Girls Hoops: Division II Quarterfinals

February 24, 2015 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


Karen Self has guided the Seton Catholic Sentinels to seven state championships including three of the last four. This year, however, Vail Cienega is 30-0 and seeded No. 1 while Seton Catholic (27-5) is the No. 2 seed.

If both teams make it through the quarterfinals it will be a repeat of last year's final where the Sentinels outlasted Cienega 37-30. The Bobcats are coached by first-year coach Matt Ruiz and he brings senior standouts Treyanna Clay and Destiny Richardson to the court while Self will counter with freshman sensation Sarah Barcello and sophomore Jenn Wirth.

Cienega will face No. 9 Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge (25-7). The Nighthawks under Nikki Simpson have set the new school standard with 25 wins. Junior Lexy Ram is difficult to guard, senior guard Alyssa Madlangbayan is a three-point shooter and senior guard Piper Mali will guide the team.

No. 10 Tucson Sahuaro (27-4) has the difficult task of taking on Seton Catholic but the Cougars are a stronger team than their No. 10-seed implies. Junior Sydney Harden controls the inside with 17 points a game and sophomore Elena Arriaga has made 58 three-pointers to lead the team from the outside.

Here are the other quarterfinal matchups in Division II:

No. 3 Phoenix Thunderbird (29-2) was the No. 4 seed last year but did not make it out of the second round. The trio of juniors Brianna Lehew, Ozahria Fisher and Jazmine Covington helped the team rebound this year. All three are scoring in double figures.

Thunderbird will face No. 6 Phoenix Sierra Linda (27-3).  The Bulldogs were the No. 2 seed last year but were upset in the second round. Freshman Janae Gonzales is averaging over 16 points a game and senior Kaylah Burrows is just under 13 points a game.

No. 4 Flagstaff (23-5) shoots plenty of three-pointers and head coach Tyrone Johnson substitutes freely. Two big losses to Seton Catholic and Thunderbird before the winter break was followed by a record of 16-1 to end the regular season.

The Eagles will face this year's Cinderella team in No. 12 Maricopa (26-5). The team feels no one gave them a shot but they came back from a 16-point deficit to defeat No. 5 Tucson in the second round. You can't count out the fight of junior Danae Ruiz and the coaching ability of Kati Burrows.