Gilbert, Ariz. — A beast on the court, Shaylee Gonzales is the ultimate basketball powerhouse.

Averaging 19.8 points, 5.7 steals and 6.6 assists per game, Shaylee helped lead the Mesquite Wildcats to a 31-1 record and their very first Class 5A State Championship with her mother Candice as her coach during the 2016-17 season.

“Shaylee told Candice, ‘Mom you need to keep coaching because I want to play for you and I’m going to win you your first state championship,’” her father Josh Gonzales said. “She made that happen.”

In sixth grade, Shaylee begged her mother to continue coaching so that she could play for her at the high school level. Together, the mother-daughter duo finished last season with a 26 game winning-streak and a state championship trophy to top it all off.

“You’ve worked so hard and your team just comes together and screams,” Shaylee said about winning the championship. “It’s the greatest feeling ever, and winning it for my mom made it that much sweeter.”

At a young age, Shaylee was making big shots and winning games. She began playing at the age of 5, and took her skills to the next level when she began playing for a club team when she was just 8 years old.

Team Arizona, her club squad, accelerated her skill set to another level and really helped build her confidence. From there on out, Shaylee’s success has been a complete snowball effect.

“I think the point that we really saw she was better than the other kids her age was in seventh grade,” mother Candice Gonzales said. “She was playing on the varsity summer league team for Mesquite as a junior high kid.”

AIA All-State D1 Honorable Mention as a freshman, AZCentral All-State First Team as a sophomore, 5A Conference Player of the Year as a junior -- the list of accomplishments could go on forever, but these aren’t the only awards she has earned.

Shaylee hung up her very own banner when she was awarded Arizona’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior.

Spring break became a little sweeter when she woke up to the notifications blowing up her Twitter account and the video announcing her award.

“The video was there and I just thought to myself like, ‘Wow I’m really good,’” Gonzales said. “It has definitely changed my point of view in giving me the self confidence that I’m the real deal.”

As for her parents, Shaylee’s journey has been nothing short of a “blessing,” according to her father. Shaylee has exceeded all expectations, and the best is yet to come.

“As a person I have had dreams myself, and some of my dreams haven’t been accomplished, but to see your daughter accomplish those dreams is even sweeter,” Josh said.

Going above and beyond is what she does best. Her competitiveness and self determination are what have been key in propelling Shaylee to the next level.

Playing basketball at the Division I collegiate level has always been a dream. In the Fall of 2018, she will be getting the chance to fulfill her dream as a Cougar playing at Brigham Young University.

As she enters her senior season at Mesquite, Shaylee hopes to reach her 2,000 career point goal and put another ring on her and her mother’s finger by winning back-to-back state championships.

Arizona’s Gatorade Player of the Year, Shaylee Gonzales, has no fear and is a force to be reckoned with on and off the court.

“The added pressure doesn’t make me nervous,” Shaylee said. “It just fires me up.”