State tournaments typically draw out the most dramatic performances of the season. The state’s best are allowed to break out on a bigger stage and forcefully command the spotlight. In these cases, this was certainly true.
Here’s a list of five upperclassmen who used recent runs to state titles as fuel to state their cases as top players at the next level.
GK Shea Smith, Buckeye Verrado High School (Ariz.)
There are upsets, and then there are seismic victories like the one the Verrado girls pulled off last week in a win over Catalina Foothills in the state title game. Despite being outshot 22-1, Verrado survived a scoreless regulation and overtime period before improbably winning in penalties, 4-3. So it’s no surprise that your gaze should immediately snap to Verrado’s under-siege keeper. That in this instance was Shea Smith.
