Philip Leavell is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Basha High School for AZPreps365.com

CHANDLER-- In the first round of the 2021 AIA Badminton Division I team championship tournamen, the number-four seed Basha High School badminton team beat the 13th-seeded Highland High School, 5-0.

The host Bears won each of their 11 completed sets against Highland. The Bears also swept the Hawks earlier in the season 9-0.

During a regular-season team badminton matchup, teams play six singles matches and three doubles matches. However, during the state team tournament, the competition concludes after a team scores five points (one point per match). If a team scores five points in the singles matches, the doubles matches are not played.

As soon as five Basha players won their matches in two sets, the team match concluded 5-0. Senior Aubriella Whisler won her match 21-18, 21-11. Jordyn Mee, a sophomore, won 21-8, 21-13. Allie Ferin, a senior, won 21-18, 21-11. Junior Tricia Despain won 21-7, 21-5, and classmate Sydney Johnson won 21-16, 21-17. Sydney Flores was on the cusp of winning her match--leading 21-12, 20-19 when her match was called as Johnson's victory had clinched the overall win for Basha.Sydney Flores and Jordyn Mee warming up with Tricia Despain and Allie Ferin (Left to right) (Philip Leavell/AZPreps365)

Five years ago Warren Mee took over Basha's badminton program so that he could help build it up for his daughter Jordyn. “I came here before my daughter entered high school," says Mee, "to prepare the team and to make sure she joined a fairly competent team."

Coach Mee has been training Jordyn since she was seven years old. She is now a sophomore. “He already knows what I’ve trained, and he is able to say what exactly I need to do,” Jordyn said. “Because I’ve played with him for so long, he already knows my abilities.”

Last season, as a freshman, Jordyn was ranked second in the state for singles. However, she tore her ACL in her right knee two matches before the state singles tournament. She still wears a brace on her leg. “It was awful,” Jordyn said. “I could not walk for a while. I would have to just stand in one spot and try to play. It was hours of physical training each week. I was out for seven months. I would say I’m still not back to 100 percent.”

Because of limited mobility, Jordyn competed in the state doubles tournament rather than the singles, both of which transpired last weekend. Despite not being at her full strength, Mee and her doubles partner, Sydney Flores, finished third. They beat a duo from their rival east Valley school, Perry, in the third-place doubles match. The Perry High School badminton team has won the state team tournament in each of the past four years.

“This last summer, I kind of took it easy and focused on doubles," said Jordyn. "We definitely could have played better, but I’m proud that we got third. I’ve definitely lost some confidence especially in singles, but I plan to start practicing more singles over summer.”

Her dad is optimistic about Basha's chances of winning the state team tournament. “I think we have a really good chance,” said coach Mee. “Anything could happen. The top four teams, we have kind of lost to each other in a way. We are all really close, so it all depends on the luck of the draw, how well the girls play that night, how badly they want it, and how motivated they are.”

Basha will play at home against Red Mountain in the quarterfinals tomorrow.