Girls Player of Year likely an all-Mitty duel
Remarkably, the high school basketball regular season has only a couple of weeks remaining. The postseason starts Feb. 16 for the North Coast and Central Coast sections, while Oakland’s and San Francisco’s begin a week later.
Northern California play opens Feb. 27 and the state championships are March 8-9 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
With those dates in mind, here’s a look at some of the leading candidates for the Chronicle’s Metro Player of the Year awards.
BOYS
Alec Blair (De La Salle-Concord) — The 6foot-6 junior left-hander has improved steadily since he entered the scene as a highly regarded freshman. He now takes over games in every facet — averaging more than 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the 21-3 Spartans, who are ranked 16th in the state by SBLive Sports.
Chase Butler (Branson-Ross) — Another lefty, the 6-5 do-everything senior showed his wear in the MLK Classic at De La Salle, torching defending Northern California Open champion and stateranked No. 7 St. JosephSanta Maria for 33 points in a 69-66 defeat. The Illinois signee is averaging well over 20 points per game to go along with eight rebounds and six assists for the Bulls (18-6), who are ranked 22nd in the state. Butler and Semetri Carr, a lightning quick 6-1 junior with multiple college offers, give Branson one of the state’s top backcourts.
Zion Sensley (Riordan) — If the McDonald’s All-American selection committee would have seen the 6-8 senior during the week of Jan. 15, Sensley would have been a fairly obvious pick. He had 21 points in a loss to state No. 3 Salesian-Richmond and 24 in a decisive win over state No. 10 Centennial-Corona, dominating in both games against high-caliber players and athletes. His motor, skills and spectacular high-flying play are big reasons why the Crusaders have climbed to No. 7 in the state and why college coach Randy Bennett of St. Mary’s is very pleased.
Aaron Hunkin-Claytor (Salesian) — The 6-3 senior point guard and Hawaii commit does not own big numbers — 12 points and seven assists per game — because the Pride are so perfectly balanced. But that has so much to do with HunkinClaytor’s orchestration. He’s a calm, fluid presence who has keyed his team’s 23-1 start. Gavin Ripp (Mitty) —
A 6-7 wing and former point guard growing up, Ripp does it all for the 14-5 Monarchs. Averaging better than 15 points and eight rebounds, Ripp is not only a strong block scoring presence but can connect from the midrange to the 3-point line. Teammate Tyler Jones, a 6-4 point guard headed to UC Riverside, is also having a big senior season.
GIRLS
McKenna Woliczko (Mitty) — Is it possible for the 6-foot-2 wing to win four Metro Player of the Year awards? Entirely. She was the first girl to ever win the award as a freshman and she’s following a season of 20 points and 10 rebounds per game with even bigger numbers in 2023-24 for the nation’s No. 1 team.
Morgan Cheli (Mitty) — Woliczko’s fiercest rival for the award is her teammate Cheli, a 6-1 guard who attacks from every angle. With the ball in her hand, she controls the game and tempo more than Woliczko. They work seamlessly together. Cheli was chosen to the McDonald’s All-American game last week (only seniors are invited), and she signed in November to Connecticut.
Natalie Martinez (Piedmont) — The senior guard is putting up well over 20 points a game for the No. 7 Metro team. With only eight players on the roster, Martinez has helped carry the Highlanders after a breakthrough junior season when she led the team in scoring.
Nia Rogers (Redwood Christian-San Lorenzo) — One of the state’s leading scorers, the 5-6 senior guard averages 33.8 points, 5.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 8.2 steals for the Eagles (14-6). She gets many of her points converting off the defensive end. Though not facing the competition level of others on this list, Rogers nonetheless has had two games of 44 points and two others of 39. She’s made 50 3pointers and a whopping 151 free throws in 193 attempts. Six times Rogers has had at least 10 steals in a game.