Two of those who have earned All-State second team overall selections for this year are Jamal Hartwell from Fairfax of Los Angeles and Isaiah Hardy of Oakland Bishop O’Dowd. Photos: Samuel Stringer/SportStars & BishopODowd.org.
Here’s where to go to check out all of the writeups for those who are second team overall and third team overall on the 40th annual Cal-Hi Sports All-State Boys Basketball Teams. Many of those on second team almost were on first and it’s an elite group that any college coach would love to have. For the final spot, it literally came down to one head-to-head, player-vs-player matchup that ended up putting one player on and having a different player just outside the cutoff line.
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RELATED All-State Boys Basketball All-State Teams: First Team Elite | By Divisions | Underclass (Gold Club) | Final List of Nominees (Gold Club)
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2018 CAL-HI SPORTS ALL-STATE
ELITE BOYS BASKETBALL TEAMS
SECOND TEAM OVERALL
G - Devonaire Doutrive (Birmingham, Lake Balboa) 6-4 Sr.
Following in the footsteps of older brother Devante as an elite team selection from just a year ago, Devonaire has similar first team talent as his brother. He falls to second team because of the difference in team success (last year’s team won its first ever L.A. City Section Open title and finished No. 9 in the state versus a 15-15 record this year) while third teamer Kaelen Allen was named L.A. City Section Open POY. Despite the .500 record, Birmingham was competitive and recorded a big victory over CIFSS D2AA champ L.A. Brentwood with Doutrive going for 16 points and 10 rebounds before the Patriots’ season came to an end in a loss to eventual D2 state champ Crossroads. For the season, the all-L.A. City pick bound for Arizona averaged 27 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals with a career-high 48 in a 65-56 win over Mountain View of Mesa, Ariz.
G - Rejean Ellis (Mission Bay, San Diego) 6-3 Jr.
With solid returning talent surrounding him, Ellis stepped up in a major way, leading the Bucs to their first league crown in 29 years and first CIF San Diego Section Open Division title. A growth spurt and more consistent shooting elevated Ellis to a level where he’s now considered one of the best guards in the state, regardless of class. The player who goes by “Boogie” was a cinch pick for all-CIF San Diego Section/Hall of Champions Player of the Year after averaging 24.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game for a team that finished ranked No. 17 in the state. With every major piece returning next season for Mission Bay, Ellis could be a legitimate Mr. Basketball candidate if the Bucs meet what will be tremendous expectations.
Folsom’s Forbes is known almost as much for his hair as for his big-time game. Photo: James K. Leash/SportStars.
F - Mason Forbes (Folsom) 6-8 Sr.
One of the most improved post players in the state led a balanced and well-coached team to a 26-6 record and No. 12 final ranking. Folsom’s big win this season came when the Bulldogs downed state No. 1 Salesian of Richmond in the opening round of the NorCal Open playoffs as Forbes dominated inside with 13 points, 14 rebounds and 11 blocked shots. For the season, the first team all-Metro selection by the Sacramento Bee averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds per game. He doesn’t have overwhelming stats, but opposing coaches raved about the impact this Harvard recruit had with his disciplined and physical brand of play that carried over to teammates.
G - Elijah Hardy (Bishop O’Dowd, Oakland) 6-2 Sr.
It wasn’t easy deciding between or splitting up Hardy and his four-year running mate Naseem Gaskin, but O’Dowd’s sleek left-handed point guard received more local honors to give him the nod on the elite team. Hardy, who was a major contributor on the Dragons’ 2015 CIF Open championship team, displayed improved decision-making to lead his team to a 27-6 record, a No. 8 final ranking and an appearance in the NorCal Open title game. Hardy was a Bay Area News Group and San Francisco Chronicle first team selection after averaging 14.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 2.8 steals against a challenging schedule. Headed to Washington, Hardy leaves O’Dowd as one of the storied program’s most highly-honored players.
G - Bryce Hamilton (Pasadena) 6-4 Sr.
The cousin of former all-state picks Jordan, Isaac and Daniel Hamilton, Bryce carved his own niche as one of the best players in the greater San Gabriel Valley region in recent lore. A terrific scorer who can hit the outside shot, mid-range or finish around the rim, Hamilton doesn’t get enough credit for his rebounding and defensive ability because of his prodigious shot-making skill. Despite being the focal point of defenses and teams looking to sit on his strong hand, Hamilton averaged just about the same numbers as last year (when he was a third team selection) but on a more talent-laden team. He averaged 24.4 points and 7.2 rebounds for a team that finished No. 21 in the state with a 25-8 record after losing to eventual D1 state champ Chino Hills in both the CIFSS and SoCal D1 playoffs. Named to the L.A. Times all-star team and the all-CIFSS D1 team, this UNLV recruit is also a two-time Pasadena Star-News Player of the Year.
G - Jamal Hartwell (Fairfax, Los Angeles) 6-1 Sr.
One of the state’s best overall point guards, Hartwell has contributed to one of the state’s best programs since his freshman campaign. He came into high school highly-regarded, steadily improved and it all came together as a senior as he closed strong to earn a scholarship to George Mason. With more consistency on his jump shot and added strength, the ultra-quick Hartwell was Fairfax’s go to player at big moments and he usually delivered the right play. The biggest game for Hartwell came when he knocked down five 3-pointers and scored 21 points while dishing out five assists to defeat Mater Dei in the first round of the SoCal Open playoffs. A two-time all-L.A. City choice and three-time all-Western League selection, Hartwell averaged 19.6 points and 4.8 assists for a 23-10 club that finished No. 11 in the state.
Jamie Jaquez of Camarillo had this photo of him taken at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. His matchups in league games against Oak Park’s Riley Battin probably will be talked about in Ventura County for many years. Photo: Twitter.com.
F - Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Camarillo) 6-7 Jr.
After being slowed by an ankle injury as a sophomore, Jaquez used a strong summer to springboard into a breakout junior campaign that saw him emerge as one of the best scoring forwards in the state. Jaquez had monster 50 and 48-point games to lead Ventura County and the surrounding region in scoring (31.0 points) while displaying an improved outside shot. Also a good passer and rebounder (12.8 per game), Jaquez was first team all-county by the Ventura County Star and was named to the all-CIFSS D2AA team. He also was honored on the L.A. Times’ all-star team that aided his jump from the underclass team to second team overall. His parents met playing basketball at Concordia College, but you can bet their son will have his choice to attend nearly any big-time college basketball program across the country going into his senior season.
C - Shareef O’Neal (Crossroads, Santa Monica)
6-10 Sr.
We could have went with Devonaire Doutrive as our D2 State Player of the Year, but O’Neal closed strong enough on the winning team to earn the nod. We also could have put Shareef on first team with Jules Bernard on second since the two are from the same league. Bernard (who was on a team that was D1) ended up on first team with O’Neal getting the top D2 honor but going to second team. With O’Neal making the second team, Doutrive is also placed there along with Camarillo’s Jamie Jacquez, with Jarod Lucas of Los Altos (third team) being the fourth D2 player to make the elite team while, no D3-D5 candidate makes the cut. The lanky post player who wants to forge his own legacy runs well and has a solid shooting touch. His father, NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, casts a large shadow, of course, and Shareef did a solid job of building his own on-court reputation this season. He had 25 points in a section playoff win over Rancho Cucamonga, 26 in a section semifinal win over Cajon of San Bernardino and 18 points and 12 rebounds in a SoCal regional win over Selma. The UCLA commit also had 18 points and eight rebounds vs. Birmingham and hit two clutch free throws to ice the win to send the Roadrunners to Sacramento. In the state title game, he put a cap on his post-season run with 29 points and 17 rebounds in a win over Alameda and is the first-ever D2 State POY from L.A.’s Westside.
G - Cameron Shelton (Damien, La Verne) 6-3 Sr.
After helping Chino Hills capture the 2015-16 mythical national title, Shelton had two terrific seasons for the Spartans, including a junior campaign that saw him earn San Gabriel Valley Tribune Player of the Year honors. Although he didn’t repeat that honor, Shelton’s production on one of the better teams in the state is just too much to ignore. One of the most physically imposing guards in the state, Shelton was the go-to player and an emotional leader for a team that finished 24-7 and ranked No. 22 in California. A repeat first team all-area selection by the Tribune and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Shelton also made the all-CIFSS D1 team. For the season, the Northern Arizona recruit averaged 25.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.0 steals while playing in one of the toughest leagues in the state.
G - Jake Wojcik (Bellarmine, San Jose) 6-4 Sr.
A repeat elite team selection, Wojcik moves up from third team after he was co-Player of the Year in the West Catholic Athletic League with Logan Johnson of St. Francis as a junior. This season, Wojcik earned WCAL POY honors solo and that elevates him to the second group. Wojcik, who is headed to Siena, was first team all-metro by the San Francisco Chronicle and Bay Area News Group after leading the Bells in scoring at 17 ppg while providing excellent play-making skills. Perhaps even more impressive than his numbers is Wojcik’s winning pedigree. After leading Bellarmine through an unbeaten run through the WCAL last season, the Bells only lost once in league play in 2017-18 and finished in first place. Wojcik led the Bells to a 24-4 mark and capped off his career with a CCS Open Division crown.
THIRD TEAM OVERALL
F - Kaelen Allen (Westchester, Los Angeles) 6-6 Sr.
He wasn’t really on the radar as a prospect or player at the beginning of the season, but the A.B Miller of Fontana transfer made the most of his one season in one of the state’s most legendary programs which gets great mileage out of individual players. The strong, and at times, nimble forward overpowered foes and was a perfect compliment to backcourt players such as Jordan Brinson (co-Western League MVP with Jamal Hartwell) and Jeremiah Turley, while sharing League MOP honors with Fairfax junior Ethan Anderson. Some all-league teams are kind of silly with how they are selected, but Allen’s production and his big-game performances make him worthy for this team. He averaged 18 ppg versus rival L.A. Fairfax in three games and saved his best for last, netting 18 points, six rebounds, four steals and two blocks to lead the Comets to their 14th L.A. City Section crown. For his efforts, Allen was named all-L.A. City Section Open Division Player of the Year and also earned the John Wooden Award for L.A. City programs.
Wayne Arnold averaged 16 ppg as a freshman four years ago when he played on the Dominguez varsity. Photo: Twitter.com.
G — Wayne Arnold (Dominguez, Compton) 6-3 Sr.
We don’t know for sure, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Arnold is the top career scorer in the history of Dominguez High and if you didn’t know there’s been some great players from that school. Arnold, who has signed with Cal State Fullerton, had spectacular per game averages of 25 points, seven rebounds, three assists and 1.5 blocks per game this season. He started for the Dons as a freshman and hit for 16 ppg while earning first-team all-state frosh honors. Arnold has been more than solid ever since, although the Dons as a team haven’t been remotely close to their strength of the 1990s and 2000s. He averaged 21 ppg for his career. It was much more difficult to evaluate players from the Long Beach/Compton area this year after the prep sports staff was laid off at the Long Beach Press-Telegram and also with so many teams deciding not to utilize MaxPreps for stats. Would Arnold have been the Dream Team Player of the Year if we had one to look at prior to picking this team like we’ve had for all these years? We can’t be certain, but it is for certain that he’s had an all-state elite team career.
G - Junior Ballard (Modesto Christian) 6-3 Sr.
Despite missing the first 30 days of the season due to his transfer from nearby Lathrop, Ballard ended up as the top all-state candidate off of a team that won the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I title. Modesto Christian did have a deep group that often put five players in double-figures. We put two of those players — Dathan Satchell (juniors) and Mike Pearson (sophomores) — on all-state underclass. Tyler Williams was on third team for D1/Open. For this unit, we’re matching the Modesto Bee’s selection of Ballard as its player of the year and are including him on the all-state overall roster. Ballard, who is headed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, led the Crusaders with 16.4 ppg and also had 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He connected for one of the most memorable shots in school history with a 35-foot, 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring to give MC the points it needed in a win over Sheldon of Sacramento for the D1 section crown.
G - Jalen Green (San Joaquin Memorial, Fresno) 6-4 Soph.
Some peg this ultra-talented shooting guard as the nation’s No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2020, but that really has nothing to do why he made the elite team. It has everything to do with leading a CIF Open Division playoff entrant and the CIF Central Section’s top overall team that battled injuries to its top senior (Dameane Douglas) and had two others in double-digit scoring. Green, who was nearly state freshman of the year last season, wasn’t too difficult of a choice for top honors among sophomores after netting 27.9 ppg for the Central Section D2 champs, who finished 25-7 and ranked No. 19 in the state. When he isn’t playing on the ball, Green is a tremendous offensive rebounder and showed improvement this season in his timing and outside shooting while also averaging 7.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals. One of the nation’s most explosive open court players, if Green plays for the Panthers two more seasons he has a chance to supplant Roscoe Pondexter (a Top 5 player in the national 1971 class) and his younger brother Cliff (a Top 10 player in the national 1973 class) as the best player in program history.
G - Logan Johnson (St. Francis, Mountain View) 6-3 Sr.
He ad a breakout campaign as a junior and a terrific summer and is an elite team selection for the second consecutive season. Johnson doesn’t move up from the third team because we evaluated Jake Wojcik as the final guard on second team as the WCAL MVP and this time around the Bellarmine standout earned that honor solo. St. Francis also didn’t quite have the team success it was looking for, but that doesn’t take away from the terrific individual season Johnson put together. The Cincinnati recruit did everything in his power to keep the Lancers’ season alive, scoring 38 points in a CCS Open semifinal loss to Bellarmine and 32 in a NorCal D1 loss to Central of Fresno. The first team San Francisco Chronicle all metro choice finished the season averaging 21 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists per game for a 19-8 team.
F – Elias King (Jesuit, Carmichael) 6-7 Sr.
This was another player who missed the first 30 days of the season due to a transfer. In King’s case, it was from Christian Brothers (Sacramento) to Jesuit. He probably would not have made it onto this team if he didn’t have a head-to-head outing against fellow all-state player Andre Kelly of Stockton Lincoln. In that game, King led Jesuit to a 68-60 win over Lincoln in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 playoffs with 32 points and 13 rebounds. King, who is the son of former Sac Bee Metro Player of the Year Kris King and nephew of 1993 all-state player Josh King of Jesuit, averaged 21.6 ppg for the Marauders. He is still unsigned and has offers from UC Santa Barbara and Northeastern. If King had not had the opportunity to do what he did against Lincoln or if Lincoln and Kelly won that game, we’d say the player that probably would have been on this squad was 6-foot-7 Jonathon Ned from Heritage of Brentwood.
Andre Kelly was one of those unique players who could average 15 rebounds per game and shoot 3-pointers. Photo: Harold Abend.
F - Andre Kelly (Lincoln, Stockton) 6-8 Sr.
In that loss to Jesuit, Kelly fouling out late was a contributing factor. In the game, he still scored 30 points. His senior averages were 20.9 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 2.2 assists per game. Kelly had even higher norms as a junior with 24.1 points and more than 15 rebounds but the Trojans (23-5) as a team were much better and had more scorers. Kelly’s play around the rim helped him land a scholarship to Cal. It also was too hard to ignore Kelly’s career totals, which included 1,744 points with 1,108 rebounds and 134 blocks.
G - Jarod Lucas
(Los Altos, Hacienda Heights) 6-3 Jr.
Cinch selection to the elite team after posting prodigious numbers and because of local consensus. This combo guard, who is one of the state’s best scorers and continues to learn and improve upon the nuances of the point guard position, was named San Gabriel Valley Tribune Player of the Year. Lucas earned that honor over second teamer Cam Shelton, but the Damien standout was the No. 1 player on a higher ranked team. Regardless, Lucas shined despite facing defenses geared to stop him, leading the Conquerors to a 25-4 mark while averaging 26.2 points per game. Lucas nailed 99 3-pointers, grabbed 7.4 rebounds and dished out 4.2 assists while making teams pay when he got fouled (87 percent from the line). Similar to Riley Battin of Oak Park, Lucas has a chance to climb high on various all-time state lists next season and is already Los Altos’ all time leading scorer (2,157 points, 25.8 ppg) over Chapelle Brown and 1983 State Senior Player of the Year Michael Smith.
F - K.J. Martin (Sierra Canyon, Chatsworth) 6-7 Jr.
As we put together our elite team, we realized among the top open division teams (Sheldon, O’Dowd, Modesto Christian, Rancho Christian, Mater Dei, Bishop Montgomery, etc.), only the CIF Open champs would get two players on our elite team this season. The hard question to answer was which two Sierra Canyon players would make the cut? Washington was a lock and Scottie Pippen Jr. and Cassius Stanley were seriously considered, but when we asked ourselves “who can’t Sierra Canyon do without?” the choice of Martin as the second Trailblazer becomes apparent. The son of 2000 NBA No. 1 Draft pick Kenyon Martin (Cincinnati) provided coach Andre Chevalier an inside presence, toughness on the boards, and the ability to slow down some of the post players Sierra Canyon faced in the CIFSS and SoCal Open playoffs. Martin joined Washington on the all-CIFSS Open Division team while averaging team-bests 17.8 points and 10.0 rebounds to go along with 2.2 assists and 1.2 blocks per game.
F - Isaiah Mobley (Rancho Christian, Temecula) 6-9 Jr.
He was strongly considered for second team after earning Player of the Year honors by the Riverside Press-Enterprise, but we felt some seniors were just as deserving and in some games younger brother Evan was just as spectacular, although not quite as consistent. In fact, some feel Evan is a better 2020 prospect than Jalen Green, but the Mobleys’ production can cancel each other out at times for individual numbers and accolades. Regardless, Isaiah is going to have a chance to lead a team that could be FAB 50 ranked next season with Mr. Basketball honors not out of the question. Mobley led the Eagles to a 29-5 mark and No. 14 ranking. Although the Eagles play in a weak league, he shined against teams such as No. 3 Etiwanda (30 points, 10 rebounds). Mobley finished his junior campaign with averages of 19.9 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks while also displaying the ability to facilitate and handle the ball in the backcourt.
Note: Co-founder Mark Tennis contributed to this report. Injury, suspension, eligibility ruling, and transfer sit-outs affected the candidacy of Dameane Douglas (San Joaquin Memorial, Fresno); Gianni Hunt (Bishop Montgomery, Torrance); Darren Jones (Cajon, San Bernardino); Ziare Williams (Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks); Alpha Akoli (St. John Bosco, Bellflower); Raymond Hawkins (Bishop O’Dowd, Oakland); Taeshon Cherry (Foothills Christian, El Cajon); Prince Gilliam (Fresno); Jonathan Salazar (St. John Bosco, Bellflower) and Cassius Stanley (Sierra Canyon, Chatsworth).
Ronnie Flores is the managing editor of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at ronlocc1977@yahoo.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
