#2 Millennium Dominates #6 Brophy for Bounce-Back W

The Millennium Tigers used a dominant second half to defeat the Brophy Prep Broncos 69-51 in a Tuesday night region tilt.

Both teams started the game off with a lid on the basket.

After two minutes of neither team scoring, Brophy got on the scoreboard first.

Getting the game started was sophomore guard Aiden Williams, who hit a pull-up three-pointer. 

Millennium needed the ball to find the bottom of the basket, so they drew up a play for senior guard and Arizona commit Cameron Holmes, who made an easy layup. 

Ending the first quarter, though, it was all the Broncos as they finished on a 9-2 run.

It was led by Brophy’s senior forward Hale Hansen, who had back-to-back baskets, one of which was a monster dunk.

Both teams started to trade baskets in the second quarter as the Tigers tried to crawl their way back into the game. 

For Brophy, it was once again Hansen slamming the ball into the basket after he caught a lob pass from senior guard and Stanford football commit Daylen Sharper. 

For the Tigers, it was Holmes who went full speed to the basket to get two points and the foul call. 

Then seemingly out of nowhere, Millennium went on an 8-0 run right before halftime to tie the game up.

Leading the run was the Tigers junior guard Gabe Coronado, who fired two quick three-pointers in back-to-back possessions. 

Ultimately, though, the Broncos would take the lead heading into halftime as Williams hit another three-pointer with less than 10 seconds in the second quarter. 

After an uncharacteristic first half for Millennium, they knew they had to come out swinging in the final 16 minutes. 

The Tigers got into a quick rhythm after Holmes and 5-star sophomore guard Adan Diggs got to the rim with ease for baskets. 

Brophy then got into trouble as their star player, Hansen, got into foul trouble early in the second half and had to sit for the majority of the third quarter. 

Just like that, Millennium went on an 11-2 run to open up the third quarter, and they never looked back. 

Millennium played stellar defense in the third quarter, too, as they got a plethora of steals, one of which led to a fastbreak dunk by their junior guard Adrian Higuera.

One of the key factors in the success the Tigers found in the third quarter was the defense that they displayed. 

“We went into the locker room at halftime and knew we had to turn something up,” Holmes said. “It was our defense, we tried to pick it up 94 feet.” 

It looked like two completely different teams after halftime for Millennium. Head coach Rich Thornton said they just needed to have fun. 

“I told the guys at halftime we look like we’re not having fun, we gotta remember we’re supposed to be having fun out there,” Thornton said. “We knew it was going to be a super tough game; we knew it was going to be a battle.” 

At the end of three quarters, Millennium held a 53-39 lead over Brophy. 

The final nail in the coffin of the game was when Diggs threw an alley-oop pass to Holmes at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and Holmes almost brought the rim down with him after the dunk. 

The 2025-2026 Millennium team is full of new faces and even a first-year head coach, so they have made it a priority not to peak at the wrong time. 

“When we’re really rolling, we can be special; we just want to make sure we peak at the right time for playoffs,” Thornton said. “The end goal is to win the Open State Championship.” 

Getting wins in the 6A Central region is never easy, as every game is a challenge, but wins like these ones over a team like Brophy help Millennium be battle-tested for a deep playoff run. 

“These teams are going to be ready to play; these teams want to beat us,” Holmes said. “Having a schedule like this is going to get us ready for the playoffs.”

Next up: Millennium will look to get another winning streak going as they take on Desert Vista. Brophy will look to get a bounce-back win over Corona Del Sol.