Two of this week’s featured players are Alaysia Styles of La Jolla Country Day (blocking shot as soph two years ago in CIF state final) and Zavier Lucero from Rodriguez of Fairfield (who played for Oakland Soldiers club team). Photos: Willie Eashman & studentathletecamps.com.
One of this week’s honorees was too hard to resist after she poured in 40 points exactly in both of her games last week. Joining Coalinga’s Serena Ybarra are players from Fairfield, Rancho Mirage and La Jolla.
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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.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Zavier Lucero (Rodriguez, Fairfield) Sr.
Tying his season-high, Lucero scored 35 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Mustangs past Napa 75-73 in a Monticello Empire League contest. He also had 25 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals in a 69-58 triumph vs. Vintage of Napa.
After averaging 17.6 points per game last season, this 6-foot-5 senior has increased his scoring average to 25.6 points per game while grabbing 7.9 rebounds per game for the Mustangs, who improved to 13-8 this season.
Lucero was named as the Monticello Empire League MVP last season as a junior so there’s a very good chance that honor is going to be repeated.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Serena Ybarra (Coalinga) Soph.
It’s always great to get a Horned Toad written up and honored and this week we couldn’t resist with Ybarra.
Last season as a freshman, she made an impact scoring 17 points and grabbing 5.8 rebounds per game and her impact for the Horned Toads has become even bigger this season as she is averaging 23.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 3.0 assists per game.
With Ybarra’s previous season-high being 34 points, she exploded for back-to-back 40-point games last week. She scored 40 during a 58-53 win over Firebaugh and three nights later did it again during a 68-39 win over Dos Palos. In both games, she also finished with a double-double as she grabbed 17 rebounds against the Eagles and 13 rebounds against the Broncos.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Charles Neal (Rancho Mirage) Sr.
This high-scoring guard seems to pick great times to showcase himself and that’s in major showcase events.
During last Saturday’s action at the Nike Extravaganza, Neal scored 30 points during a 58-52 overtime win against Rolling Hills Prep of San Pedro. Rolling Hills Prep came into the game ranked No. 1 in its division in the CIF Southern Section. Earlier in the week, Neal also had 21 points as the Rattlers had no problems winning at Yucca Valley 90-31.
Last month at the MaxPreps MLK Classic held at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Neal was sensational for Rancho Mirage with 38 points during an 86-84 overtime loss to Manteca.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Alaysia Styles (La Jolla Country Day, La Jolla) Sr.
Winning a CIF state title at Cal as a sophomore must have left a lasting impression on the 6-foot-3 Styles, who will play in college for the Golden Bears. And since Styles nearly posted a triple-double in that state final — 10 points, 14 rebounds, eight blocks vs. Eastside Prep in Division V — she’s also gone on to have a strong prep career.
Coming from the same prep program as two of the Pac-12 Conference’s best players ever — Candice Wiggins (Stanford) and Kelsey Plum (Washington) — Styles has been the leader of this year’s LJCD squad and had two stellar outings last week. She first hit for 29 points and had 10 rebounds and two assists in a 74-19 romp past Rock Academy of San Diego. Then game a 26-point, 18-rebound, three-block outing when the Torreys beat Horizon Christian of San Diego 55-31.
No, Styles isn’t posting skyrocketing stats like La Jolla Bishop’s Destiny Littleton or Bonita Vista’s Shyla La Tone, but in this year of phenomenal talent in San Diego, we’re not going to forget about some of those other top players in the area, either. She is averaging 20.0 points, 11.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.
Paul Muyskens is the assistant editor at the Stockton office of 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
