Valley Vista Dominates Highland for 7th State Title in 10 Seasons

After a long journey to get to the 6A title that included multiple road wins, the Valley Vista Monsoon would dominate the Highland Hawks 69-31 to hoist the championship trophy.

From the opening tipoff, Valley Vista would go full steam ahead. 

Valley Vista sophomore center Emma Bremer would make her presence known as she got the first two baskets of the game down low. 

The Monsoon would continue to get to the rim.

Valley Vista junior guard Braya Neal Tiffany was able to go a perfect two of two from the field to help her team get in front.

The Hawks struggled to get anything to fall due to the Monsoon's tough defense. 

In the first quarter, Highland shot 2-13 from the field. 

Rounding out the first quarter, though, Valley Vista would be able to get a three-pointer to fall.

Valley Vista senior guard Natalie Yanes would splash a deep-range three to give her team a 17-4 lead over Highland in the first quarter. 

Even though they struggled in the early going, there was one player who was getting it going for the Hawks. 

Highland sophomore guard Peyton Jacobsen would score the first eight points for her team to prevent the game from becoming a blowout. 

For the Monsoon, Yanes would continue to get easy shots to fall due to the elite ball movement Valley Vista was showing. 

Towards the end of the second quarter, Highland would be able to mitigate the damage. 

Highland sophomore guard Lacie Nemchick was able to get a three-pointer to fall and score on a fastbreak layup. 

Ending on a strong note, Valley Vista junior guard Kinsey Murray would finish the quarter with four points. 

The Monsoon run an elite style offense that includes great ball movement and a rare scoring drought which is why they never gave up a lead the whole game. 

Valley Vista head coach Brooklynn Hinkens takes pride in the offense her team is able to run at an efficient level. 

“I am always telling kids, five passes, five passes,” Hinkens said. “They played well tonight. We’ve been talking about it all week play like a team.”

At halftime, Valley Vista led 29-17 over Highland. 

In the second half, the floodgates would open. 

Even though they held a nice lead after the first two quarters, Valley Vista would put its foot on the gas even more. 

Murray would explode in the third quarter as she had seven total points and got a couple of assists to her teammates. 

In the third quarter alone, the Monsoon would outscore Highland 20-8. 

Bremer noted that throughout the regular season Valley Vista’s worst quarter came in the third but in the playoffs they made it a focus to improve it.

“Earlier in the season the third quarter was our worst,” Bremer said. “This playoff run we just focused going this third quarter like it’s 0-0.” 

The fourth quarter was much of the same.

The Monsoon continued to look like they were on a whole other level than Highland. 

Murray and Bremer kept running pick and rolls and it allowed Bremer to get six fourth quarter points and Murray to have 11 total assists in the game. 

Finishing her final high school game strong Yanes as well was able to help put the game away for the Monsoon. 

With two minutes left in the game both teams would clear the benches and wait for the time to tick down to zero. 

The final buzzer rang and Valley Vista became the 2026 6A champions. 

Since 2017 Valley Vista has won seven 6A championships and in 2026 they reclaim their rightful spot on top.

Whether it was tough losses in the regular season or dealing with injuries, the journey to get here was no easy task for Valley Vista but the conclusion was well worth the adversity. 

“These kids are resilient, they could’ve crumbled,” Hinkens said. “The journey in itself wasn’t fun in the midst of everything. Now on March 7th at 1 pm it feels great.”