Best performances in Northern California high school boys basketball (Jan. 20-26)

Some big-time recruits, put up some big-time numbers last week in Northern California play
De La Salle's Alec Blair during his season season at the Vontoure Classic. Blair is an Oklahoma signee and one of the nation's top 50 players.
De La Salle's Alec Blair during his season season at the Vontoure Classic. Blair is an Oklahoma signee and one of the nation's top 50 players. / Photo: Dennis Lee

There's about a month left in the regular season of the boys basketball season in Northern California.

As usual, there were some big performances from big-time players for the week of Jan. 20-26 in the seven CIF sections we scour to make up top Northern California performers. Those sections are: Central, Central Coast, San Francisco, Oakland, North Coast, Sac-Joaquin and Norther.

Note: Entries are based on information provided by coaches, statisticians, media members and high school basketball fans. Don’t see any details for your team’s game? Email some notes and/or stats to mitch@scorebooklive.com and dylangrausz@gmal.com. Among reports attained from: Sacramento Bee, the Bay Area News Group and MaxPreps .

Jan. 20-26 Northern California Top Basketball Performers

Chayce Duerksen, a senior forward at Sierra (Tollhouse), scored a combined 45 points in wins over Yosemite (79-52) and Fowler (63-59). He averages 20.0 points per game.

Alec Blair, a senior guard at De La Salle, returned from an injury and wasted no time in getting back into the swing of things. He guided the Spartans to a 51-42 win over Amador Valley, scoring 25 points. He also had 20 points and seven rebounds in a 50-42 win over Mira Costa on Saturday at the Nike Extravaganza in Santa Ana.

Maximillian Russell, a junior guard for Tracy, had 29 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four steals in a 50-47 win over Manteca.

Na'Jae Stevenson, a senior power forward for Central-Fresno, had 27 points and 12 rebounds in a 71-56 win over Clovis. Stevenson leads the Central Section in rebounds at 12.8 per game.

Jasir Rencher, a senior forward at Archbishop Riordan, dominated en route to the Crusaders picking up a 73-46 win over Valley Christian in their last game. The Texas A&M commit scored 18 points, leading the way in the victory after making a WCAL-record nine three-pointers and scoring 33 points in a win over Mitty.

Tounde Yessoufou, a senior forward at St. Joseph, continued his big season in the team's Jan. 25 win over Salesian. In the 76-67 victory, the five-star Baylor commit scored 23 points with eight rebounds and four steals in the battle of the last two Northern California Open Division champions. In four games the state's No. 4 scorer all-time piled up 111 points, grabbed 36 rebounds and added 13 assists and 13 steals.

Julius Price, a junior guard at St. Joseph, performed just as admirably during the big win over Salesian. In the 76-67 victory, Price dropped 16 points while grabbing five rebounds and recording seven assists. For the week, Price had 64 points, made seven three-pointers and added 13 rebounds, 21 assists and six steals.

Semetri Carr, a senior guard at Redwood, was a key performer all week for the Giants, especially in a big win over Moreau Catholic. In the game, the Cal commit scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, putting together a dominant double-double to help Redwood improve to 14-6 on the season.

Luke Isaak, a senior guard at San Ramon Valley, had 24 points in a big 77-63 win over California. He is signed to play college basketball at UC Irvine.

Jalen Stokes, a senior guard at Dougherty Valley, had himself a strong week while helping the Wildcats win their fourth straight game on Jan. 25. In the team's 72-49 win over Granada, Stokes scored 24 points and added eight rebounds and three blocks. He was coming off games of 47, 32 and 31 points.

Ardarius Grayson, a senior guard from Oakland Tech had a team-high 14 points while blocking four shots in a 52-44 win over arch-rival Oakland. He also had 26 points in a loss to Inderkum and is averaging 17.9 points, 7.4 assists and 5.6 assists on the season.

Donovan Mikel, a sophomore guard/forward at Saint Mary's (Berkeley), had 23 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in an 85-52 win over Fortune Early College.

Kellen Hampton, a senior forward at Moreau Catholic, had a combined 69 points, 14 rebounds and 10 steals in three games last week.

Connor Sheridan, a junior center/forward at Portola, had 24 points and 24 rebounds in his team's 67-59 win over Biggs. The next game against Hamilton, he was second on his team in scoring with 22 points, while once again dominating on the glass with 19 rebounds.

Romello Bruhn, a junior guard at Woodland Christian, had 22 points and had seven rebounds in an 85-44 win over Rio Vista. In the very next game against Mesa Verde on Friday, Bruhn dropped a team high 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Gavin Rendle, a senior guard at Campolindo, had a combined 31 points in a win and aloss last week.

Porter Freitag, a senior guard at Las Lomas, made seven three-pointers en route to a team-leading 23 points in a 55-54 win over Benicia.

Delton Bentz, a junior from Plumas Charter, scored 33 points and 17 rebounds leading his team to a 81-39 win over Herlong. Bentz made 14 of 27 shots including a pair of three-pointers. The 6-3 guard upped his averages to 23.3 points to go along with 12.9 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game.

Mate Palotai, a junior forward at Priory, capped off an impressive week with a 19-point game in a Friday night win over Menlo Schoo after recording a double-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds in a 78-57 win over Harker.

Claxton Ladine, a junior guard at The King's Academy, had 22 points including a key three-pointer late in a 66-62 win over Sacred Heart Prep.

Josh Green, a senior guard at Bishop O'Dowd, led the way in a 33-point rout of Benicia on Saturday. with 19 points while make five three-pointers after scoring 11 points in a win over San Leandro.

Alvin Loving, a senior guard at Salesian, scored 22 points in the team's 85-26 win over Vallejo Thursday night.

Benjamin Lukacs, a sophomore guard at Cornerstone Christian, had 26 points to help his 19.5 scoring average on the season in a 66-64 win over Heritage. Cornerstone is now 19-3 on the season.

Zach Villanueva, a junior guard for West Campus (Sacramento) had a total of 37 points seven rebounds and 20 assists, including 16 in a 92-52 win over Armijo, in two victories last week.

Andrew Vixon, a senior guard/forward at Liberty, had 18 points in a 61-52 win over Grant (Sacramento), the Lions' 13th straight win. The Lions are are 20-2 and 6-0 in Bay Valley Athletic League play.


Published
Dylan Grausz
DYLAN GRAUSZ

A lifelong sports fan, Dylan has channeled his passion for sports into the world of reporting, always looking to provide the best possible coverage. A graduate of the University of Arizona, Dylan has since gone on to report on all sports, having gained experience covering primarily football, baseball, basketball, softball and soccer.