Sam Boyle of Scotts Valley looks to grab ball during game last season. She was reported with 19 blocked shots in a triple-double from last week. Photo: Eric Fingal.
This week’s honor roll is led by Scotts Valley girls’ player Sam Boyle, who had a whopping 19 blocked shots in one game that put her in a tie for third on the all-time Cal-Hi Sports state list. For the boys, USC-bound Jonah Mathews of Santa Monica and last year’s No. 1 freshman – Jordan Brown of Roseville Woodcreek – both enjoyed stellar showings although Brown’s came in a loss.
Note: We will collect totals from MaxPreps, newspapers, tweets and from those sent in to us. We also will compile single-game highs from this post throughout the season and of course we use our weekly State Stat Stars collection as an aid for the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book. That is the only state record book anyone has ever done and we have published it seven times with full copyright protection. To report totals to us for this feature and for the record book, email markjtennis@gmail.com or call 209-463-9050. You can also text to 209-608-1317.
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(All players listed in alphabetical order)
(For games played through Saturday, Jan. 2 and including some games from this week)
(Writeups by Mark Tennis, Paul Muyskens, Harold Abend & CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett)
BOYS BASKETBALL
Adrian Antunez (Clovis West, Fresno)
He scored a season high of 34 points against Mid Pacific to help the Golden Eagles post a 57-46 triumph in a game played at the Larry Doyle Tournament.
Jemarl Baker (Roosevelt, Eastvale)
Showing why he is committed to Cal, Baker scored 30 points during a 62-57 win over Compton. The 6-foot-3 junior guard has certainly pumped up his scoring from last season when he was at nearly 15 ppg.
Brad Belshe (Cypress)
Playing against a team from Delaware during a tournament in Orlando, Fla., he scored 42 points but the Centurions were on the losing end of a 70-61 final score against St. Mark’s of Willington, Delaware.
Woodcreek’s Jordan Brown was the 2014-15 Cal-Hi Sports State Freshman of the Year. Photo: Willie Eashman.
Dylan Belquist (Los Gatos)
Just a sophomore, he scored 31 points during a 68-59 win over Santa Teresa of San Jose as the Wildcats improved to 9-3 on the year.
Jordan Brown (Woodcreek, Roseville)
Our 2015 State Freshman of the Year has had to score a lot more this season and he sure did last week with 38 points and 13 rebounds in a loss to Union of Vancouver, Wash., in a tournament. Brown, who also had 40 points in one outing and 19 rebounds in another, is averaging more than 26 per game.
Skylar Chavez (Drake, San Anselmo)
Despite a game-high 34 points, it wasn’t enough to prevent a 84-81 loss for the Pirates against Corona del Mar of Newport Beach and fellow state stat star Sam Kobrine at the Marin Catholic Tournament.
Sean Fernandez (North Hollywood)
This player has seen his scoring average soar in the last two weeks, first with 37 points in his final game of 2015 to lead the Huskies past Hoover of Glendale and then this week with 32 in a 47-45 triumph over Gardena. Fernandez is now averaging 27.0 ppg.
Zac Jervis (Orange Lutheran)
The Lancers returned from Arizona with a tournament championship as he scored 34 points and grabbed 16 rebounds during a 70-63 win in overtime against Desert Vista of Phoenix.
Sam Kobrine (Corona del Mar, Newport Beach)
His 30 points was a team-high but not a game-high but his effort came with a win as the Sea Kings defeated Drake of San Anselmo 84-81 at the Marin Catholic Tournament.
Jonah Mathews (Santa Monica)
Leading his team to a 61-47 win over Maranatha of Sierra Madre, he finished with 30 points in continuing his outstanding senior season for the Vikings, who improved 11-2 on the year. Jonah has committed to USC and isn’t going to Cal where his brother Jordan, a former first team All-State player, is currently a standout.
Zach Reiter (Poway)
Another sophomore to watch, the 6-foot-2 guard helped Poway move its record to 13-2 with a season-high 27 points in a 59-57 victory vs. Poly of Riverside in the title game of the Governors Division at the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic. Reiter also was named tourney MVP.
Ethan Richardson (Madera)
The 6-foot-9 senior center scored a game high of 32 points against Hoover of Fresno in a 57-43 win in the opening game of the Clovis Elks Invitational Basketball Tournament. The bigger news is that it moved Ethan to No. 1 on the school’s all-time points leader list with 1,452 career points.
Matt Serven (Fountain Valley)
Nearly outscoring Calvary Chapel of Santa Ana on his own, he scored a game-high 31 points during a 72-35 win for the Barons at the Estancia Coast Classic.
J.J. Watson (St. John Bosco, Bellflower)
Braves moved to 13-1 on the year with a 57-50 win over Harvard-Westlake in the Gatorade Division championship game as he scored a team-high 32 points.
Curtis Witt (St. Francis, Mountain View)
Coming off the bench, he put on a three-point shooting clinic as he knocked down eight three-pointers and finished with 30 points during a win over Davis. St. Francis appeared at No. 20 in this week’s Cal-Hi Sports state rankings.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Sam Boyle (Scotts Valley)
She might have had one of the best triple-doubles in state history with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 19 blocked shots in a victory vs. Granada of Livermore. It was a semifinal game of a division at the West Coast Jamboree and Boyle’s 19 blocks also gets her into the state record book. We checked our files and she’ll go down in a tie for third on the all-time state list. It’s the most blocks in a game since two girls were reported with 19 from 2005 – Cory Hunter of Porterville and Dominique Hunter from Gateway of San Francisco. The record total of 23 was set in 1997 by Myiesha Jones of Oakland Castlemont.
Sierra Houston (High Tech, Chula Vista)
The 5-foot-11 senior had 14 points, 16 rebounds and 11 blocks for a triple-double earlier this week in a 47-24 win against Hoover of San Diego. Houston also had 12 blocks in her previous game and last year notched 17 in one game vs. San Diego Health Sciences that puts her in the state record book.
Sabrina Ionescu (Miramonte, Orinda)
The ESPN No. 1 rated guard and No. 4 overall rated player in the nation from the senior class barely broke a sweat and still filled the stat sheet to the brim in an 89-34 win over Lafayette Acalanes earlier this week. The 6-foot senior finished with 39 points, eight assists, eight steals, seven rebounds, three blocked shots, was 11 of 12 from the free-throw line, and after missing her first four 3-pointers, banged home the next four from outside the arc to finish 50 percent from long range. She is averaging more than 25 ppg so far this season.
Tiana Lowery (River City, West Sacramento)
Scoring nearly a third of the points in the game, she finished with 33 points during a 58-45 win over Calaveras of San Andreas.
Mikayla Mable (Central Valley, Ceres)
She’s had as many as 15 points and 15 assists in one game this season and in a 55-54 win already this week vs. Patterson she had 16 points and 11 assists. For the season, Mable is averaging 9.9 assists per game, which according to MaxPreps is the No. 1 total so far in California.
Aarion McDonald (Brookside Christian, Stockton)
Before she has a chance to become the first player with the last name of McDonald to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game she made 24 of her 27 free throw attempts and finished with 42 points during a 79-73 overtime loss against Salesian of Richmond.
Amber Melgoza (Santa Barbara)
Coming up one-point shy of tying her season-high, she scored 36 points and grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds during a 72-62 win for the Dons against Centennial of Corona.
Stephanie Moore (Golden Valley, Merced)
She’s signed with UC San Diego and played in San Diego during the recent holiday break with an impressive series of outings at the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic. Moore averaged 26 points in four games during the week, including 32 points in a 66-46 win over Mt. Carmel of San Diego and then 20 points with nine assists and eight rebounds in a 63-60 loss to Buena of Ventura. Moore also made 11-of-11 free throws in one game and shot 89 percent from the line for the week. She also helped Golden Valley head coach Matt Thissen earn his 300th career win.
Lillian Olson (Sacramento Waldorf, Fair Oaks)
Outscoring Buckingham Charter of Vacaville on her own, she finished with 36 points and 17 rebounds as the Waves ended 2015 with a 58-20 win.
Jordan Thompson (Harker, San Jose)
With tons of tournaments last week, players had chances to put up big time games in back to back days and this 5-foot-9 junior guard was one who did as she scored 35 points during a 66-36 win over Del Mar of San Jose and followed it up with 30 points during a 50-37 win over San Mateo the next day.
COACHING MILESTONE
According to CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett, head coach Doug White of Corcoran moved into 2nd place in all-time girls basketball wins for the section when his team beat Granite Hills of Porterville 38-36 in the 7th Annual Tulare Mid-Winter Showcase. Coach White moved to 444 career wins, moving him past former Lemoore coach Karen Wood with 443 wins.
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
