Desert Vista is the most dominant girl's team in the state, led by the imposing inside presence of nationally ranked 6-foot-4 senior post Kristine Anigwe (Cal signee). But national scouts will soon figure out that Millennium High School's ultra-talented 5-foot-6 junior point guard Raina Perez can be just as dominant from the guard spot on the floor. For her exploits on the court, Perez would earn First Team All-State honors last season by the Arizona Republic as a mere sophomore.
Perez would continue right where she left off last season, and also after a strong performance throughout the spring and summer, to lead her Millennium Tigers to an impresssive 5-0 start to the season - winning last week's Lady Padres Tip-Off Classic Invitational at Marcos De Niza High School. Perez would lead her Millennium team to huge wins over Red Mountain (63-36), Cactus Shadows (71-35), Pinnacle (77-20), Tucson (60-34) in the tournament semi-finals, and then finally a big 81-76 tournament championship victory over #1 ranked Desert Vista.
Behind the strong play and leadership of Perez, and the support of 5-foot-11 senior post Quynne Huggins and 5-foot-8 senior guard Passionate Amukamara, the Tigers would get a well-balanced attack throughout the tournament to win the tournament championship.
While Millennium was not a top-ranked team by many newspaper publications before the season, Perez' ability to run a team and put pressure on opposing defenses will make this team very difficult to beat all season long. It is going to be a great season in girl's basketball.
