Basketball Recap: Deer Valley Comes Up Short

Deer Valley's tournament run continued when they took on Miami on Thursday. 2025 welcomed the Deer Valley Skyhawks with a 62-42 loss courtesy of the Miami Vandals. While losing is never fun, the Skyhawks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 129th, while the Vandals are ranked fifth).

Despite the loss, Deer Valley saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Joharnie Relampagos posted 14 points. Another player making a difference was Lilah Clark, who had eight points.

Miami found their leader in sophomore Tamia Pietila, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 12 steals. Pietila is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed three or more in the last 12 games she's played dating back to last season. Demetria Dosela was another key player, putting up seven points along with ten rebounds and five assists.

Deer Valley now has a losing record at 5-6. As for Miami, the victory was the sixth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 10-1.

Deer Valley didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 53-29 defeat against Tuba City on the 3rd. As for Miami, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 59-58 win against Red Mountain on the 3rd.