Seven Cuesta basketball players earn WSC postseason honors

Seven Cuesta College men’s and women’s basketball players received Western State Conference postseason awards this week.

On the men’s side, an international trio led the way. Cyprus-born center Roberto Mantovani, Basque Country point guard Benat Hevia and Russian forward Evgeniy Moiseev were selected as first team members. Mantovani led the Cougars with 15.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per game and also led the team in minutes played and blocked shots. Hevia led the team in steals and averaged 3.2 assists and 6.8 points per game. Moiseev averaged 10.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Guard Karem Ozel and forward Rafail Eleftheriou were named All-WSC Honorable Mentions.

On the women’s side, locals Autumn Russell and Connor Storlie were honored. Russell, who attended Templeton High School, broke an 18-year-old school record by averaging 11 rebounds per game this season. The freshman center also led the team in scoring average (11.3 ppg), blocked shots (16) and steals (58). Freshman forward Connor Storlie, who played at Mission Prep, was named All Western State Conference Honorable Mention. Storlie averaged 8.9 points and 4.1 rebounds this season.

This story was originally published March 1, 2016 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Seven Cuesta basketball players earn WSC postseason honors."