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East Valley Notebook
Jason P. Skoda,
AZPreps365
Year two in a coach’s tenure at a program is usually a step forward after
the first year of laying the foundation and getting to know each other.
It can be hard to do when the first year ends in the 6A championship game,
and the a senior-laden roster walked the stage a few months later.
With that said Gilbert girls basketball coach Savannah Bix felt the Tigers
were in a good position to start the year after coming over from Poston
Butte prior to last season.
The first year set the standard, they had a good summer, and a lot of
young talent was infused into the program.
Then in fifth game of the year, the Tigers’ most prominent senior – Aspen
McClees, who has more than 1,300 points in her career – tore her ACL. The
Portland St. recruit’s season was done.
The season could have gone the same way, and playing in two tough
tournaments right after wasn’t good for the psyche, but it proved to be a
great way to find a new rotation and different lineups with McClees, who
was averaging 18.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
“We were in one of the top two brackets in the (Nike) TOC and we went up
to Las Vegas and played Bishop Gorman, who has been ranked into the top in
the nation,” Bix said. “We were battled tested after that.”
It led to the Tigers (16-9 overall, 14-3 regular season, 8-1 region)
sharing the Fiesta Region lead after beating Higley on Tuesday to tie the
Knights with one more regular season left Thursday night versus Highland
at home.
“Winning a region title is small goal in the big picture,” Bix said. “It’s
a stepping stone to the big picture.”
The big picture is winning the Open even though the rotation mainly
includes four freshman, two sophomores and a junior.
“We’re a different team than we were at the beginning of the year,” she
said. “We lost Aspen, but the young group has developed with the more
varsity experience under their belt. We are really young and that’s good
for the future, but they are playing well now and competing really hard.
“Being so young there are some silly mistakes, and growing pains, but
they’ve handed it well for the most part.”
There are several reasons the Tigers have managed to stay in contention
after losing McClees as junior Milan Silvera, who transferred from Poston
Butte, took over a leadership role, the all-around ability of sophomore
Contessa Ivy and the shooting of freshman Ava Thompson.
"We've a lot players step up and take on bigger roles," Bix said. "Anyone
could lead us in scoring or rebounds each night."
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