Two of this week’s SoCal/NorCal Players of the Week are Jake Kyman from Santa Margarita and Haley Van Dyke of Campolindo. Photos: Gregory Townsend/@SMCHSBasketball & SportStarsMag.com.
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Note: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate someone by 12 noon on most Mondays, email markjtennis@gmail.com. This is our third set of honorees for the 2017-18 season for basketball.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Boys Player of the Week
Jake Kyman
(Santa Margarita, Rancho Santa Margarita) Jr.
The Eagles are 12-4 and ranked No. 15 in our state rankings heading into this week but had not foul trouble hit Santa Margarita in a 68-55 loss to No. 1 Mater Dei, where Kyman had 14 points, things might be a lot different since the boys from the easternmost part of Orange County were leading 50-44 when foul trouble derailed the upset bid.
Kyman, a 6-foot-7 junior with interest from several D1 programs, including LSU, Brigham Young, Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara and Utah State, helped the Eagles rebound big with a 31-point performance in a 73-62 victory over Crossroads (Santa Monica) at the Take Flight Challenge last Saturday.
Earlier this season, Kyman, who was All Trinity League Second Team last season, was the Orange County Register boys basketball athlete of the week after being named the MVP of the Beach Bash tournament the Eagles won where he averaged 18 points, six rebounds and three assists, and shot 61 percent from the floor over four tournament games.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Girls Player of the Week
Destiny Brown
(Westchester, Los Angeles) Jr.
We go to the Los Angeles City Section for the first time in naming a girl award winner, but after what she’s done the last two seasons Destiny was destined to be honored – and just like our NorCal winner the 6-foot-3 junior post is a triple-double machine. In fact, she accomplished the feat twice in her last two games and has done it five times this season.
Brown nearly had a quadruple-double in a 55-38 victory over Tulare Mission Oak at the Legacy Winter Basketball Festival after finishing with 25 points, 15 rebounds, 14 blocked shots and nine steals. In her next game, a 49-43 victory on Tuesday over Los Angeles CES, Brown went for 25 points again, with 15 rebounds and 10 blocks.
So far this season, Brown is averaging 18.6 points, 15.2 rebounds, 6.2 blocks, 4.1 steals and 3.7 assists per game. The blocks are the No. 2 reported total in the state and the rebounds are the No. 9 reported mark.
Last season, Destiny had the biggest triple-double of her career so far when she went for 23 points, 26 rebounds and 10 blocks to lead the Comets to the LA City Section Division I title in a 71-57 victory over Venice.
Jesuit’s Elias King last week might have become the first player named King to lead his team in scoring at the home of the Sacramento Kings. Photo: Twitter.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Boys Player of the Week
Elias King
(Jesuit, Carmichael) Sr.
The 6-foot-8 forward looked very good when we observed him at the NorCal Clash event that Cal-Hi Sports basketball analyst Ronnie Flores also attended. He was a member of the victorious seniors over the juniors and was second in scoring with 17 points and also had 12 rebounds.
King, who committed to Georgia right after Christmas, has had to bide his time and watch from the bench after transferring from Christian Brothers and being a Sacramento Bee All Metro selection last season and a three-year starter, but if his first few games with the Marauders are an indication of things to come, Jesuit may be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.
In his second game in a Marauders’ uniform on Friday against Davis in a Delta League contest held at the Golden 1 Center, he poured in 30 points with 28 coming in an explosive second half of an 87-66 victory in which the game was tied 32-32 at halftime. Then, on Saturday against a solid El Cerrito team at the Jesuit Father Kelly Tribute Showcase, he dropped in 29 points in an 81-71 victory.
Last season at Christian Brothers, he averaged 22.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.
According to Sacramento Bee sports scribe Joe Davidson, who thinks very highly of King, he has some family ties to Jesuit.
“His uncle Josh King was a key player for Jesuit’s NorCal Division I title teams of 1993 and ’94,” Davidson wrote in a direct message on Twitter. “Elias is big time. Could be this area’s best player.”
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Girls Player of the Week
Haley Van Dyke
(Campolindo, Moraga) Sr.
The Washington-bound 6-foot senior was already known as a scoring machine before her record performance last week, but now she stands alone at the top as the CIF North Coast Section single-game scoring record-holder after Van Dyke broke the dam and dike by dropping in 56 points with 27 rebounds in a 96-75 win over Brookside Christian of Stockton.
The previous record was held by Christine Fairless of Alameda with 54 points in 1985. Besides Van Dyke and Fairless, only four other girls in the 40-plus year history of the NCS have gone for 50 points or more in a game.
What makes it an even greater accomplishment is Van Dyke was only in her fourth game back after missing five games with an ankle injury she suffered in a loss to McClatchy of Sacramento, and she does it playing every position from point guard to center. In her fifth game back, a 62-50 win over Berkeley St. Mary’s, she had a triple-double 17 points, 12 rebounds and 11 blocks, and just missed a quad with eight steals.
At the Elite Is Earned Showcase on Saturday and in a 82-39 loss to state No. 2 St. Mary’s of Stockton, Van Dyke still had 16 points and 15 rebounds with six steals and four assists.
Van Dyke is currently averaging 27.1 points, 17.9 rebounds (which is No. 2 reported in the state), 5.1 steals, 4.3 assists and 3.2 blocks per game. Last season, she averaged 23.8 points and 15.7 rebounds a game and for her career as a Cougar she’s scored 1,825 points and snagged 1,259 rebounds.
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
