Each week, The Press Democrat shines a light on high schoolers who make their mark on the field of play.
Winter sports are up and running across the region and make up the bulk of the prep standouts this week.
Two football teams are also still in action as they pursue state titles this weekend in Southern California.
Here are the High school athletes of the week for Dec. 2-7.
The Mustangs’ star running back was up to his usual feats last weekend in a 42-14 win over Hughson in the NorCal Division 4-AA championship game. The junior ran for 144 yards on 13 carries with four touchdowns, with 129 yards and three scores coming in the second half. St. Vincent will be playing for its second straight state title this weekend.
The Wolves have been on a magical run this postseason and Harris was the star of the show in their 43-20 win over Lassen in the NorCal Division 5-A title game Saturday. The senior quarterback completed 12-of-16 pass attempts for 216 yards with three touchdowns, and rushed for 163 yards with two more scores in the win. American Canyon will be looking to win its first state title in program history this weekend.
The Prospectors’ senior guard has been filling it up in the early going and posted a pair of 30-point games last week. Pereira had 28 points in a 72-49 win over Petaluma, 26 points in an 86-66 loss to Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, 35 points in a 77-67 win over Vintage and 30 points in a 56-38 win over Petaluma. Piner won the consolation title of Novato’s tournament and is off to a 3-2 start to the year. Pereira is averaging 28.8 points per game.
Woolsey had a great showing last week for the 4-1 Jaguars. The senior guard started the week with a 24-point performance in a 59-55 overtime win over Casa Grande, where he scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. He followed that up with a 22-point showing in a 56-54 win over Bethel and a 21-point outing in a 56-43 win over Kimball-Tracy.
The Cardinals finished as runners-up in a very competitive tournament at Clovis North over the weekend, falling in the championship game to Clovis North, the preseason No. 26 team in the state in CalHi Sports rankings. Kurpinsky earned all-tournament honors for the Cardinals (3-2) as he averaged 20.6 points over their three games. His best performance came in the Cardinals’ opening 66-39 win over Visalia-Redwood, where he scored 25 points with seven three-pointers.
The Greyhounds captured the title in Piner’s Gold Rush Classic over the weekend. Espinoza was named the tournament MVP as she led Healdsburg (5-0) in scoring in all three games. She had 22 points in a 39-32 win over Windsor, 13 points in a 44-29 win over Rancho Cotate and 19 points in a 45-31 win over Petaluma in the championship game.
The Cardinals rolled to three big wins in their tournament over the weekend. Schat, a USF commit, was named tournament MVP for her all-around performance over their three wins over Damonte Rancho (69-22), Buchanan (51-43) and Whitney (69-38). For the tournament, she averaged 18.3 points and 3.6 steals per game. The Cardinals (3-1) are facing Campolindo in the first round of the Paris Twins Classic at Piedmont on Thursday.
The Vikings went 3-0 last weekend with wins over Campolindo, Sonoma Valley and San Domenico to win the Dragons’ tournament. DeVries was named tournament MVP and put up a few eye-popping stat lines. She had a triple-double of 16 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a 49-31 win over Campolindo and had 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a 45-29 win over San Domenico. Montgomery (3-1) faces Encinal in the first round of the Windsor Holiday Classic on Thursday.
The Jaguars are off to a 3-1 start and Trejo has been a one-man wrecking crew so far. He had two goals and an assist in their 3-0 win over American Canyon on Wednesday and followed that up with two goals and two assists in a 4-1 win over Casa Grande on Saturday. Trejo now has seven goals and six assists through four games.
The Prospectors went 2-0-1 in their week of games, topping Cloverdale 9-0 and Petaluma 3-0 before a scoreless draw against Archie Williams. Valadez scored four goals over two of those games last week.
Olvera had a monster stat line in the Prospectors’ 9-0 win over Novato on Friday, scoring three goals and dishing out three assists. She also had a goal in their 1-1 draw against Terra Linda earlier in the week.
You can reach Staff Writer Gus Morris at 707-304-9372 or gus.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @JustGusPD.
