PROS, AMATEURS, PREPS IN SPOTLIGHT FOR DECEMBER
Local athletes honored by the San Diego Hall of Champions
SAN DIEGO—(Jan. 3, 2018)—While basketball dominated the amateur ranks, variety was the key word for the professional and high school standouts, all of whom were selected as Stars of the Month for December by the San Diego Hall of Champions.
Former Helix High and current Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, record-equaling Corey Tropp of the San Diego Sockers and Andrew Lorei of the San Diego Gulls stepped up as the professional choices.
Smith led the Chiefs to the West championship by propelling the team to three straight wins before sitting out the finale. He was 87-of-137 passing for 1,167 yards and 7 touchdowns, tossing just one interception.
Tropp scored in eight consecutive games to close out the month, leaving him just one game shy of the club record. He had five goals and six assists.
A rookie, Lorei earned a call-up to the Gulls after scoring seven goals in two MASL 2 games, both wins.
All six amateur selections were basketball players.
On the men’s side, USD’s Isaiah attack—Isaiah Pineiro and Isaiah Wright—were joined by SDSU’s 6-10 freshman Jalen McDaniels and UC San Diego’s Christian Oshita. The two Isaiahs led the Toreros to their best-ever Division I start at 11-3. McDaniels averaged 11.4 points and 8.8 rebounds while Oshita tossed in 18.0 points and swept down 7.3 rebounds for the 4-2 Tritons.
UC San Diego’s Dalayna Sampton led the Tritons to a 6-0 mark, averaging 15.8 points and 11.8 rebounds, while SDSU’s McKynzie Fort shot better than 50 percent from the field averaging 16.8 points.
For the high school athletes, Steele Canyon quarterback Thomas Fishburne led the Cougars to a state 3-A title; RBV wrestler Bernie Truax won a pair of invitationals going 12-0; West Hills’ Cameron Barry had a 53-point basketball game; Omar Nuristani of Santana averaged a goal a game in soccer; Mater Dei Catholic’s Chloe Webb averaged 20 points and 9 rebounds and LJCD freshman Alanna Butcher scored 16 goals in nine soccer games.