The second year of the State Champions Invitational high school girls basketball tournament added two teams and tips off April 6 with a field that includes six teams ranked in the MaxPreps Top 25.
No. 7
Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) headlines the bracket along with No. 16
Lone Peak (Highland, Utah). Those two squads were given the top two seeds along with a first-round bye in the three-day event April 6-8 at Georgetown University. All five games will be televised on the ESPN family of networks.
State Champions Invitational
April 6
2 p.m. — No. 4 Centennial vs. No. 5 Dr. Phillips — ESPN+
4 p.m. — No. 3 Morris Catholic vs. No. 6 Desert Vista — ESPNU
April 7Noon — Morris Catholic-Desert Vista winner vs. No. 2 Lone Peak — ESPN+
2 p.m. — Centennial-Dr. Phillips winner vs. No. 1 Sidwell Friends — ESPNU
April 810 a.m. — Championship — ESPNU
Freshman Jerzy Robinson leads No. 18 Desert Vista into the State Champions Invitational in April. No. 5 Morris Catholic, No. 7 Sidwell Friends, No. 16 Lone Peak, No. 17 Dr. Phillips, No. 20 Centennial round out the six-team field. (Photo: Steven Davis)
The Morris Catholic-Desert Vista matchup features a handful of underclass players who have shined all season on the big stage.
Morris Catholic trots out sophomore guards
Mia and
Mya Pauldo along with fellow sophomore
Daniella Matus and junior
Alexis Rosenfeld. Mia Pauldo led the Lancers in scoring with 18.9 points per night as they won the Non-Public B title.
Desert Vista, which won the inaugural Arizona Open Division crown, is led by freshman
Jerzy Robinson. She averaged 22.0 points and 8.2 rebounds and is a leading candidate for MaxPreps Freshman of the Year for the 28-3 Thunder.
Centennial lost to Lone Peak in its opening game of the season and ran the table on the way to an eighth consecutive Nevada title. The 30-1 Bulldogs are paced by MaxPreps Player of the Year
Kaniya Boyd, who averaged 12.2 points, 4.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 steals per game
from her point guard position, helping Centennial close the season on a
30-game win streak.
Junior
Trinity Turner is the catalyst for a Dr. Philips squad that went 30-1 and won the Sunshine State's 7A title. The MaxPreps Florida Player of the Year, Turner averaged 19.5 points, 10.9 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 4.6 steals per game, scoring in double figures in all but two games.
Sidwell might be without MaxPreps District of Columbia Player of the Year
Jadyn Donovan, who was selected to the Nike Hoops Summit squad which plays the same weekend. She averaged 14.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.2 assist and 2.0 steals. But the Quakers have a host of talent, including
Leah Harmon, freshman
Jayla Jackson and
Kendall Dudley.
MaxPreps Utah Player of the Year
Kailey Woolston powers Lone Peak into the SCI. The BYU commit averaged 20.7 points, 81 rebounds and 2.1 assist per game as the 23-3 Knights played a strong national schedule while powering through all Utah opponents.
