SAN PABLO, CA – Most of the top girls basketball players in Northern California were in action last Sunday at Contra Costa College for the five-game Grand Finale All Stars produced by PassThaBall.
The range of talent went from USA Basketball 3-on-3 MVP and national top recruit Aquira DeCosta of St. Mary’s-Stockton all the way down to budding stars from the classes of 2022 and 2023.
The final game at 5:00 pm was a doozy and came right down to the end with Team Chosen coming away with a 96-94 victory over Team Select.
Despite her team being on the short end DeCosta put on a show and not surprisingly had the best personal effort in any of the five games. The ESPN No. 1 rated wing in the nation was named Team Select MVP after registering a double-double 28 points and 14 rebounds.
The MVP for the winning Team Chosen was Kimball 5-10 senior wing Raziya Potter. The ESPN No. 10 ranked wing had 20 points. Angel Jackson, a 6-5 junior and ESPN No. 6 ranked junior double-double machine post from Salesian had 16 points and 12 rebounds with five blocks. Dublin senior Lesila Finau also had 16 points while St. Mary’s-Stockton guard Ariel Johnson continued her stellar play this summer with 12 points four assists and four steals. Brookside Christian senior 6-2 wing Ashlyn Lockard added 10 points.
Other top performers for Team Select were Modesto Christian 6-4 junior post D’aja Bryant. She added a double-double 18 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Mel Finau of Dublin had 13 points, junior Nia Lowery added 10 points and Archbishop Mitty senior star Karisma Ortiz chipped in with eight points, five assists and three steals. Davis senior Kelsey Forrester had seven points.
In the first game at 12 noon Team Hustle coached by former Sacred Heart Cathedral and Cal star Tierra Rogers defeated Team Hustle coached by former St. Mary’s-Berkeley star and current Loyola Marymount junior Gabby Green, 50-46, in a very entertaining game of girls from 2022 and 2023.
The best player in the game was Talana Lepolo, a 2022 that said she will attend St. Joseph-Notre Dame next year. She was tenacious at attacking the basket and was a very solid defender on the perimeter. Lepolo had a game-high 14 points and was MVP for Team Hustle.
Team Buckets had a little more depth and it showed at the end. Amaya Bonner of Fremont, who is undecided on her high school, was the MVP for Team Buckets after finishing with 10 points.
The 1:15 game had the same coaches and was for incoming freshman, and the 2021 girls looked really good, particularly 6-0 forward Marley Langi of Eastside College Prep. She used her size and quickness to dominate on both ends of the floor and finished with 20 points (one three-pointer) to lead Team Hustle to a 64-47 victory. Langi was Team Hustle MVP. Asia Randolph, a 5-10 forward from Westmoor added 12 points, 5-10 forward with hop Kaitlyn Springs of Archbishop Mitty added nine points (one three-pointer), and Alexsandra Alvarado of Salesian had six points.
Milan Tuttle, a point guard from Sacred Heart Cathedral was the MVP for Team Buckets. She had 13 points with three three-pointers. Imani Felix of McClatchy added eight points (one three-pointer), 6-0 Miramonte wing Samantha Johnson had a slow start but finished with eight points, and Jordan Allred of Miramonte chipped in with seven points (one three-pointer).
The 2:45 game was incoming sophomores with two incoming juniors thrown in to the mix with Gabby green switching over to Team Hustle and coming away with a 55-53 victory over Team Buckets coached by club coach Darius Liggett from the Sacramento area.
Gabby Giuffre, a 5-10 sophomore guard from Aptos led the way with 12 points but Abigail Muse, a 6-1 sophomore post from Heritage was named MVP after registering a double-double 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore 5-9 forward Kayla Rosemon of St. Mary’s-Berkeley added 11 points and sophomore guard Jada Heights of Central-Fresno chipped in with eight points.
Cristina Oliva, a junior guard from Davis was the MVP for Team Buckets after finishing with 12 points. Junior guard Savanna Arce of Dublin and sophomore guard Samaya Beatty of McClatchy had eight points apiece while sophomore wing Bria Shine of Christian Brothers added six points.
The 3:45 game was a mixture of juniors and seniors not chosen for the 5 pm game that had the event’s top players from a mixture of classes.
Liggett returned the favor and bested Green as Team Buckets routed Team Hustle 72-54. Greer Hoyem, a 6-0 senior from Menlo-Atherton was named team MVP after registering 15 points. Maddysun Tull, a 6-1 junior forward from Gridley added 11 points, senior guard Myli Martinez of Vanden had 10 points, and senior Kamryn Hall of McClatchy and junior Sydni Stewart of Salesian each had nine points.
The Team Hustle MVP was Aliyah of Sacred Heart Cathedral after the senior point guard finished with 15 points. Destiny Jackson, a junior guard from Mt. Eden added 12 points, 6-2 junior forward Tatyana Modawar of Carondelet had nine points and senior 5-11 forward Shasta Parker of San Marin had six points.
