Dissa and Data: Santa Rosa High School's Emily Codding reaches 1,000-point milestone

Friday was a memorable day for Santa Rosa High junior basketball player Emily Codding. She scored 19 in a win against Rancho Cotate, and that gave her 1,002 points in her career.

“I knew I needed to score 17 to reach 1,000,” Codding said. “My dad keeps stats and he let me know. It was even better because we won the game.”

The main area Codding has improved this season is driving to the basket. Even though she plays guard, at 6 feet tall she also is one of the team's top rebounders.

First-year coach Luis Patrick said Codding's value to the team exceeds scoring and rebounding.

“Her leadership ability is her biggest asset,” he said. “With Emily, it's always about the team first. She keeps the team chemistry jelling.”

3-point specialist

Technology senior Himansu Singh also reached a milestone Friday. He made his 300th 3-point basket in a win against Calistoga.

Physically, Singh has undergone a transformation in his high school years.

“As a freshman, he was 5-1 and weighed 95 pounds,” coach Scott McKeon said. “Now he's just over 6 feet tall. He's put on more muscle and added leg strength, too.”

In his high school career, Singh has had eight games in which he's scored more than 30.

“This year, he's been even more explosive because he drives to the basket if the defense plays him close from the 3-point line,” McKeon said.

“He's one of the best shooters the Empire has ever seen.”

How accurate is Singh?

“One day while we were warming up, he hit 21 in a row from behind the are,” McKeon added

Kiech top Seawolf

Kylie Kiech, a freshman at Sonoma State and last year's All-Empire Player of the Year in large school girls basketball when she suited up for Cardinal Newman, was named Seawolf of the Week for Jan. 25-31.

Kiech averaged 16 points a game against both Cal State Los Angeles and Cal State Dominguez Hills. For the season, Kiech is averaging 5.8 points a game for the Seawolves, who are 8-16 overall and 3-12 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play

Letters of intent list

A reminder to athletic directors and coaches: We are updating our list of athletes who have signed letters of intent to continue their playing careers in college.

The updated lists will be posted regularly on PressDemocrat.com.

Kerry Benefield and Howard Senzell contributed to this report.