ESPNHS California

Mater Dei and La Jolla Country Day each get three on the overall Cal-Hi Sports All-State teams chosen regardless of CIF division or year in school. Click here for All-State Underclass or All-State by CIF Divisions.

FIRST FIVE

F/G Jordan Adams (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) 6-1 Sr.
Although the first team may seem guard heavy, Adams actually spent plenty of time in the post this season for the Monarchs, battling on the boards and often guarding the opposition's best player. At the McDonald's All-American Game in Chicago, Adams joked about how relieved she was that the season was complete. After all, she helped lead Mater Dei to its third consecutive state title by averaging 17 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game while playing on a bum knee. She plays next for USC.

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The closest calls to make in these categories this year were for Division III and for freshmen. Top honorees also announced for every other CIF division and for juniors, sophomores.

Congratulations to these girls players for being selected as an ESPNHS Cal-Hi Sports State Player of the Year. Stay tuned for the release next week of the 32nd annual ESPNHS Cal-Hi Sports All-State Teams. Here is a complete list of our girls basketball individual honorees for the 2011-12 season:

Seniors – Nirra Fields (Mater Dei, Santa Ana)

Also named as the Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year, Fields played last season at Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), a school more known for its boys teams.

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One player from among these five will be selected as the 2012 honoree and will be added to a list of state players of the year by Cal-Hi Sports that stretches back to 1905.

A guard-heavy group of girls have been singled out this week by ESPNHS Cal-Hi Sports as finalists for the 2012 Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year.

The five prime-time performers are led by McDonald’s All-Americans Jordan Adams and Nirra Fields, who both played at Mater Dei of Santa Ana and led the Monarchs to the CIF Division I state title.

When two players like that, however, are on the same team, the consideration for post-season honors can be split and can help a different player move up to the top.

Here is a closer look at the five players:

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Important announcement from Cal-Hi Sports | Archived Cal-Hi Sports content

Hannah Huffman heating up for Carondelet as playoffs loom. Plus, huge triple-doubles for Cajon duo along with Fresno Central’s Tina Maxwell.

Note: We’re proud once again to collect weekly writeups of the most significant individual high school basketball totals in California. We use these as the basis for updating the state record book, which has been published seven times, most recently in the spring of 2009. To report a state stat star of your own, please email highlights to Mark.Tennis@espn.com.

(After games of Saturday, Feb. 11 and some games as of Tuesday, Feb. 14; contributing: Bob Barnett, Mark Tennis)

Sophie Bhasin (Cajon, San Bernardino)
She has been a triple-double machine all year long and she had two more last week as she scored 30 points with 11 rebounds and 11assists in a 73-46 win over Arroyo Valley. She later scored 38 points to go along with 15 rebounds and 10 assists in a 77-52 win over Carter of Rialto.

Tekerra Borden & Dalonna Jones (Merced)
Borden scored 29 points while Jones recorded a triple-double with 14 points, 21 rebounds and 12 blocks as the Bears defeated Atwater 59-38.

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Important announcement from Cal-Hi Sports | Archived Cal-Hi Sports content

Karlie Samuelson returns for No. 7 Edison of Huntington Beach. This week’s newcomers are Carondelet and Chaminade with huge matchup coming Saturday between No. 1 Windward and No. 3 Long Beach Poly.

Junior guard Karlie Samuelson from Edison of Huntington Beach, a who gets a 90 scout’s grade from ESPNHS Girls Basketball, returned from injury last week with a 15-point performance in a 59-37 win over Los Alamitos. Two nights later, she had a season-high 28 points (five 3-pointers) in a 75-59 victory over Bishop’s of La Jolla.

The 6-foot-1 Samuelson had been hobbled for a month by a bad ankle.

“She’s taped up and wearing a brace but the swelling is down and she came back really strong against Bishop’s – and that’s good because we’re going to need her,” Chargers’ coach Dan Wiley told Cal-Hi Sports.

This week, St. Mary’s of Berkeley will welcome back sophomore phenom Gabby Green, which could help that team make a push for a spot in the top 20. The No. 5 player and No. 2 guard from the Class of 2014 according to ESPNHS Girls Basketball is scheduled to make her return in a game against Richmond Kennedy.

The 6-foot-1 Green has been out since July when she broke her ankle early on in her first game with California Storm’s Team Taurasi.

The Berkeley girls were the only top 10 team to take a loss last week, and while it looks bad on the surface coming to a St. Mary’s (Berkeley) team with six losses, the loss actually shows how good St. Mary’s is even severely short-handed.

Despite playing without Green, and another promising sophomore, 5-foot-11 forward Taylor Berry, the Panthers have played very well, learning how to play without Green in a super tough early schedule, and improving all along.

Now, with Green back, together with fellow sophomore standout Mikayla Cowling and senior Shannon Mauldin, they’ll be gearing up for the Division IV playoffs and a return trip to Power Balance Arena in Sacramento in March.

(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(After games of Saturday, Jan. 21)
(Contributing: Mark Tennis, Paul Muyskens)

1. (1) Windward (Los Angeles) 16-3
The Wildcats had a week to rest up after the long stretch of travel that concluded last Monday with the loss to FAB 50 No. 1 St. Mary’s of Phoenix. After playing Pacific Hills (Los Angeles) on Tuesday, Windward then gets a matchup Saturday against No. 3 Long Beach Poly at Long Beach City College. In that one, coach Steve Smith and the girls will certainly have their top state ranking challenged.

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For most of the last 10 years, two of the top girls basketball programs in the state have been St. Mary’s of Stockton and Carondelet of Concord and it’s not often the two have met.

We remember the last time quite clearly in 2006 when a Carondelet team led by former Stanford star Jayne Appel came to Stockton and battled a St. Mary’s squad led by All-American Jacki Gemelos. St. Mary’s won as Gemelos scored 43 points and had nine rebounds and nine assists while Appel had a great game as well. It ended up being the difference between Gemelos being the 2006 Cal-Hi Sports Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year instead of Appel.

During Monday’s 15th annual Martin Luther King Holiday Classic at UC Berkeley’s Haas Pavilion, the two Northern California powers met again. There wasn’t an individual battle like the last time, but it was a statement game for the St. Mary’s team as the Rams defeated Carondelet 73-58.

St. Mary’s, which has won three straight CIF state titles (last year in Division II), improved to 11-3. The Rams should stay at No. 6 in this week’s Cal-Hi Sports state top 20 rankings.

Carondelet fell to 11-3 and needed the win to get back into the top 20. The Cougars are still trying to overcome a loss to Oaks Christian of Westlake Village, which just went into the top 20 last week.

“We scrimmage every year, but we don’t play that often,” said St. Mary’s coach Tom Gonsalves. “We wanted to play them last year and it didn’t work out. We jumped to it this year.”

The individuals that did battle in this game were St. Mary’s junior Courtney Range and Carondelet senior Hannah Huffman. Range led the Rams with 18 points and 13 rebounds while Huffman led all scorers with 21 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

In the first quarter, Carondelet came out strong and took an 8-3 lead. St. Mary’s, as is its custom, answered with made 3-point baskets and creating turnovers.

The Rams were balanced in their 3-point shooting, too. Non-starter Jessie Viss joined starting guard Lexi Campbell by both making a pair while non-starter Maria Lauron-Ramos and Range each hit for one.

Combined with Range’s strong overall play, St. Mary’s ended up leading 38-32 at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Rams put the game away by scoring the first eight points of the half and going on a 16-2 run.

“The pressure eventually got to them and this was a good win,” Gonsalves said. “It was really good that our bench came alive (in the second quarter). It also was good because we won without (starting guard) Onome (Jemerigbe), who has been out since the first quarter of the La Jolla Country Day game.”

Range said the presence of a standout player like Huffman on the floor helped bring out the best in her game.

“You can’t take plays off because you know she can hurt you,” Range said. “I think it was one of my best games. I was finishing a lot better and was playing with more confidence,”

Sophomore forward Charise Holloway added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Rams while senior Regina Camera had 10 points and five steals.

Carondelet sophomore guard Natalie Romeo also helped keep her team in the game and ended with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.

The two teams may meet again much quicker than six years from now. Carondelet, which lost to Berkeley in last year’s CIF Division I Northern Regional final, has been re-classified for Division II this year, which is the same division as the Rams.