Two of this week’s SoCal/NorCal Players of the Week are Daniel Chatman of Fairmont Prep and Kaliya Griffin of Sac. Inderkum. Photos: Twitter.com & natomasunified.org.
Cousin of NBA’s Matt Barnes has been a standout for Inderkum of Sacramento girls team and gains one of this week’s honor slots. The other girls winner is from San Diego while the two boys’ honorees both scored more than 45 points for one game.
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 (remember switching to basketball), 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 Southern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Daniel Chatman (Fairmont Prep, Anaheim) Sr.
Fairmont Prep is a school known more as a premier academic institution with a large number of international students but certainly has a player that stands out athletically as well with this senior who plays football and basketball for the Huskies.
And now that the football season is over, Chatman has turned in his pads for shorts and is making a big impact for the Huskies. He scored 46 points during a 76-60 win over Santa Ana Valley last week.
During the football season, Chatman had a homecoming game to remember as all five of his receptions went for touchdowns during a 43-14 win over Riverside Prep.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Monique Smith (Serra, San Diego) Jr.
A 5-foot-10 junior who first turned our heads at the 2014 San Diego Classic in July of that summer, Smith is in the midst of a strong junior season after earning second team All-CIF San Diego Section honors as a sophomore.
In a 78-11 triumph last week over San Diego Hoover, Smith racked up triple-double totals of 28 points, 15 steals and 12 rebounds. She also had five assists.
Although her scoring has suffered when Serra has faced much stronger opponents, she’s had at least 10 rebounds in every game and so far is averaging 16.7 points and 12.7 rebounds per game.
Smith also has been on Serra’s track team in the spring and has competed in the sprints.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Trey Semien (Clovis East) Sr.
It was a shootout of locally epic proportions when the Timberwolves knocked off Immanuel of Reedley last week in a CIF Central Section showdown.
Immanuel, the section’s preseason No. 1 team and No. 1 in the section by the Fresno Bee coming into the game, couldn’t hold off Semien and the Timberwolves in a 92-90 loss that lasted three overtimes.
In an outing that had us thinking of Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield in that insane college game last week against Kansas, Semien rained down 47 points to lead Clovis East. According to CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett, it is the second best single-game outing in school history.
If Semien had a slow start to the hoops season, it’s understandable. He also plays football and was Clovis East’s starting quarterback.
Cal-HI Sports Northern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Kaliya Griffin (Inderkum, Sacramento) Sr.
Cousin of NBA veteran Matt Barnes showed she can put the ball in the hoop with two of her better games this season as she outscored the Honkers with 29 points during a 67-24 win over Yuba City and followed it up two days later with 25 points during a 71-63 win over River City of West Sacramento.
To go along with her 25 points against the Raiders, she had a season-high eight assists with five steals and is currently averaging 17.9 points, 3.9 steals, 3.4 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game.
Headed to Tennessee State, Griffin’s season-high of 31 points came earlier this season during a 65-45 win over Ponderosa of Shingle Springs, another team from the Sacramento area that has a number of top players back from last season.
Inderkum improved to 11-5 with the two victories, but has played a tough schedule, including losses to state-ranked St. Mary’s (Stockton) and Brea Olinda.
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
