Canyon's Anderson is boys basketball player of the year

Chris Anderson is his big brother's biggest fan. He cheered on Jerime Anderson when Jerime was a star player at Canyon, and now when Jerime plays for UCLA.

Big brother set some standards for Chris, who followed Jerime to Canyon. Chris not only also played basketball at Canyon, he also played the same position, point guard. And Jerime was Orange County player of the year as a senior in the 2007-08 season.

Not only Chris Anderson is fan of his brother, he can now claim to be an equal. Just like Jerime was three years ago, Chris Anderson is the Orange County player of the year for the 2010-11 boys basketball season.

Chris, a 5-foot-9 senior, now can't be just called "Jerime's little brother."

"Now people have to say, 'He won the same award as his brother,'" Chris said. "'He must be good. He must be the real deal.'"

2010-11 All-County boys basketball team

2010-11 boys basketball coach of the year

Chris Anderson had a real-deal of a senior year.

Canyon went 26-4 overall and won the Century League championship with an 11-1 league record. The Comanches advanced to the CIF-Southern Section Division 2AA playoffs quarterfinals, in which they lost to Summit of Fontana. Summit would lose to Mission Viejo in the 2AA semifinals, but got into the state tournament and went as far as the CIF State Championships Division 2 final, in which it lost to Archbishop Mitty of San Jose this past weekend.

Two of Canyon's losses were to Mater Dei, which was No. 1 in the Orange County rankings all season and won the state Division 1 championship Saturday. Canyon lost to Mater Dei in the championship games of the Loara and Orange Holiday Classic tournaments in December. Anderson was selected most valuable player of the Loara Tournament.

Canyon won nine in a row between the losses to Mater Dei, then won seven in a row before a league loss to Villa Park. Another seven-game winning streak preceded the season-ending loss to Summit.

"We had a great team, and we made a great run," Anderson said. "That was a tough loss, the one to Summit in CIF. I tried to do everything I could."

His effort was consistent, win or lose. Anderson averaged 21 points a game while shooting 51 percent from the field, and averaged eight assists a game. Despite his stature, Anderson also was Canyon's second-leading rebounder, at 8 rebounds a game.

Canyon teammate Jojo Ballestero led the county in 3-point shots made, and certainly Anderson's playmaking skills contributed.

"What made Chris so special was his impact on every game," Canyon coach Nate Harrison said. "He impacted the game in every facet, on offense and on defense, and rebounding. The rest of our kids overachieved, and the credit for that has to go to Chris and what he did on the floor."

Anderson scored 40 points over the two losses to Mater Dei. He scored 26 in a victory over Capistrano Valley, which would play in a CIF-SS championship game, 27 in a victory over Canyon's biggest rival, Villa Park, and 25 in the CIF-SS playoff loss to Summit.

His postseason honors include receiving a Wooden Award, which was awarded to the top Southern California high school players in six divisions. Anderson signed with University of San Diego, and knows what he has to do to get ready for college basketball.

"I have to gain some weight and keep working on perfecting my shot," he said. "Once I get that down, I think I can be a pretty good player."

His departure from Canyon does not mean the Comanches are out of Andersons. Nicholas Anderson will be a freshman at Canyon next school year. Chris can relate to any pressure that Nicholas might experience.

"He feels like he has to win all these awards, too," said Chris smiling. "He's going to be good. He just has to work hard."

Just like his two brothers before him.