4A-OPEN Finals: 2024 Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>March 2nd-4th I watched four State Finals of 4A-OPEN at Arizona Veterans' Memorial Coliseum in Phx, AZ.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Results</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>4A #4 Pueblo Warriors 65 #2<strong>&nbsp;Flagstaff 68</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>5A #3&nbsp;<strong>Sunrise Mountain 52</strong>&nbsp;#1 Canyon View 47</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>6A #5&nbsp;<strong>Valley Vista 48</strong>&nbsp;#3 Dobson 46</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>OPEN #6 Millennium 37 #1&nbsp;<strong>Desert Vista 63</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Here were some of the Junior Standouts</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='608254' first='Morningrain' last='Honani'] Flagstaff&nbsp;(Pictured) </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A tough on-ball defender can drive and kick it. She sees the court well and is very competitive defensively. She can get to the line with a tight handle. She got better as the game went on and made the last two free throws to go up 3 points to seal the victory.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='203873' first='Shay' last='Ijiwoye'] Desert Vista</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The top junior in state backed it up while two <strong>ASU</strong> coaches watched her play. She is a tough on-ball defender and is a very crafty downhill scorer in traffic. She uses her power and tight handle and can hesitate to get to the rim. She also threw a few perfect passes for dimes that threaded the needle in stride to teammates. She can hit the catch three and even took a couple charges. She scored 11 points with 4+ assists.   </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='205641' first='Elli' last='Guiney'] Millennium</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The top girl on the team is a tough cover. She scores multiple ways with back door layups, she has the floater game, she can shoot the three plus gets to the basket with changing speeds and is very controlled. She is the primary ball handler and made a few nice passes for assists. She scored 11 points unofficially.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='205646' first='Eanae' last='Dagons'] Desert Vista</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A true ball hawk pesters you up the full length of the court. She has an impressive burst of speed to blow past her defenders and score at the rim. She makes good reads and her defense is one of the best in the state.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='205659' first='Mia' last='Burgess'] Canyon View</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A decent sized wing forward can score it many ways. She can hit mid-range jumpers confidently and scores inside versus bigger post players plus gives hard ball fakes and will go up. She can rebound the ball plus block shots. She scored 8 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jaydean Dugi and Jazmine Dugi SG 5'4 2024 Flagstaff</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both girls can rebound well despite their size and can hit the three point shot off the catch. Jazmine hit two huge triples in the third quarter that was pivotal during the game. They both defend and can make plays. They will be very important if they want to repeat for next year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->