Two of this week’s top stat stars are Shanaijah Davidson from Pioneer of Woodland and Kaijai Yee-Stephens of Santa Cruz. Photos: premierball.com & Tim Cattera.
The magic number was 43 for San Diego standouts Khayla Rooks and T.J. Leaf but their No. 1 section teams had mixed results. Others on this week’s honor roll for boys include Mater Dei’s Spencer Freedman (14-of-14 free throws) and a small school hoopster from the same town as our new Mr. Football State Player of the Year. For girls, Aarion McDonald of Stockton Brookside Christian also notched back-to-back quadruple-doubles.
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. 9 and including some games from this week)
(More writeups by Mark Tennis & CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett)
BOYS BASKETBALL
Fabian Arciniega (Vincent Memorial, Calexico)
After one week between games, he followed up his 30-point performance against Oympian of Chula Vista with 33 points during a 61-53 win over Palo Verde Valley of Blythe. Last week also saw Fabian look fabulous with 38 points in a 68-58 loss to Brawley. He is averaging more than 25 ppg.
Lonzo Ball (Chino Hills)
Needing to come through in the final seconds, Zo made a pair of free throws to give his state and nationally ranked No. 1 team the lead and finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists during a 85-83 win over state-ranked Foothills Christian of El Cajon.
Evan Battey (Villa Park)
Driving opponents crazy all season long, Battey had 36 points and 16 rebounds as the Spartans defeated Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach 77-72 in non league action.
DeAngelo Blackwell (Homestead, Cupertino)
Mr. Blackwell jazzed it up with 33 points to lead the Mustangs past Lynbrook of San Jose 70-65. He had to make free throws in the fourth quarter to secure the win and ended up going 8-for-8. Also last week Blackwell scored 23 points in a 55-33 triumph vs. Mountain View.
Brandon Brown (Citrus Hill, Perris)
If not for a 51-point performance at the start of the season, he would of had his best scoring night of all with 41 points during a 88-80 win over Canyon Springs of Moreno Valley. After scoring 51 and 34 points in back to back games at the start of the season, Brown had not scored more than 29 in a game until the 41 against the Cougars.
Justin Davis of San Diego Morse turned heads in a showcase event last season and shined last week. Photo: Ronnie Flores.
Justin Davis (Morse, San Diego)
A player we mentioned in this honor roll a couple of times last season gets in for the first time this season with 37 points in a 67-63 loss to Mira Mesa. James Ottey of Mira Mesa had a huge outing as well with 28 points and 15 rebounds.
Spencer Freedman (Mater Dei, Santa Ana)
A transfer from Santa Monica where he started as a freshman, this sophomore guard nearly made the state record book last week with his performance during a 71-62 win over Orange Lutheran. Freedman finished one made free throw shy of making the state record book by going a perfect 14-for-14 from the line and scoring a game-high 19 points. Eight of those free throws came in the fourth quarter.
Jake Halderman (Hayfork)
A two-game losing streak for the Timberjacks came to an end with a 63-56 win over Happy Camp. Halderman was more than happy as the 6-foot-2 junior scored 36 points.
Devon Hicks (Cornerstone Christian, Antioch)
While our Mr. Football State Player of the Year Najee Harris plays in Antioch, there’s also some standouts from the city on the basketball court. Hicks scored a season-best 40 points and grabbed a season-best 11 rebounds during a 74-64 win over El Sobrante Christian. He then ended last week with 32 points during a 53-50 win over Contra Costa Christian of Walnut Creek.
Chad Holloway (Grant, Van Nuys)
After just one double-double all season, Holloway had two double-doubles last week. First, he scored a season-best 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds during a 77-53 win over Chatsworth and had 27 points with 10 rebounds during a 68-58 win over Van Nuys.
T.J. Leaf (Foothills Christian, El Cajon)
Almost leading the Knights to a win over state, national No. 1 and undefeated Chino Hills, the UCLA-bound forward scored 43 points and grabbed 21 rebounds during the 85-83 loss. His two best games on offense this season have come against the Huskies since earlier this season he had 44 points during a 106-86 loss to them.
Keenan Struebing (Apple Valley)
For the seventh time this season, Struebing played all 32 minutes of a game and he nearly scored a point a minute during the Sun Devils’ 68-48 win over Serrano of Phelan. He finished with 31 points to help the team pick up its seventh win of the season.
Noah Valencia (California School for the Deaf, Riverside)
While he hasn’t come near his 71 points in a game from earlier this season, Noah is still averaging 33.9 points per game after scoring 34 points during a 70-54 win over Boys Republic of Chino Hills last week.
Sebastian Waked (Bolsa Grande, Garden Grove)
His name will go down in the school record book after his performance last week despite playing just one minute in the fourth quarter. Waked set that school record with 32 points in the first half of a 85-42 win over Calvary Chapel of Santa Ana. Waked finished with 43 points with most of his scoring coming from behind the three-point line where he was 8 for 10 on 3-pointers.
Bryson Williams (Roosevelt, Fresno)
CIF Central Section standout was chosen the MVP of the Jesse Lujan Memorial Tournament has he scored 138 points in four games. Williams, who leads the section in scoring with 32.7 ppg, scored 40 points against Selma in a 71-70 loss and came back with 38 points against Dinuba as Roosevelt won 89-59.
Eyassu Worku (Los Alamitos)
Continuing to work his way onto this list on a weekly basis, this UC Irvine-commit scored 15 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter as the Griffins pulled away for a 61-51 win in Sunset League play over Edison of Huntington Beach. Worku’s 31 points also helped him become the school’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing Jason Cunningham who set the school record in the 1990s.
Kaijae Yee-Stephens (Santa Cruz)
Already with two games of 40-plus points back in December, this senior forward scored 37 points while grabbing a season-high 12 rebounds during a 70-58 win over San Lorenzo Valley of Fulton.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Jayda Adams (Mater Dei, Santa Ana)
Leader of the No. 4 ranked in the state Monarchs, she led them in scoring in all three games last week, including a career-high 20 points against Rosary Academy of Fullerton. Mater Dei won that game 50-22, meaning that Jayda nearly outscored the Royals on her own.
Delacy Brown (Poly, Riverside)
Speaking of outscoring the other team, this senior captain finished with 29 points while grabbing a season-high 16 steals as the Bears were victorious 60-24 in a game last week against Grand Terrace.
Sydelle Callahan (La Reina, Thousand Oaks)
The junior guard had her best game of the season so far last week during a 50-40 win over Santa Monica. Callahan scored 31 points, making 11 of 12 free throws and burying four 3-pointers. She also came up with five steals on defense.
Sierra Campisano (Torrey Pines, San Diego)
The Falcons’ game against Mission Hills of San Marcos was expected to be a good one and it was but for Campisano and her team it wasn’t quite the way envisioned as Mission Hills won 83-72. Still, the Oregon-bound senior captain scored 37 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked six shots.
Amanda Cuervo (La Habra)
Not only did this senior forward score a season-high 23 points but she also grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds as the Highlanders defeated Whittier Christian of La Habra 50-35.
Senior standout Madison Kast from Redwood of Visalia joined 1,000-point club last week. Photo: Courtesy family.
Shanaijah Davison (Pioneer, Woodland)
A newcomer to being listed here, this junior point guard had 43 points and six steals last week during a 88-64 loss to River City of West Sacramento.
Aquira DeCosta (St. Mary’s, Stockton)
The Rams have been hit with injuries but they have the depth to keep winning, which was shown when their super soph scored 22 points and grabbed 25 rebounds during a 83-78 win over Salesian of Richmond.
Anyssia Gibbs (Granite Hills, Apple Valley)
While just a sophomore, she is the captain for the Cougars and her play on the court shows why. In another honor roll effort, she nearly recorded a quadruple-double during a 53-49 loss to Silverado of Victorville with 29 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists and nine steals.
Sabrina Ionescu (Miramonte, Orinda)
One of many players we are looking forward to seeing play this weekend in Stockton, she had 35 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds during a 95-50 blowout win over Campolindo of Moraga. Many expect her to be named to the McDonald’s All-American Game on Sunday.
Madison Kast (Redwood, Visalia)
Congratulations to Madison in joining the 1,000 point club after the 6-foot-1 senior scored 14 points and had 12 rebounds, five assists and five blocks in a 58-25 win over Hanford West. She also scored 21 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and had four blocks last week in a 49-22 win over Lemoore.
Aarion McDonald (Brookside Christian, Stockton)
Someone we are hoping (but not expected like Ionescu) to be named to the McDonald’s All-American game, Aari had back-to-back quadruple doubles last week. She first finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds, 16 assists and 14 steals during a 115-14 win over Stone Ridge Christian of Merced before getting 30 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and 11 steals during a 72-9 win over Elliot Christian of Lodi.
Minyon Moore (Salesian, Richmond)
Considering the opponent was state and national No. 1 St. Mary’s of Stockton, Moore scoring 31 points to lead the Pride in an upset bid that wasn’t squelched until overtime was perhaps her most impressive outing yet. St. Mary’s came on in the OT to win 83-78 but Moore showed that USC may be getting one of the top developing players in the nation.
Lillian Olson (Sacramento Waldorf, Fair Oaks)
Not getting much help on the offensive end from teammates, Olson scored 30 points with just three other points from other players during a 60-33 loss to Lincoln. Later in the week, Olson nearly hit for a season-high during a 63-37 win over Victory Christian of Carmichael as she scored 39 points and grabbed 22 rebounds. For the season, she is averaging 29.9 points, 16.9 rebounds and 5.2 blocks per game.
Jasmine Pharms (Stagg, Stockton)
Both of her state stat star worthy performances last week came during losses. Also known for her prowess in the shot put and discus, Pharms scored 35 points and grabbed 18 rebounds during a 72-58 loss against Kimball of Tracy and 30 points with 12 rebounds during a 61-40 loss to Lodi. The Delta Kings’ senior captain is now averaging 25.9 points and 14 rebounds per game.
Ana Resendiz (Don Lugo, Chino)
While she’s not having as good of a time as whoever just won the powerball jackpot in nearby Chino Hills, this senior captain led the Conquistadores to a 59-34 win over Montclair as she scored 32 points and is averaging 24.8 points per game.
Khayla Rooks (Mission Hills, San Diego)
Her team’s matchup with Torrey Pines was the game of the week in San Diego and it lived up to the hype. Rooks was sensational for Grizzlies with a game-high 43 points in their 83-72 win and is certainly doing her part to get into a major mix of great talents to be the San Diego Section Player of the Year.
Terrin Sullivan (Middle College, Los Angeles)
It seems like there are lots of captains with state stat star worthy performances this week and she is yet another. Sullivan scored a season-high 35 points and grabbed a season-high 19 rebounds during a 106-19 win over Reseda.
Janelle Sumilong (Hanford)
She scored a career high of 39 points, surpassing her previous best of 38 points as a sophomore, to lead the Bullpups in a 87-45 romp past Ridgeview of Bakersfield.
Megan Villar (Mayfair, Pasadena)
For the second time this season, this senior guard scored over 30 points in a game as she scored a season-best 38 points during a 56-43 win over Flintridge Prep of La Canada.
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
