
Two of this week’s honorees are senior Anto Balian from Pilibos of Los Angeles and junior Lexi Le from Acalanes of Lafayette. Photos: X.com & Acalanes girls basketball.
Just like every year with MLK weekend games and events going through Monday, it means the boys and girls rankings were delayed until Tuesday, and that also means the State Basketball Players of the Week feature is delayed a day as well, and last but not least Tuesday games are included, and that helped secure the selection for one of our honorees. This week, we visit Clovis and Lafayette for Northern California and then Los Angeles and El Cajon in Southern California.
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Notes: For these honors, we also consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Girls State Basketball Player of the Week
Lexi Le (Acalanes, Lafayette) Jr.
We head to the Central Contra Costa portion of the CIF North Coast Section in search of the Northern California Girls State Basketball Player of the week and after heading east from Oakland and through the Caldecott Tunnel we find this week’s award winner in Lafayette at Acalanes High.
There’s both joy and sadness at Acalanes. We’ll start with the joy.
Last week, in an 85-26 Diablo Athletic League victory by the Cal-Hi Sports No. 14 ranked Dons over Las Lomas of Walnut Creek, Le went for a career-high 36 points that included a school-record eight three-pointers.
According to Acalanes head coach Margaret Gartner, who is currently No. 19 on the all-time career coaching wins list according to the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book with 626 career victories, Lexi “has been in the shadows of the senior class and she’s coming into her own now after sitting out her whole sophomore season with a shoulder injury.”
The other joy for the Acalanes faithful was when this week’s Cal-Hi Sports rankings were released on Tuesday, Acalanes not only moved up two spots to No. 14, the Dons became the top ranked team in the North Coast Section.
Now for the sadness.
In early January, not only the Acalanes community but the entire Northern California girls basketball community, lost a coaching icon when Scott Espinosa-Brown passed away at the age of 69 after a nearly three-year battle with prostate cancer.
For the past few years, Espinosa-Brown was an assistant for Gartner at Acalanes, and he had previously assisted her when she was at Concord Carondelet. He also coached at the junior college level and coached boys earlier his coaching career, however it was as a head coach at Campolindo of Moraga where he created a legend for himself in the 1990s by winning three North Coast Section titles. Including one year in 1979 at the now closed Walnut Creek Del Valle, from 1985-1999, Espinosa-Brown accumulated 407 career coaching wins according to the Cal-Hi Sports Online record Book.

Buchanan point guard Conner Sheets has been collecting honors throughout the 2024-25 season. Photo: 661 Hoops / Central Cali Prospects.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Boys State Basketball Player of the Week
Conner Sheets (Buchanan, Clovis) Sr.
We head to “The Valley” as the locals like to call the CIF Central Section and whenever we visit the “The Valley” we remind readers that for all player of the weeks features boys and girls in all sports the Central Section is considered Northern California.
Sheets numbers were not off the charts, but he had two outstanding games last week that helped Buchanan earn some local respect in the Fresno area, and on top of that Cal-Hi Sports co-founder and publisher Mark Tennis remembered seeing him drop in 41 points in a win over 2024 CIF Division III state champion Alemany of Mission Hills last June at the Boys California Live 2024 NCAA Certified Viewing event in Roseville.
For Conner, it was a Tuesday game this week that solidified his selection for this statewide honor when he dropped in 26 points as Cal-Hi Sports bubble team and 19-3 Buchanan knocked off No. 17 Clovis North in a huge Tri-River Athletic Conference game that creates a three-way tie atop the conference with Buchanan, Clovis North and Clovis West.
Speaking of Clovis West, last Thursday Sheets went for 27 points in a TRAC win over the Golden Eagles. They previously had a tournament 65-54 win against Clovis West, and that marked the first time since 2016 the Bears have been able to best their rival Golden Eagles in consecutive games.
Sheets previously played at Spanish Springs in Sparks, Nev., prior to coming to Buchanan and was one of the top sophomores in Northern Nevada. Current Buchanan head coach Tom Orlich has won state titles in Nevada during the years in which he was coaching at South Tahoe of South Lake Tahoe, which is a California school but is a member of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Boys State Basketball Player of the Week
Antranik “Anto” Balian (Pilibos, Los Angeles) Sr.
The search for the Southern California Boys State Basketball Player of the Week takes us to Hollywood and the Little Armenia District where we find our honoree at the Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School located just east of Highway 101 between Santa Monica and Hollywood boulevards.
Pilibos plays in the Independence League comprised of small schools with some being religious and ethnic in nature, but this scoring machine named Balian has been doing some balling against some big schools as well.
Last week, he started off somewhat under his per game scoring average when he went for 25 points (three three-pointers) and eight rebounds in a 43-38 win over Los Angeles Shalhevet. On Saturday, he was amazing with 53 points (a career high) with nine rebounds and seven assists in an 81-76 victory against Oakwood of North Hollywood, but it was the game sandwiched between those two that was the one that perhaps really helped him earn a statewide honor to go with local kudos.
On Friday, and in a 81-76 victory over Chatsworth, Balian, a 6-foot senior guard who has signed with Pepperdine, poured in 35 points. He also had a double-double with 13 rebounds and had seven assists. You might have heard of Chatsworth. The Chancellors went to the CIF D4 state finals last season and are led by a scoring sensation of their own with Alijah Arenas. Alijah had 31 points in the loss to Pilibos and is averaging 31.8 ppg.
We mentioned Balian has had the same kind of scoring impact against large schools. He is currently hitting for 32.4 ppg for 15-6 Pilibos and is currently at 9.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, plus he’s connected on 81 three-pointers. Earlier in the season, Anto went for back-to-back 40-point efforts in wins over Glendale and Crespi of Encino. Balian also had 44 and 39 points in close losses to Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) and Etiwanda, respectively.
Stats for a Tuesday 77-42 victory over Buckley of Sherman Oaks were not reported but the 32.4 points per game average for Anto prior to Tuesday is the No. 6 reported mark in the state and No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section, and the 81 three-pointers is No. 2 in the state and the Southern Section.

Aakash Price helped Grossmont to a 27-6 record last season as a freshman. The Foothillers also won the CIF SoCal D4 championship. Photo: Grossmont girls basketball.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Girls State Basketball Player of the Week
Aakash Price (Grossmont, El Cajon) Soph.
The East County area of the CIF San Diego Section is our destination in the quest for the Southern California Girls Basketball Player of the Week and we find this week’s honoree a stone’s throw north of the Kumeyaay Highway, better known as I-8, and just east of Highway 125 in El Cajon at Grossmont High.
Despite being only a sophomore, Price is the leading scorer for the Foothillers, and in fact she was the leading scorer last season for a Grossmont team that won the CIF Southern Regional Division IV championship.
This season, Aakash has picked up the pace scoring-wise and last week is a perfect example. It earns her a statewide honor to go with local recognition.
In an MLK weekend 80-35 victory over El Centro Central, the Foothillers’ combo guard who can also play down low despite being just 5-foot-6, had a double-double 30 points (one three-pointer) and 11 rebounds with five steals and two assists. Earlier in the week in a 53-33 Grossmont–Hills League win over neighboring Helix of La Mesa, and in a game with balanced scoring and three players in double-figure scoring, Price had a double-double 14 points and 12 rebounds with six steals and three assists.
State were not reported for a Tuesday 61-39 victory over El Cajon Granite Hills, but prior to that game for what is now a 16-3 Grossmont squad, Price was averaging 20.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.9 steals per game. The 20.5 points per game is top 50 reported in the state and No. 7 in the San Diego Section
Last season when the Foothillers were the SoCal D4 champs but lost in the state title game to St. Bernard’s of Eureka, Aakash teamed with her then senior sister Amethyst Price as the number one and three leading scorer’s for Grossmont at 11.7 and 10.0 points per game, respectively.
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
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