Two of our honorees for this week are Tim Dorn from Mira Mesa of San Diego (left) and Naomi Johnson from West Campus of Sacramento (shown playing defense). Photos: @FullTimeHoops1 / X.com & Andy Alfaro / Modesto Bee.
Once we reach the end of the CIF section playoffs, we also reach the end of doing basketball players of the week and will switch next week to baseball and softball. We’re obviously looking for big outings in section finals for these honors and have found them in Portola Valley and Sacramento for Northern California while in Southern California our stops will be in San Diego and Los Angeles.
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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
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Naomi Johnson (West Campus, Sacramento) Sr.
It’s been since 2017 and 2018 when Naomi’s school located south of Highway 50 and east of the state capitol won back-to-back CIF state titles in D4 and D3 and this season the Warriors are looking to go on a run in the D3 NorCal regional playoffs.
West Campus is playing Half Moon Bay as a No. 7 seed at home in Tuesday’s first round after beating 26-1 Central Catholic of Modesto last weekend, 47-38, to win the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D4 championship. Despite the low scoring nature of the game, Johnson dominated with 30 points, seven rebounds and made plays on the defensive side of the ball.
Earlier in the week in the semifinals, Johnson connected for 27 points in a win over Liberty Ranch of Galt. After the win over Central Catholic, West Campus improved to 21-3 and won its fourth section title.
For the season, the 6-foot forward has had a season high of 38 points vs Fortune Early College of Sacramento and enters this week with averages of 22.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.2 steals and 3.5 assists per game.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Kasten Eggers (Priory, Portola Valley) Sr.
To search for our final NorCal Player of the Week for the 2025-26 season, it really is worth the drive up into the hills above the Page Mill Road exit off of the 280 freeway directly to the south of Stanford University on the San Francisco Peninsula where we get to Woodside Priory School in Portola Valley. Known as Priory, the Panthers made some history last year by winning the CIF D4 state championship.
Eggers had 10 points in Priory’s victory in the CIF state final vs Fresno Christian, but the team’s three main standouts were Teddy Xanthopolous, Mate Palotai and Jai Gerrodette. In the Panthers’ last two games in their march to win the CIF Central Coast Section D4 championship, Eggers kept making shot after shot after shot.
In a 86-67 win in the CCS semifinals vs Oakwood of Morgan Hill, those other three players combined for 48 points but Eggers was the one who made three three-pointers, dished out five assists and had a career high 25 points.
It would not be the only career high in the week for Kasten. In the 66-58 triumph over top seed Palma of Salinas in the CCS D4 final, Eggers made four three-pointers and easily surpassed his career high from the previous game with 32 points.
The Panthers (20-6) learned on Sunday they will be in the D3 playoffs this season and will be the No. 4 seed in the NorCal regionals with an opening game Tuesday vs Christian Brothers of Sacramento, the same school that early last week suffered the tragic loss of 6-foot-8 freshman center Jaden DeJesus-Eves. The Sacramento Bee reported that Jaden had died in his sleep.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Boys Basketball Player of the Week
Tim Dorn (Mira Mesa, San Diego) Sr.
To find our last SoCal boys basketball player of the week this season, we head north of San Diego on I-15 and just north of the Miramar air base and west of the I-15 freeway we reach Mira Mesa High. It’s there where the folks will be very happy about the 2025-26 season no matter what happens in the regional playoffs since the Marauders captured the first CIF San Diego Section boys hoops title in school history.
With Dorn leading the way, Mira Mesa rolled past Christian of El Cajon, 63-44, in the D1 section final played last Saturday at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside. The 6-foot-7 center knocked down a game-high 26 points, pulled down nine rebounds and most impressively blocked eight shots.
“We certainly could have played better, but credit to them,” Christian head coach Will Cunningham told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “They’re the No. 1 seed for a reason. And Dorn was the best player on the floor. He was the difference in the game.”
Dorn’s season stats were not available but he’s been one of top swing players in the San Diego area all season. He came to Mira Mesa as a junior after transferring in from a school in Hawaii. He averaged 15 ppg as a junior and this year appears to be higher.
We’re sure Tim would like to give a shoutout as well to senior teammate Diego Ortiz, a four-year varsity starter at Mira Mesa who has gone past 2,000 points for his career.
Dorn, Ortiz and the rest of the Marauders start the CIF SoCal D2 playoffs on Tuesday as a No. 9 seed and will head to No. 8 seed Palisades of Pacific Palisades (the L.A. City Section Open Division champion) for a first-round game.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Girls Basketball Player of the Week
Naomi Walls (George Washington Prep, Los Angeles) Jr.
The easy pick to be our final winner from SoCal this season would be All-American Jerzy Robinson after her 32-point outing for Sierra Canyon vs Ontario Christian in the CIFSS Open Division final, but Jerzy will get plenty of attention in the next weeks, even months. Instead, we landed on Walls, who hails from a school in southwest Los Angeles at the intersection of Denker Ave and 108th street. One might be surprised to learn that Washington, founded in 1927, is actually south and east of the city of Inglewood and SoFi Stadium.
It’s been many years since the Generals were among the very best teams in Southern California and these days the girls compete in smaller divisions in the CIF L.A. City Section. Still, they can have some hidden gems and they have one this year in Naomi. Walls connected for 27 points last weekend to lead Washington past Gardena, 45-31, in the L.A. City D3 championship. She also had a double-double with 12 rebounds. It is the first L.A. City title for the school since 1996.
The 27-point outing for Naomi wasn’t her best performance of the postseason, either. She racked up 40 and 32 points in her previous two games and for the season for the Generals she has an average of 29.4 ppg. In the team’s 49-47 win in the semifinals vs Marshall of Los Angeles, Walls had 31 points, 13 rebounds and nine steals.
“I’m just proud of the way she’s been playing,” Washington Prep head coach Orlandes Lee told the South Bay Daily Breeze. “She comes to play and she comes to practice every day looking to get better. I just love watching her play.”
Washington Prep opens the CIF SoCal D5 playoffs on Tuesday at home as the No. 7 seed vs No. 10 Orange of the CIF Southern Section.
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
