State Stat Stars of the Week

Two of this week’s top stat stars are Jordan Thompson (San Jose Harker) and Chris Williams of Orange Lutheran. We’ve been following Williams closely since his freshman season at Moreno Valley while Thompson is closing in on 2,000 career points. Photos: harkeraquila.com & WeAreOLu.com.


Kern Valley of Lake Isabella gets a boy and a girl on this week’s honor roll. It’s not the first time in multiple sports for Zach Bushling and it may not be the last for emerging sophomore Hannah Hurley. Others among this week’s best include Anaheim Esperanza’s Kezie Okpala (45-point game) and San Jose Harker Academy’s Jordan Thompson (almost to 2,000 career points).

Note: We will collect totals from MaxPreps, newspapers, tweets and from those sent in to us. We also will compile single-game highs from this post throughout the season and of course we use our weekly State Stat Stars collection as an aid for the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book. That is the only state record book anyone has ever done and we have published it seven times with full copyright protection. To report totals to us for this feature and for the record book, email markjtennis@gmail.com or call 209-608-1317. You can also text to 209-608-1317.

For this week’s SoCal/NorCal State Players of the Week, CLICK HERE.

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(All players listed in alphabetical order)
(Writeups also by Cal-Hi Sports editor Mark Tennis & CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett)
(For games played through Saturday, Jan. 28 with some games from this week)

BOYS BASKETBALL

LiAngelo Ball (Chino Hills)
The state No. 2 Huskies had another pair of high scoring wins last week with him leading the way. Gelo first had 52 points in their 124-102 win over Damien of La Verne before ripping it up for 49 points in a 122-74 win vs. Rancho Cucamonga. The team will try to keep its state-record threatening win streak going Saturday at the Nike Extravaganza vs. national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy of Virginia.

Zach Bushling (Kern Valley, Lake Isabella)
Just named to the All-State small schools football team, Bushling did all he could in two losing efforts 67-62 against Rosamond (67-62) and California City (78-73). He scored a game high of 36 points, dished out eight assists and had eight steals vs. Rosamond and then 26 points against California City. According to CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett, Zach also went over 1,000 career points.

Joey Calcaterra (Marin Catholic, Kentfield)
The Marin assassin scored over 30 points twice last week and could be a candidate for Bay Area Player of the Year. Calcaterra poured in 33 points during a 67-61 win over Redwood of Larkspur and had 31 points in a 79-53 win over Novato.

Earlier this season, Immanuel’s Darrin Person Jr. was MVP at the Holiday Invitational Tournament in Fresno. Photo: Chris Aguirre/Reedley Exponent.


Devante Doutrive (Birmingham, Lake Balboa)
It’s appropriate that Doutrive is leading Bham’s drive to a possible CIF L.A. City Section D1 title. During a 92-55 win in West Valley League play over Chatsworth, he scored 31 points.

Yassine Gharram (Point Loma, San Diego)
So far as a freshman for the Pointers, Gharram has been playing Gharreat. He is averaging more than 16 points and six assists per game and last week had 28 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in a 68-61 triumph over San Diego High. Gharram also had 32 points with eight rebounds and six assists the lead Point Loma past University City 56-50.

Nick Hart (West Covina)
The Bulldogs bounced back from a loss with a 68-58 win over Charter Oak of Covina behind Hart. The senior standout pumped in 31 points to go along with 10 rebounds, seven assists and six steals.

Edward Maxie (Bethel Christian, Riverside)
Does this Maxie pad his stats? Maybe, but he’s been doing a dominating job all season for the Kings. The 6-foot-7 senior hauled in 28 rebounds in one game last week to go with 32 points in a 56-40 victory vs. Calvary Baptist. He also had 30 points and 24 boards when Bethel Christian crushed Packinghouse Christian Academy 87-28. For the season, Maxie is averaging 20 points and 14 rebounds per game.

Matt Mitchell (Roosevelt, Eastvale)
For the second time this season, the Mustangs defeated Centennial of Corona in Big VIII League play and Mitchell was the major scorer. With Cal-bound point guard Deverl Baker also playing well, the Cal State Fullerton-bound Mitchell scored 31 points in the 71-65 home win.

Kezie Okpala (Esperanza, Anaheim)
Stanford-bound state stat star regular set a school record during a 74-46 win over Yorba Linda as he scored 45 points while grabbing 13 rebounds. The Aztecs won their 20th game this season and stayed firmly planted in the State Top 20 overall rankings.

Darin Person Jr. (Immanuel, Reedley)
Fresno Bee Player of the Year candidate had a fine week by scoring a season high of 32 points in a 83-66 win over Kingsburg. Darin also scored 20 points and had 17 rebounds in his other game of the week to push his career total to 2,008 points, the 19th best in Central Section history.

David Rico (Kerman)
He continues to shoot the lights out as he scored 33 points and made eight 3-pointers in a 88-53 win over Liberty of Madera Ranchos. In the second game of the week, a win vs. Yosemite of Oakhurst, Rico scored 27 points and made seven 3-pointers. David has scored 1,824 points in three years of varsity play. Tristan Eames of Yosemite scored 32 points in a losing effort.

Bryan Rivera (Godinez, Santa Ana)
In Orange Coast League play, Rivera was the go-to guy for Godinez with 31 points during a 70-52 win over Laguna Beach.

Jordan Roberts (Ridgeview, Bakersfield)
It was two 30-point outings for Roberts one week after he had 46 in that amazing shootout with Garces. He scored 37 points in a 91-77 win over Sunnyside in a non-league game. Then in the second game of the week, he scored 30 points in a win over Independence.

Chris Williams (Orange Lutheran)
Despite Williams scoring 33 points, the Lancers were on the wrong end of a 69-66 final score against St. John Bosco of Bellflower in a Trinity League matchup. Williams is a former all-state freshman when he played at Moreno Valley and averaged more than 23 ppg in the 2013-2014 season.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Zavia Barlow (Washington, Easton)
The senior broke the school career record held by Yvette Roberts of 1,378 points 1982-85 by scoring 21 points against Sierra of Tollhouse in a 51-39 loss. What gets her onto this honor roll, however, is 30 points in a 51-17 win over Liberty of Madera Ranchos. Zavia now has 1,404 career points.

Christina Buksa (Foothills Christian, El Cajon)
Only one of Buksa’s two big games last week came in a win as she scored 39 points during a 76-38 win over San Diego Jewish Academy. She also had 30 points in a loss, but she kept the Knights close before they fell 546-52 to Escondido Charter.

Kern Valley’s Hannah Hurley looks to score in game from earlier this season. Photo: Kern Valley Sun.


Skylar Burris (Palo Alto)
With a shot that arch-rival Gunn of Palo Alto could not stop from scoring, Burris fired away for 31 points to lead the Vikings p she had 31 points in a 61-45 home win.

Camila Casanueva (Dos Pueblos, Goleta)
She’s been filling up the stat sheets all season and last week had a great line of 28 points, seven assists and six rebounds to lead Dos Pueblos past San Marcos of Santa Barbara 64-20. Casanueva is averaging 17 points and six assists per game.

Cailyn Crocker (Los Alamitos)
During a 69-64 loss to Sonora of La Habra at the Tony Matson Memorial Classic, she had a game to remember with 35 points, 21 rebounds and six assists.

Shanaijah Davison (Pioneer, Woodland)
Following up her season-best 55 points from the week before, Davison scored 41 points but it came in a losing effort as the Patriots lost to Inderkum of Sacramento 71-52.

Lilly Garcia (Crossroads Christian, Corona)
A freshman center to watch, Garcia is reportedly averaging more than 20 rebounds per game this season. She had 16 points and 24 rebounds when her team beat Bethel Christian of Riverside last week and then had 19 points and 17 rebounds against Bloomington Christian.

Anyssia Gibbs (Granite Hills, Apple Valley)
Making sure the Cougars’ two-game losing streak would come to an end, this junior captain had a season-high 39 points during a 68-28 win over Silverado of Victorville. She ended the week with 32 points during a 52-16 win over Adelanto. Gibbs has been averaging more than 30 ppg.

Hannah Hurley & Aliyah Johnson
(Kern Valley, Lake Isabella)

These two are helping the Broncs overcome the graduation loss of D5 All-State Rebecca Gallis. Hannah, a sophomore guard, had 40 points, 10 rebounds and five steals in a 74-67 win vs. Rosamond. She scored 13 straight points in 1:32 on the clock in the third quarter as Kern Valley rallied from 17 points down. Hurley then had 29 points in a 65-11 victory over California City and upped her average to 20.5 ppg. Johnson is a freshman point guard who had 27 in the win vs. Rosamond and then 20 vs. California City. For the season, she has an even higher scoring average than Hurley ast 21 ppg.

Lainie James (Sonora, La Habra)
Scoring a team-high 33 points, Queen James led the Raiders to a 69-64 win over Los Alamitos and fellow state stat star Cailyn Crocker at the Tony Matson Memorial Classic. James hit for 15 of her season-high point total in the fourth quarter. The promising junior also had two 20-point performances earlier in the week.

Natalie Karlsson (Upper Lake)
Senior captain had 33 points as the Cougars defeated St. Vincent de Paul of Petaluma 46-35 but she saved her season-best performance for later in the week when she scored 37 points during a 67-46 win over Tomales.

Shyla Latone (Bonita Vista, Chula Vista)
Nearly every week this season, this junior captain has had at least one game of 30 points or more and once again that was the case last week when she scored 32 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had seven steals as the Barons defeated Otay Ranch of Chula Vista.

Abria Laue (Grace Brethren, Simi Valley)
In helping the Lancers improve to 18-1 and keep them undefeated in Frontier League play, the talented freshman racked up 40 points in a 71-53 road win against Villanova Prep of Ojai.

Destiny Littleton (Bishop’s, La Jolla)
More than doubling the score of Rock Academy of San Diego on her own, the state’s all-time leading career scorer had 41 points and 14 rebounds in the 101-18 win. Littleton continues to not only lead the state but the nation in scoring this season.

Tayah Ranney (Central Valley, Shasta Lake)
The Falcons came from behind in the fourth quarter for a 49-43 win over University Prep behind Ranney. The recent NorCal Player of the Week was not far off from a quadruple-double as she had 23 points, 11 steals, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Jordan Thompson (Harker, San Jose)
One of the top scorers in Northern California for the last two seasons, Thompson had 34 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in a 65-22 win over Crystal Springs and 32 points and 10 rebounds in a 64-49 loss to Notre Dame of San Jose. During the Notre Dame game, Thompson also went over the 1,900 career scoring mark and is 91 points away from 2,000.

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


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