ESPNHS California

The five finalists for Mr. Basketball are joined by 25 others on the overall Cal-Hi Sports All-State teams regardless of CIF division or year in school. Click here for All-State Underclass or All-State by CIF Divisions.

FIRST FIVE



F Jabari Bird (Salesian, Richmond) 6-6 Jr.
The first team all-state junior and Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year finalist was the catalyst to Salesian’s Division IV state title appearance. He scored 24 points to lead his team to a come-from behind win over Price of Los Angeles in the championship. Salesian's leading scorer (18.7 points per game) and rebounder (4.8) is the No. 8 player in the nation for the 2013 class by ESPN.

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The first of the various ESPNHS Cal-Hi Sports all-state teams is announced and it’s a look at the best from the Class of 2013, 2014 and 2015. Aaron Holiday (Campbell Hall) is in the front.

ALL-STATE JUNIORS

First Team
F Jabari Bird (Salesian, Richmond) 6-6
F Aaron Gordon (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) 6-8
G Isaac Hamilton (St. John Bosco, Bellflower) 6-5
G Ron Lee Jr. (Oak Park, Agoura Hills) 6-2
F Roschon Prince (Long Beach Poly) 6-6

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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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Important announcement from Cal-Hi Sports | Archived Cal-Hi Sports content

Victory by the Wildcats gives them the edge if it comes down to them and Mater Dei at the end of the season for the girls' hoops State Team of the Year honor since the two teams will be in different divisions in the postseason. Go inside here as well for highlights of other games played Friday at the Nike Extravaganza, including Mater Dei boys.

Related: Nike Extravaganza Saturday preview

The marquee game of Friday's session at the Nike Extravaganza pitted the top two teams in the Cal-Hi Sports girls state rankings was everything it was cracked up to be.

In the end, it was the size of No. 1 Windward of Los Angeles that proved the undoing of host No. 2 Mater Dei of Santa Ana in a 65-62 Wildcats' victory.

“Windward is a great team,” said Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan. “They executed and moved the ball real well and beat us pretty good on the boards.”

Windward (20-2) used its size advantage to finish with a 45-22 rebounding advantage.

Macchi Smith, the hero of Windward’s 56-55 victory last Saturday over No. 4 Long Beach Poly, came through again. The sophomore guard had a team-high 16 points, including a rebound and put back off the front end of a one-and-one free-throw attempt by Imani Stafford with 26 seconds left that sealed the deal.

The 6-foot-7 Texas-bound Stafford only had nine points, but she pulled down 16 rebounds and blocked three shots, including a 3-point attempt by Mater Dei’s Khalia Lark with 2.5 seconds left.

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