No sooner had Archbishop Mitty's great big man Aaron Gordon graduated, that his replacement arrived almost gift-wrapped on Monarch coach Tim Kennedy's doorstep: Six-foot-eight, 225-pound sophomore center Ben Kone.

Kone transferred last June from Salesian to Mitty, just after Gordon had left Mitty Way.

His family moved to Mountain View and Kone gravitated toward the school with a then-four consecutive Central Coast Section titles.

This year Kone helped Mitty to a fifth consecutive title. The Monarchs defeated Serra 68-60 in the Open Division title game, recovering from an early 29-13 deficit. Kone scored 26 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

"He looks a lot like Gordon as a sophomore," Serra coach Chuck Rapp told MaxPreps. "I wish I had a kid like him transfer in. He's just so big and strong down low. He opens everything up for their guards."

Mitty's season ended last week in the semifinals of the NorCal playoffs. However, the budding big man was pleased with an initial season at Mitty that produced West Catholic Athletic League and CCS Open Division titles - not to mention a Prep2Prep CCS Sophomore of the Year award for Kone.

"I'm happy with my first season," Kone said. "It ended on a not such great note, but there are a lot of doors open for next season and it was really productive, I thought."

Kone had issues with nerves at first and Kennedy and the Monarchs did a lot of work on the mental side with the big sophomore, calming him down. Kone's free-throw percentage climbed dramatically toward the end of the season. It all came to a dramatic conclusion at the Leavey Center at Santa Clara University when the Monarchs rallied past Serra in the CCS Open title game.

"The highlight was to win CCS for our seniors at Santa Clara with all of our fans there," Kone said. "That was the high point."

Also considered: Kaijae Yee-Stephens, G, Santa Cruz.