Slideshow: OCVarsity.com and the Register have selected the 2011-12 All-County boys basketball team as well as the player and coach of the year.
Click through the slideshow to find the selections for those honors plus the second- and third-team choices.
FIRST TEAM
CONOR CLIFFORD
Ocean View, Sr., C, 7-0
Season highlights: He averaged 15 points a game for the Seahawks, who finished 24-4 and won the Golden West League championship with a 10-0 league record. Clifford exhibited excellent quickness and a soft shooting touch for a 7-foot, 265-pound high school center. He shot 67 percent from the field and 70 percent at the free-throw line, a fine figure for a 7-footer. Clifford blocked 54 shots for an average of 2.3 blocks a game. His best game of the season might have happened in the Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei, where Clifford scored 26 points with 13 rebounds in the Seahawks’ 92-80 victory over Mission Viejo. He scored 19 points in a playoff victory over Redondo Union.
Notable: Clifford signed with UC Irvine.
Quotable: Clifford attributed much of his development to Jim Harris, the longtime Ocean View coach who passed away in October. “He had a lot of faith in me that I could become something,” Clifford said. “He worked with me every day after practice on everything.”
Season: 23 games, 342 points, 217 rebounds 12 assists.
STANLEY JOHNSON
Mater Dei, So., 6-7, F
Season highlights: He was basically Mater Dei’s third option on offense, but what an option he could be. When teammate Xavier Johnson fouled out in the third quarter of the CIF State Championships Division 1 final Saturday, Johnson helped fill the void by scoring 21 points, equaling his season high, with team-highs of 11 rebounds and five blocked shots. His 13 points per game average was third-highest on the Monarchs. He opened his sophomore year with 19 points in a victory over Mission Viejo. Johnson scored 21 points in a victory over Capistrano Valley in the Diablo Inferno tournament championship game. He contributed 18 points in the Monarchs victory over Bullard of Fresno in the CIF Southern California Regionals Division 1 final. Johnson prepared for the season by playing on the USA 16-and-under national team that won the FIBA Americas Championships gold medal.
Notable: Johnson won the dunk contest at the HoopHall Classic in Massachusetts in January.
Quotable: Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight said of Johnson, still only 15 years old, “Stanley Johnson has a chance to be one of the best players to ever come out of Mater Dei.”
Season: 36 games, 483 points, 270 rebounds, 81 assists.
XAVIER JOHNSON
Mater Dei, Sr., 6-7, F
Season highlights: He finished second on the CIF section and state champion Monarchs in scoring, at 18.1 points a game, and was the team’s leading rebounder with 9.2 rebounds a game. Johnson scored 23 points in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1AA semifinals against Loyola of Los Angeles, then scored 20 in the Monarchs’ 1AA championship game victory over Long Beach Poly. During the CIF Southern California Regionals, he averaged 22 points a game including 28 points in a victory over Mission Viejo and back-to-back games of 26 points against Loyola in the Regionals semifinals and Bullard of Fresno in the finals. Johnson’s regular-season high was 27 points in a Trinity League victory over Orange Lutheran.
Notable: Johnson signed with Colorado.
Quotable: Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight, on Johnson: “He was our most consistent player over the entire year.”
Season: 36 games, 651 points, 331 rebounds, 61 assists.
KATIN REINHARDT
Mater Dei, Sr., 6-5, G
Season highlights: Reinhardt picked a great time to have his best game of his senior year. Teammate Xavier Johnson fouled out midway through the third quarter of CIF State Championships Division 1 game, so Reinhardt put the onus on himself by scoring 30 points, two shy of the CIF State Championships Division 1 record, with a state Division 1 finals record six 3-pointers. And he did so with his right thumb wrapped – he’s right-handed – after breaking it in the CIF-SS Division 1AA championship game. Reinhardt led Mater Dei in scoring, at 18.6 points a game, and his 83 assists were second on the team. His high game was 35 points against Christ the King of New York in the HoopHall Classic in Massachusetts. He scored 34 when the Monarchs beat Capistrano Valley in the championship game of the Diablo Inferno tournament.
Notable: Reinhardt signed with UNLV.
Quotable: Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight, on Reinhardt: “He’s a phenomenal basketball player. Katin has as nice of a shooting stroke as I’ve ever seen.”
Season: 34 games, 632 points, 117 rebounds, 83 assists.
GABE YORK
Orange Lutheran, Sr., 6-3, G
Season highlights: He led Orange County in scoring at 24.6 points a game, but was even better in the playoffs. York averaged 29 points over five CIF-Southern Section and two CIF Southern California Regionals games. His 691 total points was the most in the county despite York missing a few games in January after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. York might have been at his best in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1A championship game, when he scored 28 points in the Lancers’ 64-58 victory over Mission Viejo. His season high was 42 points in a tournament victory over Downey in early December. York scored 30 or more points in three consecutive games in late December at the Orange Holiday Classic. It took him a while to recover his strength, but when he did, he scored 34 points against Santa Margarita. In the CIF Southern California Regionals, York scored 35 points in a victory over Dorsey of Los Angeles and 28 in a loss to Long Beach Poly.
Notable: York signed with Arizona.
Quotable: York, on what he will most remember of his time at Orange Lutheran: “The friendships I made. I even still keep in contact with the seniors who were at Orange Lutheran my freshman year.”
Season: 19 games, 474 points, 108 rebounds,
SECOND TEAM
PAYTON BANKS
Orange Lutheran, 6-6, Jr., F, 16 ppg
DREON BARLETT
Edison, 6-2, Sr., F, 23 ppg
MICHAEL CRAMER
Mission Viejo, 6-3, Sr., G, 14 ppg
JIMMY JACKSON
Cypress, 5-10, Sr., G, 21 ppg
ALEKS LIPOVIC
Capistrano Valley, 6-4, Sr., G, 15 ppg
THIRD TEAM
JAMAL AYTES
JSerra, 6-7, Jr., F, 16 ppg
BRYAN FISHER
Aliso Niguel, 6-5, Sr., G, 18 ppg
NICK HORNSBY
Tustin, 6-5, Jr., F, 11 ppg
MARTIN KIM
Sunny Hills, 6-0, Sr., G, 18 ppg
EVAN ZELLER
Mission Viejo, 6-3, Jr., G, 17 ppg
FOURTH TEAM
Jojo Ballestero, Canyon, Jr.
Mamadou Ndiyae, Brethen Christian, Jr.
Wolfie Wood, Santa Margarita, Sr.
Steven Browne, Foothill, Jr.
Ryan Hall, La Habra. Sr.
FIFTH TEAM
Cristian Rivera, Ocean View, Sr.
Jordan Faison, El Toro, Sr.
Tanner Lancona, Tesoro, Jr.
Deondre Bryant, Tustin, Jr.
Sean Steinke, Valencia, Sr.
SIXTH TEAM
Ryan Hurst, Los Alamitos, Sr.
Criag Magyar, Trabuco Hills, Jr.
Taylor Maughan, Troy, Sr.
Isaiah Bradford, Villa Park, Sr.
Eli Stalzer, Mater Dei, Sr.
SEVENTH TEAM
Sharthak Mukhopadhyay, Yorba Linda, Sr.
Chris Kapano, Los Alamitos, Sr.
James Marinacci, Foothill, Sr.
Andrew McCormack, Corona del Mar, Sr.
Corey Foster, Edison, Sr.
