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After an end-of-March parade and community celebration to honor Miami High School’s 2025 state champion girls’ basketball team, there was another special day as four seniors from the team signed college letters of intent in a ceremony at MHS’ Vargas Gymnasium.
On March 1 the Lady Vandals earned the 2A championship, their first state title in 38 years, with a 52-22 victory over Arizona Lutheran. Miami ended the season with a 30-2 record.
April 15 was college signing day for seniors Aeriana Brown, Demetria Dosela, Leeyah Goss, and Savannah Pietila, who will take their games to the next level. Dosela, Goss and Pietila each scored over 1,000 career points, and Brown racked up over 600 points as a Lady Vandal.
Aeriana Brown signed with Nelson American Indian College, in Phoenix, where she will join the Warriors. She scored 369 of her 649 career points in her senior year. Brown also pulled down 106 rebounds and recorded 79 steals in the championship season. In a 64-54 tournament semifinal win over St. Johns, she contributed 13 points.
Demetria Dosela, who scored 1,505 points and collected 887 rebounds as a Lady Vandal, will be joining the Mesa Community College Thunderbirds. In her senior year, Dosela put up 360 points including 12 in the semifinal against St. Johns and 18 in the title game against Arizona Lutheran. She also recorded a personal best with 91 blocked shots, and made an even 100 steals.
Leeyah Goss and Savannah Pietila are bound for Park University, in Gilbert, where they will play for the Buccaneers.
Peitila finished her Miami career with 1,246 points, 436 rebounds, 574 steals and 328 assists. Reaching the 1,000-point milestone this season, she was also just one rebound shy of 100. Pietila scored 292 in her senior campaign, along with making 118 steals.
Goss, a 1,090-point career scorer, achieved personal bests in five categories this year: points (321), rebounds (241), assists (107), steals (141), and blocked shots (37). She recorded two postseason double-doubles: 23 points and 11 rebounds in a 72-40 Copper Division tournament win over Valley Christian, and 10 and 13 in a 2A tournament win over Tombstone.
David Sowders, who now lives in Globe, has been in southern Arizona since childhood and grew up in Tucson. David earned an associate of applied sciences degree from Eastern Arizona College. He has 10-plus years of experience as a newspaper reporter and editor in Safford and Globe, and his articles have won several Arizona Newspapers Association awards. Writing, hiking and discovering new places around Southern Arizona are some of his greatest joys.
