State Stat Stars of the Week

We go triple box this week at the top with boys hoops, girls hoops and football. Among those on this week’s honor roll are Shyla LaTone of Chula Vista Bonita Vista, who is showing there’s another prolific scorer in San Diego other than Destiny Littleton. Final numbers also are in for Calabasas QB Tristan Gebbia and it’s a strong start for super soph Jarod Lucas with 34 points in his first game.

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 209-608-1317. You can also text to 209-608-1317.

For this week’s SoCal/NorCal State Players of the Week, CLICK HERE.

For more on Destiny Littleton’s chase for the career state scoring record in girls basketball, CLICK HERE.

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(All players listed in alphabetical order)
(Writeups also by Paul Muyskens & CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett)
(For games played through Saturday, Dec. 10 with some games from this week)

BOYS BASKETBALL

Paulo Araujo (Foothill, Tustin)
Showing why this 6-foot-3 senior guard is the Knights’ captain, he had two big games last week, including 37 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Sunny Hills and scored 35 points with a school-record 25 rebounds in a win over Montclair.

LiAngelo Ball (Chino Hills)
Winning their 41st game in a row, the Huskies went to Arizona and defeated Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas 84-70 with Gelo knocking down 30 points.

Jordan Brown (Woodcreek, Roseville)
Showing why he is one of the top juniors in the state, this 6-foot-10 center had 26 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks during a 72-45 win over Salesian of Richmond at the Gridley Tournament. Woodcreek’s win also propelled the team into the top 10 of this week’s new state rankings.

Zach Chappell (Capital Christian, Sacramento)
Facing an Alemany of Mission Hills team that was ranked in the top 20 in the state, he scored 38 points during an 82-71 win. The junior point guard is getting D1 offers and had 21 points in last spring in the NorCal Clash for a team of top juniors vs. top seniors.

Jacob Gilliam (Torrey Pines, San Diego)
Helping his team get off to a 6-0 start to the season, this 6-foot-9 senior center had 18 points and 18 rebounds in a win over Vista.

Manish Khatri (Laytonville)
The 5-foot-10 senior captain poured in 39 points to lead the Warriors past Archbishop Hanna of Sonoma 90-51. He’s now averaging more than 25 ppg.

Jarod Lucas (Los Altos, Hacienda Heights)
The Conquerors broke the century mark in their season-opening win over Paramount as this sophomore scored 34 points in a 108-64 win. Lucas was one of the top freshmen in Southern California last season.

Kezie Okpala (Esperanza, Anaheim)
It already looks like Kezie will be a frequent stat star this season. Once again, he finds his way to be listed here this week after he scored 30 points during the Aztecs’ 58-46 win over El Toro.

Jon Staggers (Dorsey, Los Angeles)
Having Locke’s defense struggling to contain his scoring outburst, he finished with 32 points in a 83-44 win. Staggers should be one of the top scorers in the CIF L.A. City Section this season.

J.T. Tan (Rolling Hills Prep, San Pedro)
Former Fairfax head coach Harvey Kitani made his debut at Rolling Hills Prep and got a big outing from this freshman. Tan made his debut as well with 28 point during an 89-7 win over Lennox.

J.J. Watson (St. John Bosco, Bellflower)
While the Braves’ football team is ranked No. 1 in the state, their boys basketball team is also off to a good start behind Watson, who scored 31 points during a 65-54 win over Cajon of San Bernardino.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Celeste Almendarez (Edison, Stockton)
Junior captain for the Vikings had a season-high 34 points to go along with 12 rebounds, seven assists and six steals during a 73-30 win last week over Livingston.

Kelsey Forrester (Davis)
For the first time this season, this 5-foot-7 junior point guard scored 30 points in a game but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Blue Devils from being on the wrong side of a 77-69 final score against St. Francis of Sacramento.

Anyssia Gibbs (Granite Hills, Apple Valley)
Her season-high 36 points came in a season-opening loss but she followed that up with 35 points and outscored Adelanto on her own in a 60-32 victory by the Cougars. In the same game, Gibbs finished just shy of a triple-double and quadruple double since she also grabbed 12 rebounds to go along with nine assists and nine steals.

Natalie Karlsson (Upper Lake)
Another girl who was a NorCal Player of the Week once last season, Karlsson made sure the Cougars wouldn’t lose two games in a row when she bounced back from an 18-point outing with a season-high 36 points during a 73-47 win over Anderson Valley of Boonville.

Shyla LaTone (Bonita Vista, Chula Vista)
If not for Destiny Littleton of nearby Bishop’s, this junior guard would likely be the state leader in scoring so far this season as she followed up her 35-point performance from the week before with games of 33, 34 and 49 points last week. The 49-point outburst came during a 72-35 win over Brawley. Already this week, LaTone scored 47 points during a 78-53 win over Mission Vista of Oceanside. She is currently averaging 33.6 points per game.

Austyn Masuno (Oxford Academy, Cypress)
Named by OCVarsity as its girls basketball player of the week, this sophomore center had four double-doubles last week and is averaging 20.4 points and 13.5 rebounds per game.

Megan Ormiston (Murrieta Valley, Murrieta)
Just once this season, Ormiston has not had a double-double. In another dominant outing, the 6-foot-3 junior scored 11 points and grabbed 23 rebounds during a 54-50 win over Redlands East Valley of Redlands.

Haley Van Dyke (Campolindo, Moraga)
While the Campo football team will be going for a state title this weekend, this 6-foot junior center has helped the Cougars girls basketball team get off to a 6-2 start this season. She had 23 points and 22 rebounds during a 94-65 win over Oakland. Earlier this week, she had a season-high 35 points along with 18 rebounds during an 84-27 win over Oakland Tech and is currently averaging 21.1 points and 15.4 rebounds per game.

Nay Nay Watkins (Arroyo Valley, San Bernardino)
Yay, Yay for Nay Nay after the start of her season. The junior point guard is already posting monster totals, but like last year some the outings are questionable given the lopsided scores of the games. Last week, Watkins was reported with 43 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 16 steals (perhaps the best quadruple-double statistically we’ve ever heard of). It came, however, in a 83-15 rout of Fontana. After her first six games, Nay Nay was averageding 28.3 ppg.

Tati Zazuetta (Segerstrom, Santa Ana)
Scoring 19 points just in the first half, she finished with 28 points and made three 3-pointers during a 68-34 win for the Jaguars over Godinez of Santa Ana.

FOOTBALL

Ernesto Camacho (Arroyo, El Monte)
Although he gave a couple of interceptions that were run back for scores, Camacho completed a spectacular season by passing for 379 yards and five TDs in 63-42 loss to La Jolla Country Day SoCal D5-A final. For the season, Camacho finished with 3,158 yards and 35 TDs passing with another 547 rushing and 11 TDs rushing.

Tristan Gebbia (Calabasas)
The final season totals on MaxPreps for Gebbia after his team was stunned 60-53 in OT by San Diego Madison in the CIF SoCal D2-A were hard to believe. The senior QB ended with 5,338 yards passing and 61 TDs in 15 games. His final two games were both above 500 yards with going 42 of 62 for 585 and seven in the finale. He becomes the first non-Folsom QB to throw for 5,000 yards in the season, joining Jake Browning (three times) and Tanner Trosin (once). Browning’s junior and senior seasons are No. 1 and No. 2 in state history. Gebbia’s senior season is now third, just in front of Browning’s sophomore campaign.

Jeffrey Jackson (Bishop’s, La Jolla)
In leading unbeaten Bishop’s past Valley Christian of Cerritos 28-9 in the CIF SoCal Division 3-A championship, Jackson hit on 18 of 31 passes for 236 yards and two TDs and also rushed 10 times for 81 yards and two scores. Jackson has 3,863 yards and 46 TDs passing this season and also has rushed for 453 yards and nine scores.

Justin Keeling (Valley View, Moreno Valley)
He hasn’t gotten 200 yards rushing in all five of the Eagles’ playoff games, but 206, 189, 200, 191 and 194 are not exactly pedestrian. Keeling, a junior speedster who’s made a himself a name to watch for next season, also went over 2,000 yards in Valley View’s 31-14 triumph vs. San Gorgonio of San Bernardino in the CIF SoCal D5-AA title game.

Casey Mariucci (La Jolla Country Day)
It’s not just QB Braxton Burmeister that makes the Torreys go. In their 63-42 win for the SoCal D5-A crown last week, Mariucci caught seven passes for 118 yards and two TDs and had a 49-yard interception return for a score.

Will Semone (Oakdale)
In the Mustangs’ 27-10 win vs. previously unbeaten Sutter in the CIF NorCal D3-A final, Semone went over 300 yards rushing for the third time in the post-season. He scored twice within a short span in the fourth quarter to put the game away and had 38 carries for 303 yards. Semone also upped his season total, according to the Modesto Bee (Oakdale doesn’t use MaxPreps), to 2,632 yards. He needs 149 to tie the Stanislaus District record of 2,781 set last year by Modesto Central Catholic’s Justin Rice.

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