State Stat Stars of the Week

Presented by ATHLETETRAX, we are switching more to boys and girls basketball this week and eventually will be posting separate boys and girls honor rolls. This week’s best include our first reported 50-point games of the season plus more huge football outings from Jake Browning, Darreon Lockett and Elijah Preston.

Attention athletic directors, parents and coaches: ATHLETETRAX is your athletic hub to manage every team and every league from every community in California. For more, CLICK HERE.

Thanks to Paul Muyskens, Harold Abend, Ronnie Flores and CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett for contributing items this week. This honor roll is for games played from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Frank Bertz (Sultana, Hesperia)
With a season-high of 28 points through the first five games, this junior captain more than outscored that number in a 135-36 win over Boron as he scored 51 points and finished with a triple-double. In addition to the points, Bertz put the hertz on the Bobcats with 11 rebounds, 10 steals and six assists.

Luke Nuslein (Pacifica Christian, Santa Monica)
The Seawolves started the season 0-2 before back-to-back wins as this senior guard scored 38 points during a 71-44 win over Villanova Prep of Ojai. The next day he scored 43 points and grabbed 14 rebounds during an 85-84 win over Mary Star of the Sea of San Pedro.

Lynard Steward (San Ysidro, San Diego)
A stat star regular from last season, Steward isn’t big but knows how to score. Despite scoring 40 points he couldn’t prevent the Cougars from falling to 0-3 on the early season as they lost to El Camino of Oceanside 97-70.

Joel Finney (Central City Value, Los Angeles)
Already with a 40-point game two weeks ago, he scored 39 points last week during a 61-55 win over Downtown Magnets of Los Angeles and two days later scored 38 points during a 70-62 win over Pacific Hills of Los Angeles.

Isaiah Bailey (Jesuit, Carmichael)
It wasn’t that long ago we were watching Isaiah catch passes and return kicks for the Marauders’ football team. He’s already making a major impact in basketball. With games of 38 points and 31 points during the tournament, he was named the Wild West Shootout MVP last week and led the Marauders to a 51-49 win over nationally ranked Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas in the championship game.

Jordan Roberson (Cordova, Rancho Cordova)
Named as one of our NorCal/SoCal Players of the Week, he scored 36 points during a 66-46 win over Wood of Vacaville and 30 points during an 86-56 win over Mira Loma of Sacramento.

Tyler Dorsey (Maranatha, Sierra Madre)
Considered one of the top senior recruits in the nation, Dorsey had a pair of 30+ point performances last week. The 6-foot-4 point guard opened the season with 30 points and seven rebounds during a 75-41 win over St. Anthony of Long Beach before getting 35 points and eight rebounds in a 87-65 loss to Chino Hills to end the week.

Milan Acquaah (Cathedral, Los Angeles)
Despite a long drive to face Morse of San Diego for the Phantoms, he led the way with 34 points as they opened the season with a 81-70 win. Cathedral started the season No. 19 overall in the Cal-Hi Sports preseason state rankings.

Jake Eivins (Mt. Whitney, Visalia)
He opened the season by scoring a team-high of 33 points, in a nice 65-46 non-league win by the Pioneers over Tulare. Eivans also had seven rebounds, made 13 of 15 from the field and went 7 for 8 at the free-throw line.

David Rico (Kerman)
He scored a career-high of 33 points to lead Kerman over Firebaugh 67-58 in the championship game of the Fowler Tournament. Rico and teammate Anthony Pacheco made the all-tournament team.

Legend Demps (El Modena, Orange)
Putting on a somewhat legendary shooting performance from the free throw line, he knocked down 22 of his 24 free throw attempts and finished with 31 points during a 73-63 loss to Temecula Valley of Temecula. Demps followed that up with a 34-point performance the next day during a 81-61 win over Mission Viejo.

Kyle Roach (Marin Academy, San Rafael)
The Wildcats were looking to start the season 4-0 behind this senior guard but despite his season-high 32 points along with 11 rebounds they were on the losing end of a 78-62 final score against Liberty Christian of Redding.

Sedrick Barefield (Centennial, Corona)
He scored seven of his 31 points in the final 1:25 as the Huskies rallied from behind late to defeat Etiwanda 67-63 in the championship game of the Tip-Off at the Empire tournament. For his efforts, he was named tournament MVP and was also selected as our first SoCal Boys Player of the Week for this season.

T.J. Leaf (Foothills Christian, El Cajon)
He is no small secret in the CIF San Diego Section as this 6-foot-10, 215-pound junior was a state stat star regular last season. Leaf opened this year with 31 points and 12 rebounds during a 66-37 win over Mt. Carmel of San Diego.

William Christmas (Oceanside)
It only seems appropriate at this time of the year to see him listed here as he scored 31 points for the Pirates during a 83-60 loss to Poway.

Jordan Slaton (Garces, Bakersfield)
The junior captain scored 30 points but the Rams lost their season-opener by a 67-55 score to Atascadero. They have since won four straight including earlier this week when he scored 38 points in a 76-67 triumph over Redwood of Visalia.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Taylor Oshiro (Trinity Classical Academy, Valencia)
Nearly scoring all of the Knights’ points during a 60-56 win over Pilgrim of Los Angeles, this sophomore guard finished with 50 points along with 15 rebounds.

Destiny Littleton (Bishop’s, La Jolla)
Our State Freshman of the Year last season kicked off her sophomore season with 40 points in four of her first five games last week ,including 42 points, 12 rebounds and 10 steals for a triple-double during a 82-33 win over Our Lady of Peach of San Diego.

Destanee Alexander (Kennedy, Richmond)
Making 17 of her 20 field goal attempts, she finished with 42 points as the Eagles opened the season with a 86-42 win over Franklin of Stockton. Going a perfect 3 for 3 from the three-point line, she also grabbed six rebounds to go with four steals and three assists.

Lillian Olson (Sacramento Waldorf, Fair Oaks)
Showing early on that teams are going to have a tough time guarding this 6-foot-2 junior in the paint, she had 38 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks during a 49-16 win over Freedom Christian of Fair Oaks. Earlier in the week during a 52-40 loss to Encina Prep of Sacramento, Olson had a triple-double with 18 points, 17 rebounds and 10 blocks.

Amber Melgoza (Santa Barbara)
She was one of the top two players on last year’s Santa Barbara squad that lost to Modesto Christian in the CIF D3 state final and she proved she’s got special skills. In her first game of this season, the junior forward scored 38 points and grabbed eight rebounds during a 71-27 win for the Dons over Santa Maria.

Kayla Washington (Cajon, San Bernardino)
No stranger to having her name being listed here, she had back-to-back season-high performances last week. Washington first scored 36 points during a 82-37 win over Paraclete of Lancaster and two days later she scored 41 points during a 116-13 win over Kaiser of Fontana. Not only did she score a season-high 41 points in that win, but she finished with a quadruple-double with 20 rebounds, 13 steals and 11 assists.

Katrina Lusky (Calvin Christian, Escondido)
Twice scoring more than 30 points in a game last week, Lusky had 36 points and 15 rebounds during a 57-38 win over San Pasqual Academy of Escondido and two games later she had 34 points and a season-high 26 rebounds during a 52-23 win over Tri-City Christian of Vista.

Ali Engelhardt (Mt. Carmel, San Diego)
One of several state stat star regulars from last season coming back in the San Diego area, Ali scored 36 points and had nine rebounds during a 77-53 win for the Sundevils over Rancho Buena Vista of Vista.

Sierra Campisano (Torrey Pines, San Diego)
A 33-point performance and a triple-double is how this junior started her season last week. In her case, it was 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks during a 60-57 win over Serra of San Diego. She recorded her second straight triple-double earlier this week with 33 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks in a 85-63 win over Granite Hills of El Cajon.

Sabrina Ionescu (Miramonte, Orinda)
Named the tournament MVP of the LadyCat Classic, the USA basketball veteran went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line and finished with 31 points during a 60-50 win over St. Mary’s of Berkeley in the championship game.

Aarion McDonald (Brookside Christian, Stockton)
Back on the court after having to sit out last season due to a transfer from Bullard of Fresno, our first NorCal Girls Player of the Week had 28 points, 10 rebounds and six assists during a 72-51 win over Oakland and also had 33 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists during a 73-57 win over Piedmont. Just a junior, she is committed to Washington.

Bailey Margosian (Monache, Porterville)
She scored a career high by connecting for 31 points and made 13-of-15 at the free-throw line in a 56-53 win over Liberty of Bakersfield.

Cydnee Kinslow (Freedom, Oakley)
Before heading to the hospital to get stiches to close a giant cut suffered during the game, she finished with 25 points, 20 rebounds, eight blocks and two assists as the Falcons defeated Dougherty Valley of San Ramon 53-52 at the Dougherty Valley Winter Classic.

Minyon Moore (Salesian, Richmond)
Named the tournament MVP of the Christian Brothers tournament, the little sis’ of graduated Salesian star Mariya Moore opened the tournament doing a variety of things to fill up the stat sheet. She scored nine points, grabbed 11 rebounds, had nine assists and seven steals during a 59-38 win over Kennedy of Sacramento.

FOOTBALL

Jake Browning (Folsom)
As teams and players end their seasons while Browning’s continues, all that does is further distance himself with all other stat stars everywhere. In Folsom’s 55-7 win over Tracy for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 title, Browning hit on 29 of 42 passes for 407 yards and six TDs. He also scored his fifth TD of the season rushing. Folsom coaches had him get a sixth TD pass to break the national career TD pass record at 220 and no one at Tracy seemed to mind. Browning now has 81 TD passes this season and also went over 5,000 yards for the third time in his career. The only other 5,000-yard QB in California history – Folsom’s Tanner Trosin, who did it the year before Browning arrived.

Anthony Gordon (Terra Nova, Pacifica)
After losing in the first round of the CCS Open Division last year, the Tigers were back in D4 this season and with Sacred Heart Prep now in the Open Division it was their turn. With Gordon leading the way, Terra Nova topped Monte Vista Christian of Watsonville 43-23 to win the title. Gordon completed 23 of 34 passes for 353 yards and three TDs. If he could have had a 14th game like Folsom, he’d have hit 5,000 yards as well this season. As it stands, though, Gordon still ends with CCS record totals of 4,899 yards and 49 TD passes.

Miles Harrison (Clayton Valley, Concord)
There were no signs of a bone bruise as Harrison ran wild for the Ugly Eagles in their 33-7 win over Concord in the CIF North Coast Section D2 championship. He didn’t play in the second half, but still finished with 24 carries for 285 yards and three TDs. With perhaps two more games to do even more, Harrison is making a bid to be the East Bay Player of the Year.

Darreon Lockett (Pomona)
It had been since 1951 when Pomona fans could celebrate a CIFSS title but they did get to celebrate last weekend when the Red Devils beat Paraclete of Lancaster 37-29 in the CIFSS Mid-Valley Division final. Lockett was sensational in the win as he completed 19 of 35 passes for 359 yards and three TDs. He also rushed eight times for 33 yards and another score.

Nico Portillo (Corcoran)
Congratulations Portillo as the senior QB led Corcoran to a 44-16 win over host Immanuel in the CIF Central Section Division V final. Nico passed for three touchdowns for the game and 53 in his career. He went 12 of 18 for 200 yards and 5,599 yards in his career to set all of Corcoran’s passing records. He also scored the first touchdown of the game on a 32-yard run which gave him 1,042 rushing yards in his career, plus 11 touchdowns.

Elijah Preston (St. Augustine, San Diego)
He’s still got a year to go but Preston already has been a prime-time player for the Saints in section finals as a freshman, sophomore and junior. Preston did it again last week in St. Aug’s 49-42 triumph over Madison in the San Diego Section D1 final. The junior dynamo carried the ball 33 times for 259 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns.

Cole Thompson (Folsom)
He caught four passes for 141 yards and two TDs in Folsom’s 55-7 win over Tracy in the SJS D1 championship. Thompson enters this week’s game against Grant with 31 TD catches and needs just two more to tie the state record of 33 set in 2011 by Deontay Greenberry from Washington of Easton.

As has been customary for many years, we collect the state stat stars in support of the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book & Almanac. The book has been published seven times (the most recent, though, was 2009) and is as official as a state record book can be since no other exists. To report a State Stat Star of the Week of your own, please email details to markjtennis@gmail.com.

Note: All football, boys basketball and girls basketball state records are in the process of being added to this web site. Some of them already have been added. They will be part of our Gold Club membership. To join our Gold Club today, please CLICK HERE.

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