is ready to take on this tough region for years to come.