The Valley Vista Monsoon win their second state title in a row after defeating the Hamilton Huskies 49-41.
Both Hamilton and Valley Vista entered the Championship game with just one loss in the season. The Huskies sported a 19-1 record ahead of the game while the Monsoon boasted a 17-1 record. Both teams have been extremely successful in the last five years, each with a few Championship wins in the last half-decade. Last season the Monsoon took down the Huskies in the Championship game with a 42-38 win.
One of the Monsoon’s key contributors was point guard, Olivia Arvallo.
“I’m feeling great. We’ve been waiting for this,” Arvallo. “We’ve come a long way and we’ve had so many sacrifices.”
Leading the Monsoon to victory was Marisa Davis who scored 21 points and collected 12 rebounds.
Arvallo and Valley Vista’s head coach Rachel Matakas agree that their confidence and defense is what ultimately set them apart from their competition.
“I think our kids knew we had it,” said Matakas. The Monsoon held the lead for the majority of the game and their momentum propelled through to the final minutes of the contest.
“We’ve been working so hard on our defense and we came in knowing that defense was going to win us the game,” Arvallo said.
Claudia Collins
