Boys’ Athletes of the Week : BASKETBALL

Rafid Kiti, a guard on ninth-ranked Valhalla High School, lived up to the nickname Coach Manny Silva bestowed upon him at the beginning of the season.

Silva calls Kiti, a junior, “Mr. Outside.”

Kiti made eight three-point shots and finished with 43 points in a 99-66 victory over El Cajon Valley Thursday and was named The Times’ boys’ basketball player of the week for the second consecutive week.

Kiti had a county-leading 46-point performance of two weeks ago. The 43 points tie Mount Miguel’s Anthony Rivera for the second most points in a game this season.

Kiti has proved to be a versatile scoring threat. He had 13 layups in his 46-point game, but scored primarily from the outside in the victory over El Cajon Valley.

SOCCER

St. Augustine High School has been forced to rely on midfielder Declan Marmion for its scoring because of injuries, and Marmion has not disappointed.

As a junior, he led St. Augustine with 17 assists, but he has had to take over the majority of the scoring responsibilities as a senior.

Marmion leads the team with 17 goals, including three in a 3-0 victory over Hoover in a City Central League game last week. The victory helped the Saints (11-4-4) secure third place in the league and a good shot at an at-large berth in the Section 2-A championships.

WRESTLING

Helix trailed by a point when heavyweight Erik Bliss stepped onto the mat for the final bout of a dual meet. But there was more than just the meet on the line.

The Highlanders’ season came down to the final bout of the final Grossmont League meet against Granite Hills. Bliss responded by beating Chris Valente, 5-2, giving Helix a 28-26 victory and its first league wrestling title in 23 years. Helix and Monte Vista tied at 7-1, but the Highlanders won the dual-meet championship because of a head-to-head victory.

Bliss, an All-County offensive lineman who will play football at Dartmouth next fall, scored on a takedown and a near fall in the first period for 4-0 lead, then held on for the victory.