Two of this week’s NorCal/SoCal selections are Christian Futch from San Jose Gunderson and Leanna Watson of El Cajon Valley. Photos: Hudl.com & EastCountySports.com.
Career totals help get two from San Jose to sweep this week’s honors from the north while from the south it is a good week to introduce the statewide audience to D.J. Rodman, sophomore son of five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman. Our other South honoree is from El Cajon.
We hope you enjoy this free story on Cal-Hi Sports.com. For our State Top 20 boys and girls rankings package plus weekly state record updates and more exclusive content, please check out our Gold Club membership today. For details, CLICK HERE.
Note: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To find out how your business could benefit by sponsoring these honors each week or to nominate someone by 12 noon on most Mondays, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Christian Futch (Gunderson, San Jose) Sr.
We don’t know the answer but there can’t be very many players in the history of the CIF Central Coast Section with more than 1,500 career points and more than 1,000 career rebounds. Futch has been on the Grizzlies’ varsity for all four years and ended his regular season last week with 29 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks in a 79-29 triumph vs. Andrew Hill of San Jose.
In that game, Futch also went past 1,500 career points and pushed his career total for rebounds to 1,176. Amazingly, the 6-foot-7, 240-pounder has double-doubled in every one of Gunderson’s 24 games this season. There were only three times as a junior last season when he didn’t double-double.
For the season, Futch is averaging 21.0 points, 15.5 rebounds and 4.4 blocks per game. He also had 16 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks last week in a win vs. Pioneer of San Jose.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Jordan Thompson (Harker Academy, San Jose) Sr.
Senior night had extra meaning for Thompson last week since she was able to score the 2,000th point of her prep career at the same time.
During a 53-19 win over Crystal Springs Uplands of Hillsborough, Thompson scored 29 points and hit the career milestone. Playing significant varsity minutes since her freshman year that saw her average 11 points per game, she is averaging more than 20 points a game in each of her final three years.
This season through 23 games, Thompson is averaging 25.2 points per game after averaging 27.2 points per game during her junior season. Back in January, she became the school’s record holder in career points for both the girls and boys teams as the previous record was held by Alex Abarca, who put his career total at 1,723 points back in 2009.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
D.J. Rodman (Corona del Mar, Newport Beach) Soph.
Down in Southern California, there are several sons of former NBA All-Stars playing high school basketball and the son of two-time All-Star and five-time NBA Champion Dennis Rodman had two big performances last week, including a career-high night.
With the Sea Kings trailing 37-21 at halftime, he led a second half comeback with five 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 40 points during a 68-58 win at Dominguez of Compton in the CIF Southern Section Division IA playoffs. Earlier in the week, the sophomore scored 30 points during a 67-64 win over El Toro of Lake Forest in the opening round of the playoffs.
Rodman is a 6-foot-3, 190-pounder who also played on Corona del Mar’s football team last fall.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Leanna Watson (El Cajon Valley, El Cajon) Sr.
While the wins this season have not always come for the Braves, they have gotten big performances from this junior guard all season long.
Watson, in a season of phenomenal scoring in the CIF San Diego Section, is averaging 25.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.5 steals per game after a big performance last week.
During a 57-51 loss to Monte Vista of Spring Valley, she scored a season-high 45 points to go along with eight rebounds and eight steals. It was the second game in a row she had a season-high night as the week before she helped the Braves snap a three-game losing streak with 44 points, nine rebounds and eight steals during a 54-43 win over Rock Academy of San Diego.
Paul Muyskens is the assistant editor at the Stockton office of 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
