ALL-CENTRAL COAST SECTION
Player of the Year
MIKEY MITCHELL, ARCHBISHOP MITTY
What made Mitty point guard Mikey Mitchell so valuable wasn’t necessarily what he did on the floor. It was what he didn’t do.
Hampered by nagging wrist injuries throughout West Catholic Athletic League play and into the postseason, Mitchell didn’t try to double
down and force more shots when they weren’t falling. Instead, he rededicated himself to finding the
open man, spreading the ball around and keeping the Mitty offense flowing.
His efforts were rewarded appropriately, first in the form of a share of the WCAL title, then with a CCS Open Division Championship and a
co-WCAL MVP award, an especially rare distinction for a junior. To top it off, the Pepperdine commit is
also being recognized as Prep2Prep’s CCS Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
At full strength, Mitchell was a one-man wrecking crew. Facing a Menlo-Atherton team looking to complete an upset bid after coming up just
short a year earlier, the junior guard ensured there would be no late-game drama. Going up against one of
the top defensive units in the entire Bay Area, he scored 20 in the first half and finished with 26
in an 85-49 rout, a mark that stands as his career-high
for the time being.
When the wrist started to give later in the year, he didn’t try to chase that performance from the M-A game. Instead, he fed his teammates
and picked his spots, striking at just the right time. One of the best came in a visit to Bellarmine on
the final night of January, where he led the Monarchs to
a win in a game that was such a big event that no tickets were sold at the door. His contested
3-pointer early in the third gave Mitty a 37-32 lead and drew a rare celebration from the usually stoic
guard, and after the Bells ignited the home crowd by scoring 10 straight to take the lead, it was Mitchell
who ended the run and restored momentum with a clean drive and finish.
Mitchell could have had more key shots like that during league play, but they largely weren’t necessary as he kept the Monarchs in control
more often than not. Hosting Serra on Valentine’s Day, he was one of five players in double-figures
in a 20-point win, a game in which he tallied four
assists in the third quarter alone, just shy of his season average of 4.4 per game. He also averaged
13.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals.
“He pushes the ball up the court at a pace that you normally don’t see at the high school level, and it led to most defenses being on their
heels,” head coach Tim Kennedy said. “Defenses usually had to collapse on him, and he’s always willing to
give up a good shot for a great shot. He’ll always tell our guys if they run, he’ll kick it up to them,
so he’s someone you love to play with.”
Rather than try to steal the show, Mitchell was typically one of many when Mitty attacked. In the
CCS Open Division Championship Game, he scored just
eight points, but his pair of third-quarter threes paved the way to a 17-6 quarter that turned the game
around and forced Bellarmine to focus on him, leaving his teammates open and paving the way to a championship.
In both victory and defeat, his role as a team-first player never wavered, even sacrificing himself in the final minutes of
a season-ending loss to Bishop O’Dowd in the Northern
California Open Division playoffs by giving his fifth foul.
That combination of skill and selflessness put Mitchell in a realm that few top players can reach and he’s done it all with a year still
ahead of him before heading down to Malibu.
Other players considered for this award include Archbishop Riordan's Je'Lani Clark, Bellarmine's Quinn Denker
and Bellarmine's Ian Elam.
Coach of the Year
JEFF LAMERE, PALO ALTO
Palo Alto's Jeff LaMere is the Prep2Prep CCS Coach of the Year.
(Jenna Hickey/Special to Prep2Prep)
One of the biggest obstacles for a high school basketball coach is to simply get players to listen.
Dealing with a whole lot of voices only tends to make that harder. As Palo Alto’s third varsity boys coach in three years, Jeff LaMere
had little time to establish his own unique system, but he managed to get the Vikings to buy in to a
defense-first scheme, even in an age of mixtapes and highlights of flashy dunks and deep 3-pointers.
After his team allowed just 45.6 points per game en route to a perfect run through SCVAL-De Anza play and a CCS Division I Championship,
LaMere has been named Prep2Prep’s CCS Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.
What made LaMere’s first season leading the Vikings so impressive is that he steered the team towards success even without being gifted a
loaded roster. Sure, he had some good players to work with in Conner Lusk, Matt Marzano and Jamir Shepard,
but there was a need for growth. That came in the development of center Ryan Purpur and a rotation of bench
players that never seemed to wear out, highlighted by Andrew Li’s uncanny knack to make at least one clutch
play every game.
“We had guys like Will DeAndre who we weren’t expecting to contribute a whole lot, and he was just steady. Guys ended up seeing opportunity,”
LaMere explained. “No one would have thought Purpur would do what he did. I think we played a way that
allowed guys to be successful because they had discipline, but they had belief in what we were doing.”
While great things typically don’t come overnight, they truly did for the Vikings. On December 20, they fell apart in the second half
in a loss to a Leland team that would go on to finish last in the BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division. Barely 24
hours later, they roared back with a dominant 64-48
win over Valley Christian at the Basa-Merza Classic, with Purpur setting the tone with an early dunk
as he joined both Marzano and Shepard in double-figures.
“For Leland to score 66 on us was a wakeup call,” LaMere said. “That was the most we allowed in regulation all year. We came into the
Valley Christian game on edge, and the guys really responded.”
That run continued with a strong performance at the Joe Schram Holiday Classic, where Palo Alto won the consolation bracket after losing
a first-round showdown with a Villa Park team that went on to post a 24-5 record. In January, they’d start a
16-game win streak with a grinder of a 39-29 win at Los Gatos in what’s become one of the most hostile
rivalries in the Bay Area. Throughout the streak, which included all 12 league games and their run to a
second consecutive section crown, the Vikings would allow more than 50 points just three times.
“Every practice we would stretch and then immediately go into 4-on-0 shell defense,” Marzano said. “A lot of us thought it was silly to
play defense on nobody for 10 minutes of practice, but I think it was something that really paid off. It
was really all about togetherness and how the defense moves as a team rather than 1-on-1 D, so when teams
played us, opponents were trying to score on all of us rather than on one individual.”
The defense-fueled winning streak came with wins in all sorts of different forms, with
a win over presumptive
league favorite Los Altos serving as the moment that put the entire Bay Area on notice. If there was
one common trend across the entire streak, it was Palo Alto’s ability to go on at least one prolonged run.
Those runs typically came over the course of a chain of defensive stops, rather than just knocking down a
barrage of shots. Even facing a fired-up Sequoia team looking to win its first section title in program
history, the Vikings managed to parlay their defensive shutdown across a nine-minute stretch to turn an
11-point deficit into a 10-point advantage, and they’d ensure that the Ravens could never mount a major
run to counter, even amidst an energized section
championship crowd.
Though the run did come to an abrupt end in the first round of the CIF Division III Tournament, it wasn’t for a lack of defense. The Vikings
simply couldn’t buy a bucket and ran into an excellent center in Wood star Landon Seaman, falling 40-33 to
the Wildcats. Even with the quick state tournament exit, there was no shortage of pride or satisfaction for
LaMere.
“You’ve got great kids at Paly, and they’re willing to listen,” he said. “There’s a great basketball culture here, and we have facilities
on par with a small college program.”
The spacious confines and cutting-edge amenities of the Peery Center helped make LaMere, whose background mostly comes from coaching at
the college level, feel right at home. Formerly an assistant at Delaware and VCU and having served as
director of basketball operations at both Duke and Stanford, there may be differences in the size of the
crowds between the high school and college levels, but the connection between coach and player remained
the same.
“I wasn’t in college coaching to make tons of money. I was in it because I enjoyed the impact and relationships made with a team,” LaMere
said. “Whether that team is Duke, Stanford, VCU or Palo Alto, it’s very similar to me in what you’re trying
to do and the impact you’re trying to make. My father was a high school coach (primarily at
Sacramento Waldorf), so coaching was something I always admired. I’d see players coming back who had graduated
10 years ago, and they were super excited to see him.”
Other coaches considered for this award include Eastside’s Chris Bischof, Serra’s Brian Carson, Palma’s Kelley Lopez, Menlo-Atherton’s Mike
Molieri, St. Francis’ Mike Motil and Hillsdale’s Brett Stevenson.
FIRST TEAM ALL-CCS
Je’Lani Clark, Archbishop Riordan
Position: Guard
Year: Senior
The Nevada commit ends his career at Riordan with the second-most points scored in program history, and he’s Riordan’s all-time leader in
games played. He’s second to former teammate James Chun in all-time 3-pointers made, first in free throws
made, second in assists, third in steals and eighth in blocks. On Senior Night, he dropped 36 on Sacred
Heart Cathedral, a team that he won his final five games against.
Quinn Denker, Bellarmine
Position: Guard
Year: Senior
Denker averaged 13.5 points per game with a 1.76-to-1 turnover ratio, making him Bellarmine’s first point guard to double as primary
scorer since Kris Olugbode, the leader of a WCAL co-champion and NorCal Open Division participant. He
scored 33 in a loss at Riordan, then
another 28 in the rematch as the Bells got
revenge for an earlier loss at home to climb back into the race for the league crown. Denker will
play at Golden State Prep next year, with plans to head from there to a Division I program.
“A lot of the schools I had been talking to through April and May kept asking, ‘what’s wrong with you?’ They knew I had a good enough
résumé to be a Division I player, but I didn’t have any offers, which led teams to believe that there
was something wrong with me,” Denker said. “It led a lot of colleges to hold off and choose a transfer.
At GSP, I’m ready to make my biggest jump yet with my development. I’ll have eight
months to really elevate my game while also restarting my recruitment clock and showing teams what they
missed out on during the first go-around.”
Ian Elam, Bellarmine
Position: Forward
Year: Senior
One of the most consistent and well-rounded players in the entire Bay Area, Elam will be headed to Case Western Reserve to continue
his career in college. A top defender on a team that allowed just 44.5 points per game, Elam also
scored 12 of his own per game and even hit 37 percent of his 3-pointers, which should help him
against taller players as he continues to progress.
“Statistically, his numbers weren’t eye-popping, but his game was so steady,” head coach Patrick Schneider said. “The offense flowed
through him and he was such a reliable defender. He might not be getting every rebound, but his
guy wasn’t.”
Mahmoud Fofana, Santa Teresa
Position: Forward
Year: Senior
In 24 regular season games, Fofana posted 20 double-doubles and three triple-doubles to help lead the Saints to one of their most successful
seasons since winning the CCS Division I title in 2011. He added two more double-doubles in the CCS
playoffs, and thanks to an at-large bid, Santa Teresa returned to the state tournament for the first
time since 2013. A lion’s share of the credit can go to Fofana, who was also a straight-A student for
all four years at Santa Teresa.
Mikey Mitchell, Archbishop Mitty
Position: Guard
Year: Junior
Nagging wrist injuries couldn’t slow down the Pepperdine commit, who averaged 13.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals as a
junior. Though the wrist problems did hinder his scoring at times, it never stopped him from defending,
and he was quick to distribute instead of force shots if they weren’t falling, establishing great chemistry
with Arrish Bhandal, Owen Browne, Nigel Burris and Marcus Greene. On a team that thrived with balanced
scoring, Mitchell still had a few big individual games, including a 26-point outburst in a win over
Menlo-Atherton, with 20 of those points in the first
two quarters.
Bryce Monroe, Archbishop Riordan
Position: Guard
Year: Senior
The Sam Houston State commit helped Riordan win a share of the WCAL title, averaging 20.2 points per game despite battling a hip injury for
much of the year. To find Monroe’s absolute best performances, look back to the start of the year, when
he dropped 33 on JSerra at the NorCal Tip-Off Classic and a career-high 46 on Campolindo in the
third-place game at the Gridley Invitational. Despite spending just two seasons as a Crusader, Monroe
managed to climb his way up to 16th on the school’s all-time scoring list. For his entire four-year
high school career, he averaged 18.7 points per game, capped off with a 32-point performance in
a win over Vanden to conclude his high
school career.
SECOND TEAM ALL-CCS
Antonio Abeyta, Serra
Position: Guard
Year: Senior
The lone returning starter for the Padres, Abeyta averaged 15 points, four rebounds and four assists to keep Serra in the mix for the WCAL
title, and he rose to the occasion in multiple big games. He scored a career-best 23 in a win at Dougherty
Valley, drew a key charge in the final minute for a win at Riordan and scored 21 as the Padres won a
44-33 grinder at St. Ignatius for their first Beach Game win since 2016. A master of pull-up jumpers
and a solid 3-point shooter, Abeyta will stay in the area to play at College of San Mateo.
Justin Anderson, Menlo-Atherton
Position: Guard
Year: Senior
It’s hard to believe Anderson’s an even better football player than he is in the hardwood. The future Washington State defensive back was
described by head coach Mike Molieri as his team’s Draymond Green, averaging just a hair over eight
points per game but also putting up a mind-boggling average of 4.8 steals, even with minimal playing
time in the second half as the Bears cruised through PAL play. Five of Menlo-Atherton’s 12 league
games ended with a running clock, and four more were comfortable enough victories that Anderson was
able to spend most of the fourth quarter on the bench.
Cole Kastner, Menlo
Position: Forward
Year: Senior
A one-man wrecking crew in the paint, Kastner was just shy of a double-double average for the season, clocking out at 16.7 points and 9.8
rebounds per game, numbers that could have been even better if the Knights hadn’t been constantly tapping
deep into their bench in blowout wins en route to a WBAL co-championship. He had double-doubles in 12
of his 27 games, including an insane 24 points and 23 rebounds to beat Eldorado in the first game of
the Las Vegas Men’s Basketball Championship. He’ll be playing lacrosse at Virginia, but if Tony Bennett
ever needs extra help, he won’t have to look far.
Matt Marzano, Palo Alto
Position: Forward
Year: Senior
The SCVAL De Anza MVP, Marzano averaged 15.4 points per game, even on a Palo Alto team that scored just 51.3 per night. He was also a key
cog in a defense that limited opponents to just 45.6, and he managed to pull down 6.5 rebounds per night.
Even at a forward position, he tallied an average of 2.9 assists and two steals, and he was always a
reliable closer in tight games as a 75 percent free-throw shooter who only got better at the stripe as
the year went on, leading the Vikings to a perfect record in league play and a second consecutive
CCS Division I crown.
THIRD TEAM ALL-CCS
JT Byrne, Carmel
Position: Center
Year: Junior
Despite spending his entire fall on the gridiron, where he’s drawing Division I offers as a tight end, Byrne made a seamless transition to
basketball, averaging 21.4 points and 8.1 rebounds for the back-to-back CCS Division IV Champions. He
shot 64 percent for the season and compiled eight double-doubles, including one in his legendary January
14 performance at Monterey, where he had 15 rebounds and an unfathomable 47 points in one of the best
individual efforts ever seen in the century’s worth of games played at Randall Gym.
Junior Cotton, Hillsdale
Position: Guard
Year: Senior
Cotton averaged 19.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game to help lead Hillsdale to a section championship for the first time
since 1997. He only had two games under 12 points on the entire season, and both of those were nine-point
performances coupled with stellar defenses in league wins. In a January 29 win at Burlingame, he dropped
29 by shooting 10-of-16 from the field and making all six of his free throws.
Mykola Ediger, Half Moon Bay
Position: Guard
Year: Junior
A year after being one of four sophomores starting for the Cougars, Ediger doubled down on his production and became the alpha dog in his
class. The PAL-North MVP averaged 17.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.8 steals as Half Moon
Bay completed an unbeaten run through league play and returned to the state tournament after a one-year
hiatus. At 6-foot-2, Ediger doesn’t have a staggering size advantage over most opponents, but his jumping
abilities make him a prolific shot blocker and dunker, assets that should give him attention from
Division I coaches.
Marcus Greene, Archbishop Mitty
Position: Guard
Year: Senior
After a breakout junior year in which he was known for his clutch shooting, Greene’s senior season was defined by defense, constantly given
the task of locking down opponents’ top scorers. Even with the added load on defense, he still averaged
11.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Opposing defenses did everything they could to deny him the
ball, but he still connected on 41 percent of his 3-point attempts, including a few with a defender’s
hand in his face.
Kai Lee, Carmel
Position: Forward
Year: Senior
Fresh off of football, Lee scored 32 in a December 5 win over Aptos and never slowed down, averaging 16.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists
and 2.3 steals. It didn’t take much to get him going figuratively or literally, making dynamic plays
at a moment’s notice as he led the Padres’ transition offense. When opponents did somehow manage to slow
Carmel down, he showed off the rare ability to knock down flat-footed 3-pointers, something almost
never seen at the high school level.
HONORABLE MENTION:
ALISAL:
Shawn Vuong
ALPHA:
Alejandro Gomez
ALVAREZ:
Jalen Brown
ANDREW HILL:
Nathan Jim
ANZAR:
Raul Pantoja
ANN SOBRATO:
Ignacio Bettinelli, Travis Turnipseed
APTOS:
Trey Lee, JoJoe Moreno
ARCHBISHOP MITTY:
Owen Browne, Nigel Burris, Mason Ryan
ARCHBISHOP RIORDAN:
Mor Seck, Robert Vaihola, Dominic Wilson
BELLARMINE:
Josiah Ajiake, Cole Despie, Jackson Dupree, Ryan Kiachian, Kyle Lewis, Anthony Piro, Josh Wolf-Bloom
BRANHAM:
Frank Poso
BURLINGAME:
Miles Klapper, Lou Martineau, Sean Richardson, Will Uhrich
CAPUCHINOA:
Patrick Volkman
CARMEL:
Max Carr
CEIBA:
Jesse Franco
CHRISTOPHER:
Duncan Ellis, Tobenna Ezeokeke
CRISTO REY:
Enrique Covarrubias
CRYSTAL SPRINGS UPLANDS:
Jake Gutierrez, Randy Wheadon
CUPERTINO:
Jack Townsend
DEL MAR:
Isaiah Lewis, Fabian Reichstadt, Izzy Tuipulotu
DESIGN TECH:
Alex Bone
DOWNTOWN COLLEGE PREP:
Jakob Ortega
OOWNTOWN COLLEGE PREP-ALUM ROCK:
Alexander Huizar
EASTSIDE COLLEGE PREP:
David Haines, Van White
EL CAMINO:
Javian Caston, Antonio Roussanov, Christian Viana
EVERGREEN VALLEY:
Rohan Bindu, Radhir Chenna, Arvin Randhawa, Rylan Suyeishi
FREMONT:
Dev Chatha
GILROY:
Jaylin Williams
GONZALES:
Jeremie Banuelos, Xavier Cervantez
GREENFIELD:
Angel Villagomez, Oscar Villagomez
GUNDERSON:
James Ledulce
GUNN:
Kaden Holdbrook
HALF MOON BAY:
Sean Ediger, Sean Kennedy, Ben McKnight, Zeke Syme
HARBOR:
Brendan Bobo, Trevor Hill
HARKER:
Jack Connors
HILLSDALE:
Matthew Chan, Junior Cotton, Oliver Crank, Calvin Mader-Clark
HOMESTEAD:
Alex Harris
INDEPENDENCE:
Alex Perez
JAMES LICK:
Paul Gil
JEFFERSON:
TQ Byrd, Saif Fara
KEHILLAH:
Yotam Saban
KING CITY:
Angel Trujillo
KING'S ACADEMY:
Noah Short, Jeffrey Taylor, Jon Taylor
KIPP SJ COLLEGIATE:
Kyle De Padua
KIRBY:
Anton Orme
LATINO COLLEGE PREP:
Kevin Hernandez
LEIGH:
Noah Kirsch
LELAND:
Jacob Kuverji
LINCOLN:
Chris Gomez
LIVE OAK:
JT Carvalho, Connor Ghione, Gus Giba
LOS ALTOS:
Jake Skaggs, Brock Susko
LOS GATOS:
Corey Brown
LYNBROOK:
Snehith Nayak
MARINA:
Darren Gabot
MENLO:
Davis Mead, Justin Sellers
MENLO-ATHERTON:
JD Carson, Spencer Lin, Skyler Thomas, Nick Tripaldi, Trevor Wargo
MID-PENINSULA:
Andries Castellano
MILLS:
Michael Matsuno, Jaden Tung
MILPITAS:
Isaiah Dwelle, Lee Riddley Jr.
MONTA VISTA:
Rohan Shah
MONTE VISTA CHRISTIAN:
Teddy Moore
MONTEREY:
Jaden Adams, Suheil Ibrahim
MOUNTAIN VIEW:
Ryan Bahar, Jailen Daniel-Dalton
MOUNTAIN VIEW ACADEMY:
Chris Alas, Caleb Onuonga
MT. PLEASANT:
Tim Red
NORTH MONTEREY COUNTY:
Cyrus Coffelt, Brandon Ducusin
NORTH SALINAS:
Andrew Almaraz
NORTH VALLEY BAPTIST:
David Sloan
NUEVA:
Jeremy Dumalig, Connor McGraw
OAK GROVE:
Justin Ngo
OAKWOOD:
Roman Moskalenko, Andre Veljkovic
OCEANA:
Tino Baldassare
OVERFELT:
Charles Rummell
PACIFIC BAY CHRISTIAN:
Dwight Bumgarner, Diego Sotto
PACIFIC COLLEGIATE:
Malachi Douyon
PACIFIC GROVE:
Jamar Howard, Reed Samuels
PACIFIC POINT:
DeAndre Jordan
PAJARO VALLEY:
Christian Quintero
PALMA:
Joey Finley, Aaron Garibay, Nate Jean-Pierre
PALO ALTO:
Andrew Li, Ryan Purpur, Jamir Shepard
PIEDMONT HILLS:
Kameron Navalta, Jordan Martinez, John Sepulveda
PINEWOOD:
Keaton Bailey, Joey Lama
PIONEER:
Josh Kendra, Justice Owens
PROSPECT:
Nate Lewit
RANCHO SAN JUAN:
Andrew Bynes
SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL:
Kori McCoy, Darnay McPherson, Ray-John Spears
SACRED HEART PREP:
Everett Banks, Aidan Braccia, Harrison Carrington, Jai Deshpande, Charlie Selna
SALINAS:
Ryan McKinley
SAN BENITO:
Eli Hatchett
SAN FRANCISCO CHRISTIAN:
Nick Alfaro
SAN JOSE:
Alejandro Rojas
SAN LORENZO VALLEY:
Asher Dolinger
SAN MATEO:
Aden Nolet
SANTA CLARA:
Jack Fukuda, Harry Nauci, Jiohvani Toledo
SANTA CRUZ:
Aden Curry, Dillon Danner, Makai Norman, Scotty Pramuk
SANTA TERESA:
Jared Johnson
SARATOGA:
Leo Cao, Cameron King, Siva Sambasivam
SCOTTS VALLEY:
Ryan Harris, Derek Tom
SEASIDE:
James Milovale
SEQUOIA:
Davin Leathers, Kiahn Nice-Whiteside, Sam Schult
SERRA:
Julius Alcantara, Dimitri Koutsogeorgas, Ryan Wilson
SILVER CREEK:
Apollo Eugene
SOLEDAD:
Josiah Freeman
SOQUEL:
Max Walters, RJ Wyrsch
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO:
Nico Alimorong
STEVENSON:
Luke Driscoll, Evan Johnson
ST. FRANCIS:
Harlan Banks, Vince Barringer, Isaiah Kerr, Trevor Leon, Kyle Rosecrans
ST. FRANCIS SCP:
Joey Garibay
ST. IGNATIUS:
GC Toledo Rivera, King-Jhsanni Wilhite
SUMMIT PREP:
William Jessen
SUMMIT RAINIER:
Antonio Pinckney
SUMMIT SHASTA:
Josh Bubakar, Jerome Odhams
SUMMIT TAHOMA:
Ivan Medina
TERRA NOVA:
Bourgan Guibadoulline, Justin Milch, Jordan Salgado
THOMAS MORE:
Thomas De Tar, Ignatius Vogel
TRINITY CHRISTIAN:
Kevin Gurries
UNIVERSITY PREP ACADEMY:
Jason Plasschaert
VALDEZ:
Jacob Pliego
VALLEY CHRISTIAN:
Pawllos Habtom, Jaiden Paran
WATSONVILLE:
Karlos Corpus
WESTMONT:
Jackson Wegner
WESTMOOR:
Jasiah Cox, Nate Cote
WILCOX:
Isaiah Frazier
WILLOW GLEN:
Tim Kalinowsky, Noah Yang
WOODSIDE:
Calvin Kapral, Isaiah Minor, Timmy Yee
WOODSIDE PRIORY:
David Ajanaku-Makun, Zach Zaffran
YERBA BUENA:
Aldo Barragan
YORK:
Edwin Gao
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