Every year, a handful of elite scorers emerge across the duration of the basketball season. Some are pure shooters, while others prefer to drive to the cup and finish up close.
Coming into her senior year, Cibola guard Sierra Bomhower was determined to do it all, with eyes set to be one of the top players in Arizona at the same time.
With an average of 18.5 points per game, scoring from all areas of the floor, Bomhower produced her best season of her four-year varsity career, finishing with over 1,500 points and 13 games with 20 points or more. These marks had her as the third leading scorer in the 6A Division in all of Arizona. She’s made All-Region Teams and even won Female Athlete of the Year. For the 2023-24 season she’s the Yuma Sun/Yuma Rotary Club Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
Like most kids, Bomhower began her sporting career from a young age, dabbling in soccer and other youth sports, but that never stuck. Basketball, however, was the answer. Starting in fifth grade, she played all the way through middle school, then really shifted into the next gear just before high school.
“I enjoyed it during that time,” Bomhower said of her early years hooping. “But around eighth grade I started playing on travel teams and taking it more seriously. I really fell in love with the game.”
For Bomhower, nothing compares to the speed and competition of the hardwood, as well as the close-quarters competition in between the lines.
This was evident from the first time she stepped on the floor in black and gold for the Raiders, scoring 19 points in 23 minutes against Basha on a 9-for-13 shooting clip from the field. She went on to score 15 or more points in a game five more times that season and had double-digit points in all but four games that year.
As a sophomore, she continued to score at a high rate. Bomhower had three games with 20 points or more and all but six games without double-digit points. She was also named the 2021-22 Yuma Sun/Yuma Rotary Club Female Athlete of the Year after successful seasons in volleyball and track as well.
In her junior season, she broke the 30-point barrier twice in one week, with a 30-point game in a 53-42 win over Paradise Valley and a 31-point showing in a 50-point drubbing of Brawley. She also reached 1,000 career points.
With three seasons worth of experience and playing time, on top of offseason travel ball, Bomhower was poised for her best year yet as a senior.
Highlights from Bomhower’s senior year include a 33-point game in the season opener against Estrella Foothills, a career-high. According to Bomhower, the most memorable game was against Cesar Chavez, one of the top teams in the state. The Raiders outlasted the Champions at home by a score of 54-49, led by Bomhower’s 15-point, eight-rebound performance.
“She’s a huge problem for most teams to deal with,” Cibola girls basketball coach Scott Nielsen said. “Her offensive IQ is amazing and has shown in her game. She is a threat at any spot on the floor. Her finishing skills at the basket are tough to defend.”
Another part of Bomhower’s game which developed over time is her defensive ability. Night in and night out, she took on the challenge of guarding the best player on the opposing team and was largely successful, significantly contributing to Cibola heading to the 6A state playoffs this year as a Play-In team.
As a four-year starter, Bomhower racked up 1,518 points in her varsity career, as well as 382 rebounds, 189 assists, 253 steals and 65 blocks. She’ll go down in Cibola history as one of the best players to ever handle a basketball.
Bomhower graduates this spring. As for next steps, there’s no doubt that college basketball is in the cards. The choice of where is still in question, but no matter what, there are more points in her future.
