Daily Journal Athletes of the Week: Summit Shasta’s Alexis Cornejo and AJ Solanoy

In fact, both teams are in the midst of multi-season league win streaks. The boys’ team — with Monday’s 71-30 home win over Kehillah-Palo Alto — celebrated its 50th straight victory in PSAL play, dating back to 2019-20. The girls won in even more dominant fashion Monday — throttling Kehillah 90-6 — marking 42 straight PSAL victories.

“It’s no coincidence,” Shasta senior Alexis Cornejo said of the similarity between the two squads. “I think because our previous years we’ve been so successful, we’re all just trying to carry on that legacy. We’re trying to build the program up, and I think it’s working really well for us.”

Cornejo, the girls’ leading scorer, along with Shasta junior AJ Solanoy, the leading scorer for the boys, have been selected as Daily Journal Athletes of the Week for continuing to navigate Summit Shasta’s legacy.

Solanoy enjoyed another impressive week. The junior totaled 14 points and eight assists in a 95-69 win at Nueva School. He followed that with 23 points in a 76-25 home win over Design Tech. He popped two 3-pointers in each win, and was also consistent with his layup game, something he has always considered his bread and butter.

What has really differentiated Solanoy this season, though, has been the dedication in refining his midrange game.

“Since the defenders got taller, stronger, I’m not always going to be able to do a layup,” Solanoy said. “So, I have to adapt and I have to practice that middy.”

The 5-11 guard has really taken the midrange serious. A lost art in the era of the 3-pointer, that’s most of what he works on. The youngest of three brothers — his two older brothers both played at Jefferson — he has taken on several private instructors, and even works diligently on a court in his backyard at home.

“He’s been shooting the 3-ball really well but his game, he gets to the basket really well, and when people gap him, his midrange is really good,” Summit Shasta boys’ head coach Jorge Chevez said.

On average, Solanoy said he takes 400-500 practice shots a day. After all, the midrange jumper didn’t come naturally.

“I wasn’t a good shooter at all,” Solanoy said. “I didn’t really practice on it, but now that the competition got better, I know that I just can’t sit back and just do the minimum.”

For Cornejo, her calling card is Public Enemy No. 1 in the steals department.

“I think defensive play has always been my style,” Cornejo said. “Cause I’ve grown up to learn good defense creates the great offense. So, that’s really what I push for. And sometimes when I can’t score, I know that my defensive game is really what brings me back.”

Not that the 5-2 senior guard can’t score the basketball. Boy, can she score the basketball. In last Monday’s 75-11 win at Nueva, she poured in 24 points. She returned to score 17 in Friday’s 70-19 win over Design Tech. Then in Monday’s regular-season finale, she celebrated Summit Shasta’s Senior Night by scoring a career-high 35.

One of three returning starters from last year’s CCS Division V championship team — the first CCS banner in the history of the girls’ program — Cornejo’s steal numbers really jump off the page. On Jan. 30 against Pescadero, she surpassed 100 steals on the season in style, racking up a career-high 12 takeaways. Last week, she enjoyed a relatively modest run, with six steals against Nueva and five more against Design Tech.

“If you look at the defensive side of the ball, she’s just everywhere,” Summit Shasta girls’ head coach Jerrod Nodar said. “She just has a very good knack of just reading plays.”

The Summit Shasta boys also have one CCS championship banner to their credit, though that was in 2020-21, the year before Solanoy arrived on campus. Even with the school’s run of success, he was initially reluctant to attend Summit Shasta, instead wanting to go to school with his brother Myles, and all his middle school friends, at Jefferson.

Two of his longtime friends Rhod Robles and Sam Valdemoro — the three are club basketball teammates with Revolution All-City, coached by Solanoy’s father Joseph — also chose to attend Summit Shasta, making the move easier. Now, Solanoy is a tried and true Black Bear, who is laser focused on that strange concept of legacy.

“I see us winning CCS and going all the way to state,” Solanoy said.

With the CCS basketball playoffs tipping off this weekend, the Black Bears should be favorites to do so, Chevez said.

“I expect our boys to get a No. 1 seed in Division V,” Chevez said. “Just season schedule, we had a win over Oakwood, we should be up there. We had a win over Pinewood, who should be top 5. … So, it’s looking like that.”