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Best of the best from the SF Valley/North region

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With the boys’ basketball season officially over, figured it was time to take a few minutes out of my afternoon and reflect, essentially sit down and make a who’s who list of the top performers from the SF Valley/North region. For the record, this wasn’t a difficult process.

The most valuable player winner shouldn’t come as a big surprise. However, there were several worthy candidates when it came to deciding who was the best coach, among them Terry Kelly and Christian Aurand -- to name a few. So, without further delay, here’s a look at the honorees:

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PLAYER OF THE YEAR

  • Jrue Holiday (Campbell Hall) Sr. -- No-brainer pick here. UCLA-bound guard was unstoppable in leading Vikings to third state title in four years. He averaged 25.3 points, 12.1 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 4.6 steals and 2.4 blocks a game.

COACH OF THE YEAR

  • Tom Hegre (Knight) -- Not much was expected from the Hawks. But that didn’t prevent Hegre from guiding this group to appearances in the So. Sec. Div. II-A title game and the So. Cal. Regional Division II playoffs.

,FIRST TEAM

  • Paul George (Knight) Sr. -- West Coast scouts are enamored with 6-foot-8 prospect, who shot 48 percent from the field and averaged 23.2 points, 11.1 rebounds to go along with three assists and three steals a game.
  • Lorne Jackson (Simi Valley) Sr. -- Far and away top point guard in Ventura County, hands down. Look up the definition of floor general in the dictionary and don’t be surprised to see a picture of Jackson.
  • Mike Meza (Simi Valley) Sr. -- Teamed with Lorne Jackson to form a one-two punch similar to Batman and Robin. Or maybe it was Robin and Batman. Either way, Meza was irreplaceable.
  • Roberto Nelson (Santa Barbara) Jr. -- Dons were a disappointment, no doubt. The lack of success, however, shouldn’t be blamed solely on Nelson, one of the most sought after underclassmen in the nation.
  • Renaldo Woolridge (Harvard-Westlake) Sr. -- Opponents knew the ball was going to the 6-foot-8 wing, who committed to Tennessee, but couldn’t stop him from averaging 19.1 points and 9.1 rebounds a game.

SECOND TEAM

  • Cody Anderson (Canyon) Sr. -- It’s tough for any player from the Foothill League to get respect, but the 6-foot-9 post player deserves some after finishing with 20-plus points and at least 10 rebounds in a majority of his games.
  • Bobby Hillard (Oak Park) Sr. -- The Eagles could not have advanced to the So. Sec. Div. III-AA semifinals and first round of the So. Cal. Regional playoffs without the steady contributions from Hillard.
  • Jacob Ranger (Carpinteria) Sr. -- Didn’t receive a ton of recognition, but should have considering the UC Davis-bound wing averaged 23.9 points a game despite not having a much help around him.
  • Kyisean Reed (Highland) Sr. -- Overshadowed by Paul George at times, but few individuals in the Golden League could match his 61 percent shooting from the field and 19.6 points and 12.7 rebounds a night.
  • Dallas Rutherford (Campbell Hall) Sr. -- Had a field day playing alongside Jrue Holiday. Who wouldn’t? The 6-foot-3 combo guard averaged 17.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.1 steals and 2.4 steals per outing.

-- Sean Ceglinsky

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