Two of this week’s honorees are Grace Nordeen of Fallbrook in the San Diego Section (left) and Malachi Davis of McFarland (Central Section). Photos: Hudl.com & McFarland Basketball.
There were no entries to track for the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book once again this week, but we had lots of hidden talent that gets statewide recognition, including one of the state’s girls’ basketball scoring and rebounding leaders. We also visit the CIF Central Section for another NorCal pick. Our stops this week are in McFarland and Aptos in Northern California, and in Southern California we visit Fallbrook and Elsinore.
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Notes: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Boys Player of the Week
Malachi Davis (McFarland) Jr.
To find the Cal-Hi Sports Northern California Player of the Week, we visit the CIF Central Section and land around 25 miles northwest of Bakersfield on Highway 99 in McFarland, and we find this award winner just west of the highway at McFarland High.
We actually had already seen the exploits of the 6-foot-3 junior guard and son of Cougars’ head coach James Davis before receiving the weekly Milestones column from longtime Cal-Hi Sports friend and contributor Bob Barnett, but when we saw Malachi highlighted by Barnett, it reaffirmed our decision to choose him for a statewide honor to go with local Bakersfield/Central Section area recognition.
Malachi has been putting up big numbers all season for 22-5 McFarland, and we could have chosen him previously, like in mid-January when he went for a double-double with a season-high 44 points and 13 rebounds, plus five assists and five steals in an 85-65 win over Delano, but the next night the Cougars took one of the five losses to Fresno Justin Garza despite Davis scoring 27 points with nine rebounds and five assists.
However, this was the week and in one of his performances, Davis recorded something few have done. Last week, in an 85-63 win over Taft, Malachi went for a quadruple-double after finishing with 33 points (two three-pointers), 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals, but that wasn’t all he did last week.
Davis started off the week with 27 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals in a 75-53 win over Delano Cesar Chavez, and followed that up with 21 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals in a 80-50 win over Shafter.
So far this season Malachi is averaging 25.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 4.3 steals per game, with 29 made three-pointers. For his three-year varsity career, he now has 1,854 points and 555 rebounds with 352 assists and 237 steals.
Davis will be closing in on 2,000 career points soon but we’re sure he would like to give a shout out to senior teammate Ulises Molina, who according to Barnett joined the 1,000-point club last week.
On a final note. Davis recently completed a stellar football season and could/should be getting consideration as a D1 recruit in the athlete category. With still one season to go, the Cougars’ dual-threat quarterback passed for 2,742 yards and 23 TDs in the fall and rushed 966 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Girls Player of the Week
Isabella Alvarez (Aptos) Soph.
Santa Cruz County and the northern end of Monterey Bay is our destination in search of the Cal-Hi Sports Northern California Player of the Week, and we find this budding sophomore star in Aptos where she has transferred after a standout season at neighboring Watsonville.
Isabella has only been eligible for 10 games but she’s already made a huge impact and by far has been the leading scorer for a team that’s 6-4 since she became eligible (heading into a Tuesday night matchup with favored Palma of Salinas).
Last week, in a 67-27 win over Harbor of Santa Cruz, Alvarez shred the nets for a season-high 42 points. Isabella only was able to muster 16 points in a 52-38 loss to Santa Cruz, but she started the week with 29 points in a 61-30 win against San Lorenzo Valley of Felton.
When we say Alvarez had made a huge difference at Aptos it stated in the first three games she played when Aptos was 2-1 and she had 23 points in a loss the San Jose Prospect, but then 30 and 33 points in victories over San Jose’s Mt. Pleasant and Sliver Creek, respectively.
After averaging 15.8 points per game last season last year at Watsonville, Alvarez is averaging 24.3 points a contest this season, and that’s over three times as many as the next closest teammate.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Girls Player of the Week
Grace Nordeen (Fallbrook) Jr.
The far northernmost reaches of the CIF San Diego Section, and not far from the border of San Diego and Riverside counties is our destination in the search for the Cal-Hi Sports Southern California Player of the Week, and we land around four miles west of the I-15 and the same distance north of Highway 17 in Fallbrook, where it’s at Fallbrook High where we find our honoree for this week, who now earns a statewide award to go with local kudos.
Nordeen has been pretty keen and a key for the Warriors all season, and last week was a perfect example, although she has had bigger performances this season. In two games last week, her numbers were pretty consistent. In a 71-38 win over nearby San Pasqual of Escondido, Grace had a double-double 36 points and 10 rebounds, and in a 66-28 victory against Valley Center she went for a double-double 36 points and 20 rebounds, and that was the 12th time she has had 30 or more points this season and the 11th time she had 20 or more rebounds.
Her season highs this season are 46 points (23 rebounds) in a win over Vista, and 27 rebounds (36 points) in a win over Central of El Centro.
Nordeen, who also stars on the school’s volleyball team, has averages of 31.0 points and 17.8 rebounds per game heading into a Wednesday game this week. The points are the No. 5 reported mark in the state and No. 2 in the San Diego Section, and the rebounds are the No. 4 in the state and No. 1 in the San Diego Section.
Kamrynn Nathan has been averaging well over 25 ppg for an Elsinore team that began this week with a 26-0 record. Photo: Elsinore HS Athletics / MaxPreps.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Boys Player of the Week
Kamrynn Nathan (Elsinore) Jr.
The far southern reaches of the Inland Empire and Riverside County and a little over three miles south of Lake Elsinore is where we head in the quest to locate the Cal-Hi Sports Southern California Player of the Week, and our destination ends up in Wildomar where we find this week’s award winner at Elsinore High. It’s not too far actually from Fallbrook, but the two schools are in different CIF sections.
Not only does this Nathan snag a statewide honor, and although his Tigers’ team is not state ranked (in the top 30 at least), he also is a member of the state’s last remaining unbeaten team this season. Kamrynn has had a lot to do with that accomplishment.
Last week, in an 87-55 win over Temescal Canyon of neighboring Lake Elsinore, the 6-foot-2 junior guard had 36 points with four three-pointers and five rebounds. Two weeks ago, Kamrynn had a season-high 37 points and four three-pointers with nine rebounds in an 81-56 win against Tahquitz of Hemet.
So far this season for the 26-0 Tigers and heading into a Tuesday night game versus San Jacinto (Elsinore is heavily favored), Nathan is averaging 25.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 3.7 steals, and he’s nailed 48 three-pointers.
In a twist, we should admit the first time we mentioned him as a stat star it almost went out as a girls player. Kamrynn is most certainly a dude and should be getting a bunch of postseason honors after a breakout junior campaign.
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
