ESPNHS California

Behind 30 points from Katin Reinhardt, Mater Dei beats Sheldon in D1 final and gets state record ninth championship for coach Gary McKnight. Alemany also completes quest with D3 victory while Village Christian upends defending champ for first D5 crown.

The CIF Division I, Division III and Division V state title games in boys basketball were played at Power Balance Arena in Sacramento. The Division II and Division IV titles were decided on Friday (click here for writeups).

Division I:
Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 66, Sheldon (Sacramento) 48

Two hours after Mater Dei girls’ coach Kevin Kiernan became the winningest in CIF history, boys’ coach Gary McKnight topped even that by earning his ninth and the program’s second in a row.

McKnight, who began coaching the team in 1983, broke the state record of eight set in 1997 by retired Crenshaw of Los Angeles coach Willie West.

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Mitty repeats in Division II with Aaron Gordon leading the way. NorCal wins in Division IV as well with Salesian of Richmond topping Price.

The CIF Division IV and Division II state title games in boys basketball were played at Power Balance Arena in Sacramento. The Division I, Division III and Division V titles will be decided on Saturday.

Division II:
Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 78, La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 57

It was a vintage performance for Aaron Gordon, one of the nation’s top-ranked juniors, and the rest of the Monarchs’ starting lineup.

The 6-foot-8 point forward dominated the boards, nailed a couple of 3-pointers and scored a game-high 33 points. Gordon’s point total makes the top 10 on the all-time state title game list. He also grabbed 20 rebounds, one short of the Division II record he tied last season.

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As is our custom prior to CIF state finals in football and basketball, we take a crack at choosing which teams we think will win.

Note: All of the following writeups and selections are done with the highest level of respect to both teams and all coaches. We never use point spreads and, sure, some of the scores might be a bit more lopsided than we might think. But you also never know what might happen. After all, these are teenagers.

We had one of our worst years ever in last year’s CIF finals (boys and girls combined) with just six correct and four wrong. We were 7-for-10 in 2010 and were 9-for-10 in 2009.

The following writeups were completed by Ronnie Flores, Harold Abend, Mark Tennis, Paul Muyskens.

Boys Division I
(Saturday, March 24, 8 p.m.)

Cal-Hi Sports’ predicted score:
Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 77, Sheldon (Sacramento) 66

The marquee game of the 2012 CIF boys state championships could live up to its billing as both teams look for historic victories.

Mater Dei, the top-ranked team in the state and the No. 8 team in the country in the POWERADE FAB 50, is gunning for its second consecutive CIF state title. Sheldon is looking to become the first Sacramento-area Division I state champion ever.

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With one game to go, Mater Dei (D1), Archbishop Mitty (D2), Alemany (D3), Salesian of Richmond (D4) and St. Joseph Notre Dame (D5) look to complete almost wire-to-wire runs atop their state divisions.

More highlights from this week’s lists include:

Our picks of which teams in the north and which teams in the south can still move up in the final rankings depending on which team wins in the CIF state championships.

With help from Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens, here is the eighth and next-to-last listing of boys teams this season for each division (records listed after regional championship games played on Saturday, March 17; previous ranking in parentheses):

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CIF state finals will be No. 1 vs. No. 6, No. 3 vs. No. 9, No. 5 vs. No. 11 and No. 2 vs. No. 8. Biggest riser of the week is Price of Los Angeles. Biggest dropper is De La Salle.

Other highlights of this week’s rankings include:

*Bullard of Fresno latching onto a top 10 position due to its buzzer-beating victory over Long Beach Poly

*Lincoln of San Diego breaking into the honor roll as the only newcomer even with 10 losses on the season

*Mater Dei and Archbishop Mitty getting closer to preseason starting positions of No. 1 and No. 2.

Get all the details in the ESPNHS rankings tool.

Mater Dei pulls away in second half to beat Bullard in Division I. La Costa Canyon wins all-San Diego final while Alemany, Price and Village Christian are all heading to state as well.

The CIF Southern Regional title games were played at Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario (Divisions 1-3) and at Colony High School in Ontario (Divisions 4-5). Writeups by Ronnie Flores.

Division I:
Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 85, Bullard (Fresno) 66

The top-ranked team in the state, the Mater Dei Monarchs, faced a Bullard Knights team looking to pull of their third consecutive upset and advance to their first-ever state title game in boys' basketball.

Bullard was not only facing an experienced team that won a state title last year with the same nucleus, it was also facing the most talented team it had seen all season long.

For one half, in front of 5,712 fans, the CIF Central Section Div. I champions hung with Mater Dei (champions of the CIF Southern Section Div. I-AA bracket), but a 23-10 advantage in the third quarter spelled doom for Bullard.

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Sheldon turns back upset bid in Division I final. Other victors are Archbishop Mitty in D2, Sacred Heart Cathedral in D3, Salesian in D4 and St. Joseph Notre Dame in D5.

The CIF Northern Regional title games were played at Power Balance Arena in Sacramento (Divisions 1-3) and at Folsom High School (Divisions 4-5). Writeups by Mark Tennis and Paul Muyskens.

Division I:
Sheldon (Sacramento) 61, Jesuit (Carmichael) 56

All the clichés about the fourth time being the charm for Jesuit in the NorCal final after going 0-3 during the season against the Huskies were getting dusted off in the first half of this matchup.

The Marauders came out of the locker room on fire, making eight of their first 11 shots and were up by as much as 17 points at 23-6 early in the second quarter.

A 10-point run later in the second period got Sheldon within striking distance with a 25-16 halftime score. The team’s two main standouts, juniors Dakarai Allen and D’Erryl Williams, then came through in the second half and especially down the stretch.

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L.B. Poly player’s seizure puts D1 final (won by Mater Dei) in perspective. La Jolla Country Day takes D4 crown while other victors include J.W. North (D2), Laguna Hills (D3) and Mission Prep (D5).

The CIF Southern Regional title games were played at Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario (Divisions 1-3) and at Colony High School in Ontario (Divisions 4-5). Writeups by Ronnie Flores and Mark Tennis. Contributing: Harold Abend.

Division I:
Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 54, Poly (Long Beach) 43

In a game between two teams that have played memorable playoff games in recent years with a plethora of talent on the floor, this game was a bit different. There wasn't overwhelming talent and both teams, especially Mater Dei (19 turnovers), didn't executive particularly well.

But when a team has championship experience, it finds ways to win. In this game, that was especially important considering an unfortunate incident that overshadowed the action with 3:56 remaining in the third quarter.

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Regional finals set for Saturday at four sites as the road to the 2012 CIF state championships on March 23-24 gets very narrow.

Highlights from Tuesday’s games included:

"Bullard of Fresno upsetting nationally ranked Long Beach Poly on 40-foot bomb

"Katin Reinhardt coming back for No. 1 Mater Dei and scoring 21 points in win over Loyola

"Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame’s Don Lippi joining exclusive ESPNHS Cal-Hi Sports record book list by picking up 700th career triumph

"Mater Dei (D1), Archbishop Mitty (D2), Alemany (D3), Salesian of Richmond (D4) and St. Joseph Notre Dame (D5) remaining as No. 1 teams

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No new teams crack the list, but there’s lots of shuffling due to Bullard beating Taft of Woodland Hills and Loyola sending Etiwanda out of the SoCal playoffs.

Other highlights of this week’s rankings include:

Archbishop Mitty joins the top five after easy win in NorCal Division II playoffs.

Grant Jerrett shines in matchup versus another of state’s top centers and leads La Verne Lutheran into CIF Division IV South semifinals.

Mayfair holds on to win in D2 playoffs and moves up into this week’s top 10.

Get all the details in the ESPNHS rankings tool.

Click here: All-State Football Teams for 2011 Season

William Stallworth of Tulare makes history for being named State Grid-Hoop Player of the Year for the second straight year. We also choose four others on first team, five on second team, five on third team and 40 for special mention.

There's something special about grid-hoop athletes since few sports demand more all-around athleticism than football and basketball. It is tough to perform at a high level in one sport at a large school, let alone two, but the following athletes did it at California schools during the 2011-12 school year.

There has been a major decrease in the sheer amount of grid-hoop standouts across the state since our initial all-state teams were chosen for the 1986-87 school year, but there were still plenty of talented football-basketball combo players to choose from.

Leading the way for the second consecutive year is senior guard/wide receiver William Stallworth of Tulare Union, the 2011-12 ESPNHS Cal-Hi Sports Grid-Hoop Player of the Year. Last year, Stallworth became only the second CIF Central Section athlete to earn the honor since 1979-80, joining 2005-06 honoree David Ausberry of Lemoore.

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Check out the boys stat stars of the week from March 1

Hoopsters led by Grant Verhoeven, who moves to No. 2 in state history for career rebounds.

On the diamond, pitchers Paul Blackburn, Kevin George, Isaac Horigan and Cameron Stewart turn in eye-opening outings.

Also, player comes through in memory of longtime coach Jerry Coakley.

(After games of Wednesday, March 7; Contributing: Bob Barnett, Mark Tennis)

BASKETBALL

Alex Fertig (Buchanan, Clovis)
The senior standout fouled out in the first overtime but still led his team with 29 points in a playoff loss to Clovis West. According to Central Section historian Bob Barnett, Fertig ended his four-year career with 2,287 points, the sixth best in section history.

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Mater Dei’s chances for a repeat in Division I take a hit with Kaitin Reinhardt being lost with a thumb injury. Monarchs are still No. 1 in their division along with Archbishop Mitty (D2), Alemany (D3), Salesian of Richmond (D4) and St. Joseph Notre Dame (D5).

As the CIF state playoffs move into the regional quarterfinal round on Saturday night, the big news wasn’t an upset or any score for that matter from Thursday’s second-round.

During Santa Ana Mater Dei’s 66-47 win over Crescenta Valley of La Crescenta, standout 6-foot-4 guard Kaitin Reinhardt didn’t score and according to at least two game reports was battling “health issues.”

It was revealed on Thursday that Reinhardt’s issue is a thumb injury. It was placed in a cast and it has been reported that he’ll have to miss the rest of the season.

Reinhardt, who has signed with UNLV, has been arguably Mater Dei’s best player this season. He was averaging 18.2 points per game, including 35 against Christ The King of New York and 34 against Capistrano Valley of Mission Viejo.

The Monarchs can still win the CIF Division I state title without Reinhardt, but they’re not an especially deep team so any contest in which fouls are being called and coach Gary McKnight has to go deeper into the bench is where the loss of a player like Reinhardt would be felt the most.

With help from Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens, here is the sixth listing of boys teams this season for each division

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NorCal teams Salesian of Richmond and De La Salle of Concord go up to No. 2 and No. 4 in this week’s pecking order. Bullard of Fresno also debuts at No. 19 after winning Central Section crown.

Other highlights of this week’s rankings include:

Serra of Gardena joining the top 10 after winning section title and edging in front of L.A. Loyola.

Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco rolling to CCS crown and going up from No. 18 to No. 15.

Price of Los Angeles staying at No. 17 even though team had already lost in CIFSS Div. 4-AA semifinals.

Get all the details in the ESPNHS rankings tool.

Cal-Hi Sports gives a quick analysis of the boys' basketball regional pairings in all five CIF divisions for the North and South. Check back later Sunday evening for reactions to girls' regional brackets.

Division I

North: De La Salle was the easy pick for the top seed here after capturing its 10th North Coast Section championship on Friday with a 54-31 win over Deer Valley of Antioch. The surprise in this bracket was ten-loss Oakland Athletic League champ McClymonds being named the No. 3 seed behind state-ranked Sheldon of Sacramento and in front of Jesuit of Carmichael, which lost to Sheldon in the Sac-Joaquin Section Div. I title game. In this division, being a section champ was a bigger factor than in Division I South.

South: As expected, state No. 1 Mater Dei earned the top seed after capturing its 21st section title in school history with a 63-59 win over state No. 2 Long Beach Poly. The Jackrabbits did earn the number two seed while Etiwanda, which lost to Long Beach Poly in the section semifinals, had to settle for a No. 5 seed behind L.A. City Section Division I champ Taft and fellow section semifinalist Loyola. That means Loyola and Etiwanda will likely face off in a monster second round game on Saturday.

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