MHS girls’ basketball off to fast start in title defense (video)

The Maricopa High School girls’ basketball team has sprinted out of the gate to a 6-1 record in pursuit of a second straight state championship.

The Rams sole loss of the season came in the Scorpion Shootout championship game against Arizona Interscholastic Association Division I contender Xavier College Prep. Against competition within Maricopa’s Division II, the Rams have dominated by an average of 27 points.

“We’re slowly realizing that we have to depend on each other to get wins,” head coach Melvin Mitchell said. “We’re trying to preach to the girls on the bench to not have a significant drop off because we’re going to need them as time goes on and we move forward against some of the deeper teams.”

The Rams’ closest game of the year against equal competition took place Tuesday night against Arcadia High School. The Titans kept the game close until midway through the third quarter when Maricopa pulled away.

Senior guard Danae Ruiz had an outstanding performance on both sides of the ball. Her aggressive defense and precise passing helped create numerous scoring opportunities down the stretch, and the team’s technical skill shined through in their transition play.

“Our strengths have always been transition offense and getting out on the fast break,” Mitchell said. “Pressure defense has really been helpful to us and having senior leadership like Danae and Raegene (Womack) and Jaleesa (Rodriguez) helps us. When we play some of these better teams, it exposes some of our weaknesses and we need to go back to the drawing board in terms of what we need to work on. We’re going to apply that to each and every game.”

Maricopa will host the Corona Del Sol High School Aztecs Thursday night at 7 p.m. before hitting the road to take on St. Mary’s High School in Phoenix Friday night.