High School

Huge game keeps No. 1 recruit Aaliyah Chavez, Lubbock Monterey girls alive in Texas Class 5A UIL basketball playoff

Top uncommitted recruit scores 68 points in first two playoff games as Lady Plainsmen advance

Levi Payton

Monterey's Aaliyah Chavez's big game on Thursday, Jan. 14, against El Paso Borges helped Lubbock Monterey improve to 33-5 and advance in the Texas UIL Class 5A Division II playoffs.
Monterey's Aaliyah Chavez's big game on Thursday, Jan. 14, against El Paso Borges helped Lubbock Monterey improve to 33-5 and advance in the Texas UIL Class 5A Division II playoffs. / Stephen Garcia/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

No. 1 recruit Aaliyah Chavez has 68 points as Lubbock Monterey stays alive in Texas UIL playoffs

It’s not March yet, but Aaliyah Chavez’s game has already reached levels of madness.

The 5-foot-11 guard, and nation’s No.1 uncommitted 2025 high school girls basketball recruit, is on a mission to get her No. 6 Lubbock Monterey Lady Plainsmen a Class 5A Division II state championship this season. She stated as much before the season began.

On Thursday, Feb. 14, she took another step toward achieving that goal when she scored 45 points in the Lady Plainsmen’s 91-53 victory over El Paso Burges in an Area playoff game at Fort Stockton High School.

She set the tone early, scoring the game’s first five points when she scored on a putback before draining a 3-pointer. After Burges got its first points, Chavez stormed the paint on the other end and finished with a dazzling underhanded layin to thwart any momentum.

Monterey never trailed, building a 71-38 lead in the second half as Chavez continued to wow the crowd on both ends of the floor.

It was more of the same dominance we’ve seen from Chavez – a McDonald’s All-American selection and Naismith Girls Basketball Player of the Year finalist. She kicked off Monterey’s playoff run on Feb. 10 with 25 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, seven steals and three blocks in an 83-26 victory over Wichita Falls Memorial in a bi-district showdown.

Monterey is now 33-5 overall and is set to face its toughest test so far, Fort Worth Brewer (26-9), in a Regional Semifinal on Monday, Feb. 17. Brewer defeated Everman 53-43 in an Area game on Wednesday, Feb. 13.

One of the most productive high school girls basketball players of all-time, Chavez - who has reportedly narrowed her final college choices to Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, South Carolina and LSU – now has 1,345 points in 38 games this season and 4,690 points in 146 career games.

She scored at least 1,000 points in all four varsity seasons and entered Thursday’s game with 1,252 career rebounds, 746 assists, 464 steals and 126 blocks.

Wildly consistent throughout her varsity career, she had 1,324 points in 35 games as a junior, as well as 353 rebounds, 153 assists, 124 steals and 32 blocks. As a senior she entered Thursday’s game sporting 354 rebounds, 156 assists, 143 steals and 42 blocks.

As a sophomore she scored 1,020 points in 34 games while averaging 30 points, 7.2 boards, 5.2 assists and 3.1 steals.

The “worst” year of her high school career came as a freshman in 2021-22, when she averaged 25.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.3 blocks per game. She finished that season with 1,001 points despite a school-record 260 assists.

The further you dig, the more ridiculous her numbers get. This regular season alone, she managed to outscore five entire teams on Monterey’s schedule – Caprock (846 points), White Station (933), Round Rock Westwood (1,129), Lubbock Cooper (1,247) and Palo Duro (1,253) – and came in just behind Lake Highlands (1,339), United South (1,368), Pampa (1,449), El Paso Eastwood, who went 23-7, (1,487) and Lubbock (1,499).

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Levi Payton
LEVI PAYTON

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