The 7th Annual Lady X prep girls basketball tournament was delayed four months this year and one probably can guess the reason why. The tourney was worth the wait, especially the way the championship game was contested and how it finished.

Millennium's Mia Amundsen sank the game-winning perimeter shot as the buzzer for overtime sounded giving the Tigers and new coach Kevin Thomas a 49-46 win over defending Lady X champ Perry at Gilbert's South Valley Junior High. The tournament is put on by Monarch Sports.

Amundsen, a sophomore guard who's father, Ty, coaches Millennium's boys program, settled into her favorite launching spot for a contested three in the left corner and drew nothing but net. The bucket capped what was an 8-0 run over the final 40 seconds of regulation and two-minute overtime. Amundsen finished with 12 points - four threes all from the familiar spot. 

"This was a lot of fun and stressful," Thomas, who took over this spring after longtime coach Cory Rojeck resigned to move back to Ohio. "This was the girls putting me on their back. They did a great job to come back."

COVID-19 has made getting acquainted with players difficult for pretty much every coach regardless of sport. Thomas is still learning players names, but has some good ones to try and defend the Tigers' two 5A state titles when and if the winter sports season arrives.

Tournament most valuable player Kassidy Dixon created many good shots for Millennium operating at the point. She managed to score 11 points, including a three-point play on a an aggressive move to the basket with 19 seconds in regulation that tied the game at 46. The start of Millennium's rally from a 46-41 defict was a putback by Elli Guiney. Guiney led Millennium with 15 points and also earned all-tournament team honors.

"A lot of what we get comes down to the explosiveness Kassidy gives us handling the ball," Thomas said. People have to be wary of her and it makes for good opportunities for other players when they try to stop her."

   Millennium's Mia Amundsen lets go with the game-winning shot in Saturday's title game of the annual Lady X Hoops Invite. (Azpreps365 photo)Perry, was represented on the all-tournament team by two players - sophomore Khamil Pierre and junior Kira Patel. Pierre wasn't available for the title game, but Patel had a nice game with seven points and did a lot of  busy work during the contest. The offensive sparkplug for the Pumas in the title game came from sophomore guard Alyssa Banegas. Banegas led all scorers with 16 points, including four threes. Back-to-back threes by Banegas and one by Jayla Cal accounted for a 9-0 run that brought Perry back from a 41-37 deficit with 2:03 to play.

Also selected to the all-tournament team were Westwood guard Mya Johnson, Sandra Day O'Connor guard Elle Walker and Casteel guard Daeja Johnson. Westwood took third place beating O'Connor, 41-40. Fifth-place went to Casteel with a 46-39 win over Pinnacle and seventh-place was nabbed by Mesquite with its 44-39 victory over Cactus Shadows.