MaxPreps 2015 Nike TOC girls basketball preview

Video: Half Court Buzzer Beater for the Win
See the best finish in girls basketball yet this season.

If the No. 1 team in the country is coming to your tournament, it's a pretty good bet you'll draw some fans and some college coaches.

Add the No. 2 team, and now the media will show up – after all, that tournament is for the national title.

But what about if No. 4 and No. 5 squads are also in the bracket?



Well, that's the Nike TOC in Arizona this year, which will bring all that talent, plus college coaches, media and fans, to the Phoenix area starting Friday. The tournament continues play Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, and with 88 teams, there will be lots to watch at the four different sites.

For example, just in the Joe Smith Division (the top bracket), in addition to No. 1 St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.), No. 2 Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.), No. 4 Centennial (Las Vegas) and No. 5 Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.), there's also No. 20 Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) and regional powerhouses Eastside (Paterson, N.J.), Miami Country Day, Dillard (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Southwest DeKalb (Decatur, Ga.), Wesleyan (Norcross, Ga.) and Central (Springfield, Mass.).

Then again, don't be surprised if strong teams from Illinois like New Trier (Winnetka, Ill.) and Homewood-Flossmoor (Flossmoor, Ill.) or California squads Long Beach Poly (Calif.), Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) and Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) wind up puncturing some rankings balloons, as the 16-team bracket is loaded with elite teams and elite players.

It all starts with St. Mary's, unbeaten so far, and featuring 6-foot-2 Aquira Decosta, the top-ranked player in the Class of 2018. Sharpshooter Kat Tudor and dynamic Mi'Cole Cayton also play big roles. But coach Tom Gonsalves has never relied on stars, instead deploying a horde of pressing, running, 3-point shooting athletes who can not only overwhelm opponents with talent but also overrun them with a relentless up-tempo attack.

Riverdale Baptist, though, counters with a roster led by seniors Kaila Charles (signed with Maryland) and Morgan Smith (Georgetown). Centennial, from just up the road in Las Vegas, is another pressing, running team and like both St. Mary's and Riverdale, has Division I prospects up and down the roster. Chaminade, meanwhile, relies on the one-two punch of Valerie Higgins (Southern California) and Leaonna Odom (Duke).

Highlands Ranch (Colo.), No. 23 in the nation, highlights the John Anderson Division, and Destiny Slocum will lead Idaho's best team in recent memory, Mountain View (Meridian, Idaho). The two teams are slated to meet in the second round, assuming both win, but Lincoln (Dallas), Brea Olinda (Brea, Calif.), Morristown-Hamblen West (Morristown, Tenn.) and Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.) are also not to be taken lightly.

The Mike Desper Division is stocked with talented teams as well, led by Bishop McNamara (Forestville, Md.) (which lost to No. 2 Riverdale Baptist in overtime) and ThunderRidge (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), expected to be the main challenger to Highlands Ranch in Colorado. Overlooking Trinity (River Forest, Ill.) and Liberty (Henderson, Nev.) would also not be wise, but there are challenges up and down this bracket. Punahou (Honolulu), for example, was surprisingly strong in its last visit, and Sacramento (Calif.) and Clovis West (Fresno, Calif.) are two quality teams from California's Central Valley.



But as those who have brought teams to the Nike TOC can attest, there are no easy brackets. Teams that won 20 games last year are scattered throughout the tournament, and the tournament's history is littered with teams that struggled at the TOC but then went back home to play for and sometimes win state titles.

There is one difference this year, however. Since its arrival in Arizona more than a decade ago, the tournament has always been played in Chandler. But this year, three high schools in Gilbert will host the nation's elite. Highland High School is the site of the winner's bracket games in the Joe Smith Division, and the bulk of the championship games Tuesday, so expect the hundred or so college coaches in attendance to find their way there fairly quickly.

Of course, they'll be at every gym, given this level of talent, as the Nike TOC promises to be the best girls basketball tournament in the country. Again.