OC Boys Top 25 Coaches Poll 12/12

After returning from London, Mater Dei did not have any games this past week but strengthened their hold on the top spot in the OC Boys Top 25 Poll after #2 Canyon lost their first game of the year to La Serna in the championship game of the North OC Championships.  Mater Dei will host Capistrano Valley Christian and Heritage Christian in non-league games while Canyon will host #18 Cypress in a Top 25 matchup on Wednesday night. Jaden Goodall and Brandon Benjamin were named All-Tournament for the 10-1 Comanches. 

Santa Margarita and JSerra closed the gap on Canyon this week and are tied for the 3rd spot in this week’s poll.  Santa Margarita has impressive non-league wins over San Gabriel Academy and Mater Dei Catholic of Chula Vista while JSerra had four wins over teams ranked in this week’s Top 25, including 61-55 win over #5 Tesoro in the championship game of the CDM Beach Bash. Aidan Fowler was named Tournament MVP for the Lions while Sebastian Rancik and Jake Stafford were named to the All-Tournament Team. Carson Brown was named Tournament MVP for the CDM Beach Bash as well for #5 Tesoro and Nathan Draper and Blake Manning were named All-Tournament. 

Some notes on Orange County boys high school basketball from last week and this upcoming week:

-#11 Capistrano Valley defeated #24 Fountain Valley 49-38 on Saturday to take 3rd Place at the North OC Championships. Senior guard Efe Gucoglu was named All-Tournament after finishing with 17 points.  Gucoglu might be the most valuable player to any team in the county. JJ Gray was named All-Tournament for Fountain Valley.

-#16 Sonora defeated Colony 53-52 on Saturday at the North OC Championships to give Head Coach Mike Murphy his 700th win.  Coach Murphy is one of the most respected coaches in the county and will go down as one of the all-time great OC high school basketball coaches. Senior Yanmife “Yoda” Oke was named All-Tournament.

-#19 Dana Hills moved up two spots after Sophomore Collin Haugh scored a school-record 41 points against #17 San Juan Hills in a game where the Dolphins avenged an earlier season loss to the Stallions.  Look for Dana Hills to keep moving up in the polls.