Honor roll: The week’s best performances by San Mateo County high school athletes

Lucy Esquivel, Mills softball. The junior helped the Vikings get off to a 3-1 start to the season. Through four games, she is 7 for 14 at the plate, with a team-leading six RBIs, five runs scored and three doubles as Mills beat Wilcox (6-1), Soquel (9-1), lost to Salinas (4-3), but rebounded to beat defending CCS and Nor Cal champ Hillsdale, 8-6.

Jayda Parangan, Aragon girls’ basketball. The senior guard is not the Dons’ most explosive scorer, but she hit the biggest shot of the year. In the CCS Division II semifinals against rival Hillsdale, it was Parangan who hit a baseline floater with under five seconds to play to beat the Knights 40-38 to send Aragon to the DII championship game. Parangan scored nine points against Hillsdale, all in the second half.

Alex Osterloh, Sacred Heart Prep boys’ basketball. The Gators wrapped up their ninth all-time CCS title Saturday with a 71-64 overtime win over Half Moon Bay in the Division IV finals, and Osterloh was the driving force. Four SHP players finished in double figures, including sophomore Pat Bala with 15 points, junior Alberto De Bernardis with 13, and junior Zack Beals with 10. Osterloh led the way, though, as the senior guard tallied a team-high 18 points.

Jack Freehill, Menlo School baseball. The Knights struggled out of the gate, dropping two of their first three games to start the season, but Freehill has started hot. The senior shortstop, who is committed to play baseball at Columbia University, is batting .500 to start the season (4 for 8) with a team-high seven RBIs, two homers and three runs scored.

Gio Garduno-Martin, Half Moon Bay boys’ basketball. The senior sharpshooter was dialed in through the CCS Division IV tournament, leading the Cougars to the finals for the second time in the last four years. Garduno-Martin scored an epic 28 points in the CCS semifinals, an 83-59 home win over Menlo, connecting for four 3-pointers and fronting HMB’s 60.4% shooting clip from the field. He followed that with a game-high 21 points in the Cougars’ 71-64 overtime loss to Sacred Heart Prep in Saturday’s finals, including a clutch game-tying 3 at the end of regulation to force OT.

Katherine Love, St. Francis girls’ wrestling. The junior had a tough draw by opening the CIF State Wrestling Championships against the No. 5 girls’ wrestler in the state at 130 pounds. Love dropped that match to Dublin senior Lana Nguyen. Then the San Mateo native set out on the tough road of winning four straight matches to storm her way onto the podium, finishing as the eighth-place medalist at 130s.

Jordan Rice, Carlmont boys’ basketball. The junior wing had two impressive outings in the CCS quarterfinals and semifinals. In an 85-45 quarterfinal win over North Salinas, Rice scored a game-high 31 points, with nine rebound, four assists and five steals. In a 59-43 semifinal loss to Los Gatos, Rice had 22 points, nine boards, three assists and a pair of blocks. Despite that loss to the Wildcats, the Scots still scored a Nor Cal tournament bid.

McKenna Woliczko, Mitty girls’ basketball. The Iowa commit, by way of San Bruno, just keeps adding to Mitty’s winning legacy. The Monarchs have captured three CIF Northern California Open Division championships since Woliczko joined the program, and, after wrapping up the CCS Open Division championship Saturday with a 90-31 win over Riordan, they begin their quest for a fourth. The senior forward erupted for 27 points in the finals victory, shooting 13 of 15 from the field. She preceded that with a double-double of 23 points and 13 rebounds in Mitty’s 78-24 semifinal win over St. Francis.