Adrian Higuera sets sights on Open basketball title for Millennium

Richard Obert, Arizona RepublicSun, June 7, 2026 at 12:19 AM UTC·2 min read

Adrian Higuera has been through plenty of challenges during his first three seasons as the Millennium Tigers' point guard.

He took on another on Saturday, June 6.

With Cameron Holmes graduated and heading to Arizona to begin his college career, and teammate Adan Diggs away this week with Team USA, Higuera led the Tigers to the PrimeTime Invitational basketball championship with a 58-50 victory over a revamped Sunnyslope team at Millennium's gym.

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Sunnsylope won its first Open Division state championship last season, but none of the key parts were on the court Saturday. Point guard Delton Prescott sat at the end of the bench, sitting out after suffering a torn meniscus in his right knee. He said he'll be ready for the start of the 2026-27 season.

Center Darius Wabbington was with Diggs in Mexico for Team USA playing in the FIBA U18 Men's AmeriCup. Sunnyslope was led by two transfers — 6-foot-8 forward Donovan Palmer from Chandler and guard Noah Ondoua from St. Mary's on Saturday.

Higuera has been the constant in the last three years for the Tigers. He put on a shooting, passing and ballhandling clinic in the PrimeTime finale. He was chosen the Most Valuable Player of the Monarch Sports-sponsored tournament.

Now, he has his sights set on a state Open Division title for the Tigers next season.

"We haven't won yet, but that's the goal this year," said Higuera, who is more interested in the team than his own personal stats. "I'm ready for the next level and to win this year."

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Higuera experienced the heartache of losing in the Open state semifinals 66-64 to St. Mary's on Mick Riordan's 40-foot shot at the buzzer last season.

It's taken a while to recover from that but Higuera is using that as fuel to get recharged for his senior season.

"Motivation got even higher after last year, losing on a fadeaway 40-footer," Higuera said. "We want to focus on the little things that we weren't focused on last year."

Higuera still is waiting for his first Division I offer.

Coach Rich Thornton believes it's just a matter of time for the offers to come in for the 6-foot-1-inch Higuera. He's got Section 7 coming up June 12-14, where Division I college coaches will be able to evaluate him in person. Later this summer he'll be playing in the EYBL, an elite AAU program, where the top players in the nation compete.

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"I've been telling you, he's the most underrated player in the state," Thornton said. "To me, he's the best point guard in the state.

"I love him. He's a pure, throwback point guard. A super tough kid. He really knows how to play the position."

Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. Please sign up for Azcentral Preps Now newsletter. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Adrian Higuera ready to lead Millennium to Open title

Story byAZCentral | The Arizona Republic