NorCal/SoCal Players of the Week

Both of this week’s boys selections got our attention for scoring 40 points in a game, one of them being a player new to California after making a name for himself in Virginia. Our four honorees hail from Atherton, Shasta Lake, Irvine and Agoura.

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Note: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To find out how your business could benefit by sponsoring these honors each week or to nominate someone by 12 noon on most Mondays, email markjtennis@gmail.com.

Image from Joe Foley’s Twitter page.

Joe Foley
(Menlo School, Atherton) Jr.

Coming to California from Woodberry Forest in Virginia, Foley is quickly making himself known.

The junior standout scored 40 points during a 65-49 win last week over Eastside Prep of East Palo Alto. Averaging 15.5 points per game before his big night, Foley previously was at a prep school before his move.

Menlo coach Keith Larsen told Glenn Reeves and Palo Alto Online Sports that “We don’t get many transfers at Menlo. I think he can play at the next level.”

Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week

Tayah Ranney
(Central Valley, Shasta Lake) Sr.

This 5-foot-9 guard has been steadily climbing on the state scoring charts and moved up again after going for 34, 32 and 31 points in three games last week.

Although Ranney’s team hasn’t been piling up wins, she did get 32 points with eight steals in a 41-23 victory last week against Oroville. She also had 34 in a 59-50 loss to West Valley of Cottonwood and 31 in a 59-48 loss to Red Bluff.

With those games, Ranney boosted her scoring average to 27.7 per game. She has a season-high of 48 in a game against Trinity of Weaverville.

A signer to local Simpson University of Redding, Ranney set the CIF Northern Section record for 3-pointers as a freshman at Central Valley and then broke it again as a sophomore.

Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week

Alex Bray
(University, Irvine) Jr.

Making sure the packed gym at University would go home happy, this junior had 40 points and 17 rebounds during a 80-72 win over Beckman of Irvine in his team’s Pacific Coast League opener.

Scoring just one point in the first quarte, Bray scored 15 points in the second quarter and 24 points in the second half. He did it mostly by making himself at home from the free throw line. On the night, he made 22 of his 27 free throw attempts while making four 3-pointers.

Through 15 games this season, Bray was averaging 25.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.

Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week

Jazmine Benn
(Agoura, Agoura Hills) Sr.

After she makes a basket, we don’t know if Agoura’s fans chant, “Benn there, done that.” But they sure could have chanted that a lot in last week’s 68-67 win over perennial power Oaks Christian of Westlake Village in the two teams’ Marmonte League opener. Been led the way for the Chargers with a season-high 32 points to with four assists.

Now averaging 15.5 points per game, Benn’s previous season-best was 18 points before exploding for the season-high to open up league play. It also was the Lions’ first ever loss in Marmonte League play as they went 10-0 in league play in each of the last two seasons.

Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens also contributed to this post. 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