6A Thriller: Valley Vista Girls Reign Supreme

Even at the high school level, it’s hard to beat that championship DNA.

Despite playing far from a perfect game, Valley Vista make key stops, and a clutch basket late from Olivia Arvallo, as the Monsoon pieced together a strong second half in their 48-46 upset of 3rd-seeded Dobson Saturday morning in the 6A Girls State Championship Game.

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This Olivia Arvallo layup has put Valley Vista up 48-46 with just seconds to play. Dobson will have the ball following the timeout. pic.twitter.com/l4SjiqKmfl

— Sports360AZ (@Sports360AZ) March 4, 2023

“It kind of just happened,” Arvallo said. Once I got the ball, I saw the lane [open]. I had the lane, so I took it. I just knew I had to put it in the basket at the end of the day.”

Initially, neither team seemed phased by the big stage in a first quarter that featured a handful of lead changes and the Monsoon holding an 11-10 advantage, despite committing six turnovers, heading to the second eight minutes of game action. Emma Dasovich led Valley Vista with five points, sharing honors with Dobson’s Ahdiayh Chee.

The back and forth action continued in the second quarter before Dobson pieced together a mini offensive spurt, taking a 23-20 lead into the half. Nether team shot well in the first half. Valley Vista, despite holding a 22-12 rebound advantage, continued to be careless ball as their turnover total swelled to 10. Dobson committed only three.

Chee, along with teammate Aaliyah Garcia, paced Dobson with eight points each in the first half. Arvallo paced Dobson with seven.

Whatever was said inside the Valley Vista locker room at halftime seemed to work. Dasovich’s and-one in transition pushed the Monsoon to lead to 31-25, forcing a quick Dobson timeout early in the quarter.

Chee’s deep three at the end of the quarter helped minimize a sluggish stretch as the Monsoon outscored the higher seed 13-7, taking a 33-30 lead into the final stanza, and dominating play in the paint.

A Dasovich offensive foul, and subsequent technical, allowed Dobson to pull within one, 42-41, with 3:36 to play, but Aamari Chavers layup with just over a minute to play pushed the advantage to 46-42, forcing a Mustangs’ timeout.

Garcia would respond with a clutch three-pointer, and an offensive foul gave Dobson the ball with 40.2 seconds to play, down just one.

A missed Dobson free throw set up Arvallo’s game-winner, and another gold ball for the Monsoon trophy case.

Chee struggled from the floor (4-18) but ended up with a game-high 17 points. Arvallo led Valley in scoring with 14. Dasovich registered a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. 

Dobson was outrebounded 41-31, and made just 13-53 shots from the field (24.5%).