Gilbert Lady Tigers

#	PLAYER	POS.	HT	YR
0	Contessa Ivy	G, SG	5'7	So.
1	Tylaiah Wily	PG, SG	5'6	So.
2	Summer Johnson	SG	5'5	Sr.
3	Lilah Barton	SG	5'7	Jr.
4	Eva Speed	G, PG	5'5	Fr.
5	Kaylin Ramos	G	5'2	So.
11	Karlee Zender	F, P	6'1	Fr.
12	Destiny Young	G, SG	5'7	Fr.
13	Raeanna Love	F	5'8	Sr.
21	Milan Silvera	G	5'6	Jr.
22	Ava Thompson	G, PG, SG	5'5	Fr.
24	Aspen McClees	G, F	5'11	Sr.
55	Alexia Shackelford	PF	--	Jr.

DATE	HOME	OPPONENT	SCORE	W-L
DATE	AWAY	OPPONENT	SCORE	W-L
11/21	H	Desert Ridge	87-11	1-0
11/25	H	Mesquite	54-34	2-0
DATE	HOME	OPPONENT	SCORE	W-L
DATE	AWAY	OPPONENT	SCORE	W-L
12/03	A	Red Mountain	82-15	3-0
12/12	H	Hamilton	53-56	3-1
12/15	H	Cesar Chavez	64-28	4-1
Nike Tournament of Champions
12/18	T	Francis Parker (CA)	24-62	4-2
12/19	T	Northfield (CO)	31-49	4-3
12/20	T	Douglass (OK)	33-42	4-4
12/22	T	Marlborough (CA)	64-24	5-4
Las Vegas Classic
12/26	T	Bishop Gorman (NV)	29-63	5-5
12/27	T	Ventura (CA)	44-47	5-6
12/27	T	Kenwood (IL)	49-61	5-7
12/29	T	Flagstaff	37-32	6-7
DATE	HOME	OPPONENT	SCORE	W-L
DATE	AWAY	OPPONENT	SCORE	W-L
01/06	H	Chandler	59-37	7-7
01/07	A	Desert Vista	60-24	8-7
01/09	A	Desert Ridge	76-24	9-7
01/13	A	Campo Verde	43-56	9-8
01/16	H	Williams Field	69-12	10-8
01/21	A	Higley	53-56	10-9
01/23	H	Queen Creek	67-21	11-9
01/27	A	Highland	63-42	12-9
01/29	A	Valley Vista	58-46	13-9
DATE	HOME	OPPONENT	SCORE	W-L
DATE	AWAY	OPPONENT	SCORE	W-L
02/03	A	Williams Field	43-13	14-9
02/06	A	Queen Creek	67-37	15-9
02/10	H	Higley	54-49	16-9
02/12	H	Highland	71-52	17-9
DATE	HOME	OPEN BRACKET	SCORE	W-L
DATE	AWAY	OPEN BRACKET	SCORE	W-L
02/17	H	Pinnacle	54-25	18-9
02/19	H	Basha	37-49	18-10
DATE	HOME	6-A BRACKET	SCORE	W-L
DATE	AWAY	6-A BRACKET	SCORE	W-L
02/26	H	Cesar Chavez	85-40	19-10
02/28	H	Xavier Prep	64-49	20-10
03/03	H	Valley Vista	45-47	20-11

East Valley Notebook
Jason P. Skoda, AZPreps365

Year two in a coach’s tenure at a program is usually a step forward after the first year of laying the foundation and getting to know each other.

It can be hard to do when the first year ends in the 6A championship game, and the a senior-laden roster walked the stage a few months later.

With that said Gilbert girls basketball coach Savannah Bix felt the Tigers were in a good position to start the year after coming over from Poston Butte prior to last season.

The first year set the standard, they had a good summer, and a lot of young talent was infused into the program.

Then in fifth game of the year, the Tigers’ most prominent senior – Aspen McClees, who has more than 1,300 points in her career – tore her ACL. The Portland St. recruit’s season was done.

The season could have gone the same way, and playing in two tough tournaments right after wasn’t good for the psyche, but it proved to be a great way to find a new rotation and different lineups with McClees, who was averaging 18.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists.

“We were in one of the top two brackets in the (Nike) TOC and we went up to Las Vegas and played Bishop Gorman, who has been ranked into the top in the nation,” Bix said. “We were battled tested after that.”

It led to the Tigers (16-9 overall, 14-3 regular season, 8-1 region) sharing the Fiesta Region lead after beating Higley on Tuesday to tie the Knights with one more regular season left Thursday night versus Highland at home.

“Winning a region title is small goal in the big picture,” Bix said. “It’s a stepping stone to the big picture.”

The big picture is winning the Open even though the rotation mainly includes four freshman, two sophomores and a junior.

“We’re a different team than we were at the beginning of the year,” she said. “We lost Aspen, but the young group has developed with the more varsity experience under their belt. We are really young and that’s good for the future, but they are playing well now and competing really hard.

“Being so young there are some silly mistakes, and growing pains, but they’ve handed it well for the most part.”

There are several reasons the Tigers have managed to stay in contention after losing McClees as junior Milan Silvera, who transferred from Poston Butte, took over a leadership role, the all-around ability of sophomore Contessa Ivy and the shooting of freshman Ava Thompson.

"We've a lot players step up and take on bigger roles," Bix said. "Anyone could lead us in scoring or rebounds each night."