ESPNHS California

This is the second group of 2012 Cal-Hi Sports all-state boys basketball teams, which breaks down best of the best within each CIF state playoff division. Click here for the all-state underclass teams.

ALL-STATE DIVISION I

First Team
G Aaric Armstead (Bullard, Fresno) 6-4 Sr.
F Anthony January (Taft, Woodland Hills) 6-7 Sr.
F Xavier Johnson (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) 6-7 Sr.
G Katin Reinhardt (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) 6-5 Sr.
G Gabe York (Lutheran, Orange) 6-2 Sr.

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We choose honorees for seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen and for each CIF division. Toughest picks were for Division IV and freshmen.

Congratulations to these boys players for being selected as an ESPNHS Cal-Hi Sports State Player of the Year. Stay tuned for the release next week of the 34th annual ESPNHS Cal-Hi Sports All-State Teams and for our announcement of Ms. Basketball 2012 on Wednesday. Here is a complete list of our boys basketball individual honorees for the 2011-12 season:

Seniors – Katin Reinhardt (Mater Dei, Santa Ana)

On those rare occasions when an underclassman is named Mr. Basketball, an entry for state senior player of the year is added to the Cal-Hi Sports state record book. That player for this season is Reinhardt, the unofficial runner-up to Aaron Gordon of Mitty for Mr. Basketball honors after leading Mater Dei to its second consecutive Division I state title with only two losses to out-of-state foes.

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Just like the girls, a group of five boys are in line to be selected as the 2012 honoree by Cal-Hi Sports. The Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year list now goes back almost 100 years and includes numerous NBA superstars.

Two players from CIF Division I state champion Mater Dei of Santa Ana plus two highly ranked juniors from the San Francisco Bay Area and a McDonald’s All-American have been chosen by Cal-Hi Sports as finalists for the 2012 Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year.

The Mater Dei seniors – Katin Reinhardt and Xavier Johnson – aren’t the only members of a CIF state championship team to be a Mr. Basketball finalist, either.

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Mater Dei boys, girls make more history by getting sweep for second straight season.

This boys-girls sweep of the State Team of the Year honor is getting to be old hat for Mater Dei of Santa Ana.

Last year, Mater Dei became the first school in state history to be considered No. 1 in the state overall for both genders. The Monarchs have done it again with the announcement of this year’s final No. 1 team on Monday.

The only difference between the two seasons is that this year’s girls team at Mater Dei was not a clear-cut selection. The Monarchs certainly got a run for their money by La Jolla Country Day of La Jolla.

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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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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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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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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — It’s safe to say that Shabazz Muhammad is at the top of UNLV’s — and just about every other college’s — wish list this year. And while Muhammad was his usual spectacular self on Monday, it was the lights-out performance by another recruit at the Hoophall Classic that had plenty of Runnin’ Rebels fans salivating.

UNLV-bound Katin Reinhardt was downright unconscious, draining a tournament-record-tying nine 3-pointers en route to 35 points and an 88-50 win for Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) over Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.).

While Christ the King came in with hopes of slowing Reinhardt, the senior guard knew early on that Monday could be a special night.

“Usually when I start the game with a dunk, that gets my legs going and me in a rhythm,” Reinhardt said. “So after I got that dunk in the first quarter, I felt like, ‘OK, this could be big.’”

Stanley Johnson also came up big, snatching 15 rebounds to help the Monarchs control the boards and capitalize on second-chance opportunities.

On the other hand, Christ the King, just two days removed from a tournament in Missouri, looked the part of a jet-lagged squad. The Royals were beaten early and often in transition by Mater Dei and shot just 26 percent from the field.

Omar Calhoun tried to keep the Royals in it, but an off night (8-for-22) from the UConn recruit and a third quarter that saw the Royals get outscored 27-7 ultimately did them in.

“We saw some effects of Mater Dei,” Royals coach Joe Arbitello said when asked if the long flight affected his team. “I saw Reinhardt play before and he played really well tonight, too. We were just a step slower than them. But losses like this can happen. We know we can compete.”

The Monarchs, ranked No. 22 in the POWERADE FAB 50, improved to 16-2 on the year.

Brandon Parker covers high school sports for ESPNHS. Follow him on Twitter @brandoncparker or email him at brandon.c.parker@espn.com.