Here are the final pieces of our all-state boys basketball puzzle. First 10, second 10 and third 10 players are singled out for overall exceptional play this season without regard to year in school or CIF enrollment. The elite of the elite and all 30 are written up in this post.
Note: The very first Cal-Hi Sports all-state team for boys basketball was selected after the 1979-80 season by founder Nelson Tennis with assistance from editor Mark Tennis, who was attending college at the time. The Cal-Hi Sports all-state teams are now recognized as the most comprehensive, most detailed and best researched all-state teams in the nation, according to hobbyist Ron Siegel of Washington, who collects these teams from every state.
By Mark Tennis & Ronnie Flores
(Contributing: Paul Muyskens, Steve Brand, Harold Abend
First Team Overall
G — Deonta Burton, Centennial (Compton, Calif.) 6-2 Sr.
Often times when a player sits out a season after a transfer, there is some rust or an adjustment period to get re-acclimated with the high school game. That was clearly not the case for Burton. The term “man amongst boys” was mentioned at times when Burton was on his game. More often than not, the University of Nevada signee was for the Apaches, averaging 22 points, six rebounds and five assists and helping them advance to the CIF Div. III regional title game. Even though he didn’t lead Centennial to a win over Gardena Serra in three tries, individually he was the state’s most complete player in Division III.
G/F — Allen Crabbe, Price (Los Angeles, Calif.) 6-6 Sr.
Our Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year was consistently the best player on the floor in nearly every game Price played in. In Mr. Basketball deliberations, the completeness of his game was brought up the most as his best attribute. Local consensus also favored Crabbe, who was named player of the year by the L.A Times, L.A. Wave and L.A. Sentinel. His overall body of work was just too much to not select him with the state’s No. 1 individual honor. Crabbe is bound for Cal.
G — Gary Franklin, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 6-3 Sr.
You’ve got to have a point guard on the first team and there wasn’t one in the state as strong as Franklin. Despite being 6-foot-3, he also has the quickness to get into the paint as easily as a smaller player. And he can certainly stroke jumpers from the outside. He led Mater Dei in 3-pointers and averaged 17 points per game. The three-year starter had 29 points in one regional playoff outing and had 21 points with five assists in the CIFSS final. Franklin is joining Mr. Basketball Allen Crabbe at Cal next season.
