Two of this week’s SoCal/NorCal player of the week choices are Jack Roggin of Calabasas and Loretta Kakala of Manteca. Photos: West Coast Elite Basketball & Stockton Record.
One of this week’s NorCal honorees, Manteca High’s Loretta Kakala, received some huge news on Sunday night when she was named to the 2017 McDonald’s All-American Game. Our other weekly honors go out to players from Calabasas, San Gabriel and Bakersfield.
We hope you enjoy this free story on Cal-Hi Sports.com. For our State Top 20 boys and girls rankings package plus weekly state record updates and more exclusive content, please check out our Gold Club membership today. For details, CLICK HERE.
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 Southern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Jack Roggin (Calabasas) Sr.
While those who live in Southern California may be more familiar with Jack’s dad, Fred, who has been the lead sports anchor for NBC in Los Angeles for many years, he has been making himself known as well with his performances on the court over the last two seasons for the Coyotes.
In a game last week, Roggin scored 33 points in a 65-50 win at Thousand Oaks and has had other high-scoring outings against strong competition.
As a junior last season, Jack was named to the All-Marmonte League first team and helped Calabasas go on its deepest state playoff run in program history. He had a team-high 24 points when the Coyotes lost in overtime in the CIF SoCal Division III regional semifinals to Bonita of La Verne.
Fred Roggin has been at NBC in Los Angeles since 1980 and has routinely featured many high school athletes, both those well-known to colleges and those who aren’t, on his Roggin’s Heroes highlights show. Roggin’s Heroes has been a staple for SoCal high school football fans for more than 25 years.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Amanda Lee (Gabrielino, San Gabriel) Jr.
The reigning player of the year in the Mission Valley League, Lee is a guard who can score, collect steals and definitely doesn’t miss open 3-point shots.
In games last week, Lee had 25 points and 10 steals in a 62-21 victory against South El Monte and then hit for 20 points with 10 steals when the Eagles topped El Monte 48-37. For the season, she has a high of 31 points and is averaging 19.3 points and 2.9 steals per game.
Lee’s 3-point shooting is what stands out the most. She recently had a two-game stretch against Arroyo of El Monte and South El Monte in which she was reportedly 8-for-8 from beyond the arc and for the season heading into this week was connecting on 59 percent of those shots.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Alec Check (Centennial, Bakersfield) Sr.
The 6-foot-3 senior had a nice week that began when he scored 35 points and had 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals in a 104-76 win over North of Bakersfield.
Check continued to go unchecked in a later outing against Stockdale of Bakersfield as he poured in 39 points in a 79-67 triumph for the Golden Hawks.
For the season, Check also has now taken over the lead in scoring among all CIF Central Section players at 26.2 points per game, according to section historian Bob Barnett.
It’s big jump in scoring for Check since last year he only averaged 13.6 ppg. He was simply more of a true point guard that season, however, and averaged 6.3 assists per game in helping Centennial get to the Division I section semifinals for the second straight season. He was named to the Bakersfield Californian’s All-Area first team and is a strong candidate for Player of the Year honors after this season.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Loretta Kakala (Manteca) Sr.
It has been quite the week for this talented senior as she had her biggest scoring performance of the season before being selected as a McDonald’s All-American.
Facing a Kimball of Tracy squad that at the time was 11-4, Kakala led the way for the Buffaloes to get the win as she scored 25 points and grabbed a whopping 25 rebounds for the big time double-double in the 65-52 win.
It is that kind of rebounding that has made Kakala so well-known to college scouts and to those on the McDonald’s All-American Game selection committee.
Committed to play in college at Louisville, the 6-foot-3 senior forward averaged 16 points and 8.5 rebounds last season and was selected to our all-state underclass team.
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
