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WEST VALLEY PREPS

FINDING THEIR NICHE

5 Millennium basketball seniors fill in around junior stars Holmes, Jackson

Posted 2/23/20

Since they arrived on the Millennium campus three years ago, DaRon Holmes and Justus Jackson earned the lion’s share of the basketball team’s headlines, highlights and points.

But the …

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WEST VALLEY PREPS

FINDING THEIR NICHE

5 Millennium basketball seniors fill in around junior stars Holmes, Jackson

Posted

Since they arrived on the Millennium campus three years ago, DaRon Holmes and Justus Jackson earned the lion’s share of the basketball team’s headlines, highlights and points.

But the big man, the point guard and coach Ty Amundsen had help transforming the Tigers into a winner. Now, as the program enters the 5A state playoffs as the top seed and title favorite, the core is bolstered by its deepest and best group of role players to date.

Six seniors have filled in around the stars, aiding the team’s 17-1 regular season record 5A state semifinals win and 23-5 overall mark, including two of the top tournaments in the country.

“It does take a little bit of time to build it. They were sophomores at that time. We didn’t only go with DaRon and Justus, we went with Batchelor and Zach and had a very young team,” Amundsen said. “They all kind of just grew up together. Some kids are going to get a ltlle better than others and people are going to understand what our philosophy is a little better than others.”

Of the five seniors in the rotation, only Michael Batchelor was around the program in 2016-17 — though he did not play on the varsity. That year’s team finished 9-17 and Batchelor, Jose Cortes and Daylon Storey witnessed it.

“It wasn’t a winning culture before. Win coach Ty came in and we got all new players that helped to change the culture and everyone bought into winning. We hadn’t been in the playoffs for a long time,” Batchelor said.

Amundsen arrived after coaching Estrella Foothills and Phoenix St. Mary’s Catholic. With Holmes, Jackson and fellow freshman Coleman Fields joining Batchelor in the young 2017-18 starting lineup, Millennium started off slow in its last 6A schedule. But they built momentum late in the season, even after losing to Chandler in the first round of the playoffs.

Guard Zach Foster transferred in his sophomore year and was not eligible to play. Fellow sophomore transfer Jalan Early was concentrating on football.

Then last year they - plus rangy senior forward Caleb Wright - joined a more experienced core on a program that was dropping into 5A.

“Last year we learned a lot about each other because we went to a couple of tournaments out of state. We got to hang out with each other and learned more about each other on the court,” Foster said.

Foster provided a top three-point shooter off the bench. Batchelor proved to be a wing that does a little bit of everything.

Early stepped in as a combo forward that could defend up to four positions and attack the rim as the Tigers’ No. 3 scorer and second-best rebounder.

“We call him, ‘The Athlete.’ He’s like an animal for us. He’ll go up and try to challenge every shot and try to dunk with every driving lane he gets. He’s not afraid to shoot the three ball. He’s the extreme athlete we’ve got, in terms of how he runs the floor and his size and strength. He guards bigger and stronger guys,” Amundsen said.

Millennium shot up to the No. 6 seed in 5A, then knocked off Ironwood and Apollo en route to the final.

The program was on the brink of its second state title before Gilbert squeaked by with a 38-37 win in the final.

“None of us had been anywhere in the playoffs so it was really good for us. We felt we should have won but it was a good experience and I definitely think it will help us going into these playoffs,’ Batchelor said.

Virtually everyone is back from that team. And as Batchelor said, everyone is stronger and more experienced.

“We talked about that a lot and about not underestimating teams. A couple of times this year, we’ve underestimated teams. We know we have to come out strong and shut them down,” Foster said. “I’ve been looking forward to this since we lost last year.”

Plus the Goodyear program received reinforcements from out of state. Senior guard Robby Devries moved in from the Dallas area.

Devries gives Jackson some relief as a secondary playmaker (4.3 assists per game). He also rebound well and is just short of being the Tigers’ third double-figure scorer.

“Robby came in late spring last year as a move-in from Texas and he fit in right away because of his unselfish nature. He came in and said, ‘I’ve got good players around me so I’ll do this, this and that.’ He’s one of our leading guys in assists and takes care of the ball. He’s kind of our glue guy to be honest. He makes everybody else go. DaRon’s getting six to eight points a game off Robby’s dishes,” Amundsen said.

The 6-9 Holmes continues his upward trajectory, averaging 23.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.7 blocks and 3.1 assists per contest while making some national top 100 lists. Arizona, Arizona State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Virginia are among the 12 heavy hitters to offer the forward.

More players continued to notice. 6-4 senior forward Justice Marmara also arrived from metro Dallas and suddenly the lineup was crowded.

“You get two senior transfers like Robby and Justice Marmara and that kind of put a wrench into some guys that have already played a lot here. It’s never easy when stuff like that does happen but in the end stuff like that evens out. I think the guys have really been playing together and supportive of each other outside of the competition in practice.”

With this deep and experienced of the roster, the Tigers sought bigger game out of state. They started in the Washington Tournament of Champions in Peoria, Illinois and reached the final.

Millennium then split local showcase games against Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon and Dallas Oak Cliff Academy.

“I think that it really made us a lot tougher. Our only losses have been out of state,” Foster said. “It’s way different because they have a lot of bigger and stronger players. Also out there they let you play more. They don’t call ticky-tack fouls or reach-ins.”

But that was just a warm-up. Winter break included a trip to the elite Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Arizona’s lone representative in the tournament went 1-3 but competed against some of the top teams in the country. All five Millennium losses came against teams ranked in the top 150 nationally, including Long Island (N.Y.) Lutheran.

The Tigers have not lost since, and the benefits of high-level competition were clear in a 72-47 thrashing of No. 3 rated Gilbert on Jan. 9.

“That kind of showed once we got back from the Beach Ball Classic and we played Gilbert here. We came out with a vengance and there wasn’t three 6-9 guys on the court, there was one,” Amundsen said.

Millennium entered the playoffs more experienced and more focused than it was a year ago. In the first two rounds, the Tigers blew the doors off Phoenix Horizon 99-62 and Tempe McClintock 96-50.

And the program is now full of guys looking to hoist that trophy in their final season.

“Zach and Michael Batchelor have bought into their roles. They’re very coachable and great kids — straight A students on top of that — that believe 100 percent in their team, teammates and coaching staff,” Amundsen said.