Two of this week’s SoCal/NorCal Players of the Week are Angie Robles from Bishop’s of La Jolla and Kyle Monk from Gregori of Modesto. Photos: San Diego HS Girls Hoops / YouTube.com & West Coast Elite / Twitter.com.
This week for our Northern California boys honoree from Modesto, and the Southern California girls award winner from La Jolla, we have two players that both recently achieved career scoring milestones. For the other two stops we hit Half Moon Bay in NorCal and Newbury Park in Southern California.
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Note: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. We also remind readers that for all of our Player of the Week features in all sports, girls and boys, we use it to uncover hidden talent that doesn’t always make the limelight, and for tracking entries into the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
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Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Angie Robles (Bishop’s, La Jolla) Sr.
The search for our Southern California girls Player of the Week takes us to The Jewel of San Diego as La Jolla is called, and at Bishop’s we find a real gem in this senior combo guard who is no stranger to putting up big numbers.
Last week, in a 67-57 victory over Pacific Ridge of Carlsbad, the 5-foot-4 Robles might not have been as high up as the “Oak trees” as her name means in Spanish, but Angie was standing pretty tall after dropping in 35 points on four 3-pointers, plus three assists, three steals and two rebounds.
In her next outing later in the week, Robles led the way with 23 points and six rebounds in a 58-54 victory over previously unbeaten Mount Miguel (Spring Valley) in a battle of bubble teams from the first state top 25 rankings. In the game immediately preceding the Pacific Ridge win, Robles had the first of two back-to-back season high 35-point performances but this one came in a loss to JSerra of San Juan Capistrano.
So far this season for the 7-2 Knights, Robles is averaging 29.0 points per game and has gone for 30 or more points five times in five consecutive games. She’s also averaging 7.0 rebound and 3.4 assists per contest and despite her height has two double-doubles. The 29 points a game is the No. 5 reported mark in the state and leads the CIF San Diego Section.
On a final note, despite a COVID-shortened junior season in which Angie only played eight games, the 35-point effort against JSerra got her over the 1,200 career points mark with a current total of 1,240 points heading into the Holidays.
Cooper Lucas averaged more than 11 ppg as a freshman on Newbury Park’s varsity last spring. It might be twice as higher this season. Photo: West Coast Elite / Twitter.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Cooper Lucas (Newbury Park) Jr.
To find our Southern California boys award winner, we head to Ventura County just up the hill on Highway 101 from Camarillo and just west of Thousand Oaks. At Newbury Park we find Cooper the hoopster, and after you hear what he did it will be hard to disagree.
Last week, in a 75-71 victory on the road at Pasadena Poly, Lucas didn’t really need any luck but the Panthers faithful were lucky Lucas had a little as the visitors needed every one of his 51 points on 10 3-pointers to secure the victory.
Although both the 51 points and 10 treys fall short of making the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book, both are school records.
With the 5-foot-11 point guard being the SoCal boys hoopster of the week award winner, Lucas adds a statewide honor to being named the Ventura County Star Athlete of the Week.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Kyle Monk (Gregori, Modesto) Sr.
For our Northern California boys Player of the Week we land smack dab in the middle of the Central Valley. In Modesto we find Monk, but not in a monastery because this Monk does his work on the hardwood.
It’s been a bit of a rough start for Monk and his Gregori mates, but last week in a 67-65 victory over Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove) Kyle put a smile on the faces of the Jaguars’ faithful with a performance that helped get Gregori to 3-8 and ended a 6-game losing streak.
The twist to his being honored was the 29 points (eight rebounds, two 3-pointers) wasn’t even close to his best performance of the season. Monk’s high-water mark was a huge double-double 38 points and 14 rebounds (four 3-pointers), but it came in a close loss to cross-town rival Downey. In fact, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound wing has been over 30 points five times.
So why did we choose this week to honor Monk? First off, we almost never select a player from a team that loses in the performance being honored, and the 31 points he had in a win over Elk Grove Franklin in the second game of the season got him on the radar screen but usually isn’t enough to garner an honor.
The reason is that with the 29 points Monk became the first player in Gregori history to hit the 1,000 point mark for a school that opened in 2010, and now has 1,003 career points.
So far this season Monk, who with his numbers should certainly be considered a sharpshooter, is averaging 27.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. He’s averaging 60 percent from the field, 52 percent from outside the arc on 38 made 3-pointers, and 83 percent from the charity stripe.
On a final note, Monk’s 27.5 points per game average is the top reported mark in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section and No. 9 in the state.
Alli Dioli (34) of Half Moon Bay celebrates with teammates after game from spring/summer in 2021. Photo: Adam Pardee / hmbreview.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Alli Dioli (Half Moon Bay) Jr.
The San Mateo County coast around 30 miles south of San Francisco, to a community known around the world for its annual Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival, is where we find this week’s Northern California Girls Basketball Player of the Week.
It wasn’t her top performance of the season, but in a huge 58-49 victory over perennially tough Menlo of Atherton, Dioli wasn’t just dishing up some raviolis, but she was burying 3-pointers after making 7-of-11 on her way to a 31-point performance.
The top game for the 5-foot-8 junior guard and 2021 All State First Team Division IV and Second Team Sophomore selection came in a season-opening 61-45 victory down the coast over Santa Cruz when Alli aired it out for 40 points with 10 3-pointers.
Despite being 5-foot-8, Dioli is not afraid to mix it up inside, as she has four double-doubles for the 7-1 Cougars, including 12 rebounds to go with the 31 points against Menlo. Her other three double-doubles were 24/10 in a 62-45 win against Scotts Valley, 22/10 in a 56-42 victory over Hollister San Benito, and 23/10 in a 53-46 win over San Mateo Aragon.
On the season, and heading into a Wednesday game at Sequoia of Redwood City, Dioli is averaging 23.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. She’s shooting 51-percent from the field and 41.5-percent from outside the arc with 34 made 3-pointers.
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
