Highland edges Hamilton to win girls Thanksgiving Tournament

November 26, 2011 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Two tight games both went Highland's way Saturday and resulted in the Hawks winning the championship of their Thanksgiving Girls Basketball Tournament.

Highland edged Hamilton, 47-45, in the title game. Jordan Hagen scored 17 points in the win over Hamilton and was one of four Highland players chosen to the all-tournament team. Highland junior guard Olivia Lucero was the tournament most valuable player. Lucero averaged 13 points a game. Lucero netted 16 points in a 65-60 win over Dobson in the semifinals, including the go-ahead 3 with 45 seconds left after Dobson had taken a 60-59 lead. Highland finished 6-0 in the tournament. Hamilton posted a 5-1 mark.

Rounding out the all-tournament team were Amy Pavlica and Krysta Buntrock (Highland); Lauren Evans, Aliyah Dickson and Kyndall Adams (Hamilton); Katherine Hamilton and Tori Lloyd (Dobson); Desiree Smith and Bri White (Tolleson); Maraja Johnson (Valley Vista); Julia Barcello (Seton); Lyndsay Leikam (Flowing Wells) and Ashley Clubb (Mountain Pointe).