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  • Sonora High School basketball players Josh Rodriguez, at left, and...

    Sonora High School basketball players Josh Rodriguez, at left, and Ben Rico with their coach Mike Murphy.

  • Sonora will have one of the top teams in Orange...

    Sonora will have one of the top teams in Orange County, and it will be led by seniors Ben Rico, left, and Josh Rodriguez.

  • Mater Dei's M.J. Cage will try to fill the role...

    Mater Dei's M.J. Cage will try to fill the role of team leader now that Stanley Johnson is no longer on the court with the Monarchs. Cage, a junior, was first-team All-County last season.

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The Register’s O.C. Top 10 for the 2014-15 boys basketball season.

O.C. TOP 10

1. MATER DEI: The Monarchs, winners of four straight state championships and 35-0 last year, have to figure out how to survive without the Register’s two-time player of the year, Stanley Johnson, now at Arizona. They have All-County returnees MJ Cage and Rex Pflueger to help them do it, plus sharp-shooting La’vette Parker and a group of freshmen Coach Gary McKnight considers among the better ones he has had.

2. ORANGE LUTHERAN: The Lancers should be much better than last year’s team that finished 14-15. Rogers Printup, a senior guard, was All-Trinity League first team last year. C.J. Hankins is one of the county’s better point guards, sophomore transfer Chris Williams is a scorer and Keisean Lucier-South and Kavaughn Scott give Lutheran size and athleticism around the basket.

3. SONORA: The Raiders, 29-5 and a CIF-Southern Section division finalist last year, return its top two players, forward Ben Rico and point guard Josh Rodriguez, both seniors. Steven Murphy, a 6-foot-7 senior, also is a returning starter. This team could make it to the CIF finals again.

4. SANTA MARGARITA: The Eagles went 25-9 last year, won a CIF-SS championship and advanced to the Division 3 final in the CIF Southern California Regionals. They lost some good ones to graduation, but the addition of brothers Kaden and Noah Rasheed, transfers from Mission Viejo, will keep Santa Margarita strong.

5. CANYON: Nate Harrison, last year’s county coach of the year, has a good core coming back from a CIF-SS championship team that went 30-5. Senior point guard Nick Anderson was All-CIF last year. Senior guard Chandler Dignam was All-Century League. Most of the rest of the roster did not play a lot last season, but this team should develop into a contender for the championship of what is a terrific Crestview League.

6. SADDLEBACK VALLEY CHRISTIAN: Coach Tom Lewis has developed one of Southern California’s better small-schools programs. The Warriors went 27-8 last year, were runner-up in the CIF-SS 5AA Division and won two state tournament games. Among the returnees are Eric Rwahwire, a 6-5 senior who averaged 19 points last year and has committed to UC Riverside. Irshad Hunte is a 6-8 junior who averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds.

7. EDISON: The Chargers, 23-6 last year, have one of the better groups of senior guards in Orange County. Brae Ivey averaged 16 points a game last year and was All-CIF and All-Orange County second team. Jake Haar also received All-CIF recognition after averaging 12 points.

8. SERVITE: This could be the best Servite team in years. Senior guard Trevor Treinen scored a team-leading 17 points a game last year. Cameron Griffin, a transfer from Brethren Christian, averaged 19 points and nine rebounds as an All-CIF sophomore. Jacob Hughes is a 6-11 sophomore from Orange Lutheran. The Friars advanced to the 3AA semifinals last year, and could go further this year.

9. FOOTHILL: Four starters are back for the Knights, who last season were Division 2AA semifinalists, won a state-tournament game and finished 24-8. Eric Patton, a 6-6 senior, was All-CIF last year. Point guard Reed Nakakihara was All-Century League last year as a junior.

10. VILLA PARK: The Spartans were Division 1A finalists last year and finished 21-12. Graduation took some starters from that team, but this team returns sharp-shooting guard Kevin Olsen, who has been accepted at West Point. Villa Park is good enough to win the championship of many leagues, but they are in the ultra-tough Crestview League with Canyon, Foothill and Esperanza.

Also considered: El Toro, Esperanza, Los Alamitos, San Clemente, Sunny Hills, Tesoro, Tustin, Valencia.

MORE FROM BOYS BASKETBALL PREVIEW ’14-15:

TOP 10 PLAYERS TO WATCH

OTHER PLAYERS TO WATCH

SONORA READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP

IMPORTANT DATES

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com