This is the cover illustration from the seventh edition of the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book.
For the final set of honorees for basketball, 7-foot-1 center Roman Silva from Diamond Ranch of Pomona leads the way. His comeback from a scary car crash, however, tells more about him than just his stats. This week’s other three honorees are from Imperial, Hayward and the Sacramento area.
Note: Next week, this feature is switching to baseball and softball. For purposes of this feature, we are considering the CIF Central Section to be in the north.
To nominate a player for next week, 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).
It’s also a great time to sign up for our Gold Club to see all of our great content. The yearly rate has gone up, but you can now see all of our info, including state record book items for $9.99 covering three months. For details, CLICK HERE.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Roman Silva (Diamond Ranch, Pomona) Sr.
It’s hard to miss this 7-foot-1, 215 pound senior who has had an inspiring comeback from a serious auto accident.
In the CIF Southern Section Division 3A championship, Silva scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Panthers captured the section championship with a 53-48 win over Chaminade of West Hills.
Averaging 18.6 points and 10.3 rebounds on the season, he averaged even better than that on the team’s path to the section title with 23.4 points and 14 rebounds per game over its current five-game winning streak.
With Silva in the middle, the Panthers look like a threat for the CIF Division IV state title. They improved to 24-8 after the section championship and are the top seed in the CIF SoCal D4 bracket.
Before the season started, Silva’s injuries from the auto accident left him with a punctured lung and internal injuries but he has come back and made his senior season on the court a memorable one.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Khiya Mohamed (Imperial) Sr.
We don’t often get the chance to choose someone from the Imperial Valley, but we are going with Khiya after her big outing in the CIF San Diego Section Division II championship.
Leading the Tigers to their first ever section title, she scored a season-high 33 points and grabbed 14 rebounds during their 62-54 win over Bonita Vista in the final game.
Her previous season high was 27 points back in January during a 75-16 win over Palo Verde Valley of Blythe as the senior captain is averaging 17 points and 9.8 rebounds per game entering the Division IV state playoffs.
Not only is she a standout on the basketball court but Mohamed has also shined playing volleyball and has been a state finalist in track and field. Her track season obvsiously has had to be put on hold for a few weeks.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Damari Milstead (Moreau Catholic, Hayward) Jr.
With his two highest scoring games this season both coming last week, this highly regarded junior finished the week with a career-high 35 points and eight assists during a 98-67 win over Miramonte of Orinda in the CIF North Coast Section Division III championship game.
Earlier in the week, Milstead had set his season-high with 30 points during the Mariners’ 90-59 semifinal win over 2015 CIF Open Division state champion Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland.
On the season he is averaging 19.1 points, 5.4 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game for the Mariners, who are the No. 3 seed in the CIF Open Division NorCal regional.
As a freshman, Milstead was a varsity standout and was on the Cal-Hi Sports all-state freshman team.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Lillian Olson (Sacramento Waldorf, Fair Oaks) Sr.
Yes, it may be Division VI but Olson has been among the state’s top scorers all season and in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI championship last week as she snared 27 rebounds to set a section record for all divisions in a championship game.
Olson also set a Division VI title game section record by scoring 35 points and led the Waves past Turlock Christian 59-51.
For the season, Olson has averaged 30.1 points and 18.7 rebounds per game with a season high of 47 and two more outings above 40.
Sacramento Waldorf (21-5) will now be in the CIF Northern California Division VI playoffs, although there is no D6 state final.
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
