Melody Earle

School: Estancia High School Sport: Basketball Position: Guard Class: Senior

Even Torrance’s box-and-one defense designed to stop Earle couldn’t slow her down. Earle, a 5-foot-9 point guard, moved inside and had nine rebounds. She set picks for teammates, ran around picks to get open and scored 23 points to lead the Eagles to a 68-55 victory in the championship game of the Beverly Hills tournament. Earle, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, scored 22 points in an 83-30 victory over El Segundo and 24 points in a 70-36 victory over South Torrance. Earle, who is averaging 8.4 assists, is in her third season as a starter for Estancia. Earle’s all-round ability is one of the reasons the Eagles, who are 7-0 this season, have started so well. Other top performers:

Erika Miller, who made nine three-pointers, one shy of the Southern Section single-game record, and scored 43 points in Edison’s 73-32 victory over Los Amigos.

Stacy Thurber, who scored three goals for Sunny Hills in a 6-1 victory over Foothill and two in a 6-1 victory over Orange.

Jinelle Williams, who was named most valuable player of the Brea-Olinda tournament after leading Brea-Olinda to the tournament title. In three games, Williams averaged 22 points.