Two of this week’s honorees are Natalie Ruhl of Redlands East Valley and Robinson Iheden of Modesto Christian. Photos: @NBshowcase & John Westberg/The Modesto Bee.
Elyssu Worku of Los Alamitos gets buku points at Under Armour Holiday Classic. This week’s other top honors go out to players from Modesto, Richmond and Redlands.
Note: For purposes of this feature, we are considering the CIF Central Section to be in the north.
To nominate a player for next week, email markjtennis@gmail.com by Monday at 12 noon and be sure to include a photo that we can use (which means it’s not from the local newspaper or from another web site).
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Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Robinson Iheden (Modesto Christian) Sr.
With All-State selection Anthony Townes off at the University of the Pacific, this 6-foot-10 senior forward has taken over as the leading option on the offensive end of the court for the Crusaders and he led the way last week during impressive wins over Manteca, Salesian of Richmond and Long Beach Poly when they won their own holiday tournament.
During the wins over the Pride and the Jackrabbits, Iheden scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in both contests while also adding six blocks during the 68-56 win over the Pride. Now with five double-doubles for the year, the dominating big man is averaging 14.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game during a 10-1 start for the Crusaders, who are currently ranked at No. 7 in our state rankings.
Minyon Moore shined at the West Coast Jamboree. Photo: Harold Abend.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Minyon Moore (Salesian, Richmond) Sr.
Doing it in one of the most exciting games in West Coast Jamboree history, Moore finished with a season-best 32 points as the Pride knocked off Brookside Christian of Stockton 79-73 in overtime.
Moore’s season-best scoring performance would last just one day, however, as she would score 35 points the next day to go along with 10 steals during a 85-71 loss to Lynnwood of Bothell, Washington.
The younger sister of Louisville standout Mariya Moore has been making her own big-time impact and will be headed to play at USC next year.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Elyssu Worku (Los Alamitos) Sr.
Already with several state stat star worthy performances, Worku had two more last week highlighted by a season-best 51 points during an 87-80 win over Highland of Gilbert, Arizona at the Under Armour Holiday Classic.
For the game, he was a perfect 6 for 6 from behind the three-point line while also making a home at the free throw line where he knocked down 17 of his 21 free throw attempts.
Headed to UC Irvine next year, Worku followed up his season-best performance with 33 points during a 75-63 win the next day against San Marcos. He is currently averaging 27.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game as the Griffins are off to a 12-3 start this season.
Cal-HI Sports Southern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Natalie Ruhl (Redlands East Valley, Redlands) Sr.
The 5-foot-3 point guard recently became the all-time leading scorer in a career at REV and had a strong week in leading the Wildcats to the Murrieta Nighthawk Classic.
Ruhl, a four-year varsity standout, had 19 points with four assists and three steals when REV defeated host Murrieta Valley 57-53 in the tourney final. She helped her team come back from a 16-point fourth quarter deficit.
Earlier in the event, Ruhl had 23 points, seven assists and six steals vs. Elsinore (Lake Elsinore) plus 25 points, six steals and four assists in an earlier game vs. Murrieta Valley. Her season highs so far are 32 points, eight assists and 10 steals.
Committed to California Lutheran, Ruhl also is averaging 23.3 points, 5.3 steals and 4.8 assists per game and has helped REV to a 9-3 record.
Paul Muyskens is the Stockton office assistant editor for Cal-Hi Sports. Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
