2013 All-Valley boys basketball team: CIF champ Etiwanda sweeps awards

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jordan McLaughlin, Etiwanda, Junior, Point Guard
It was hard to imagine Jordan McLaughlin entering his senior year without having won a Player of the Year award – similar to how it’s hard to believe Kobe has only won one NBA MVP in 17 seasons – but Jeremy Hemsley and Malcolm Drumwright were certainly viable candidates for the 2013 All-Valley Player of the Year award. Hemsley led Damien to the first CIF championship in school history and Drumwright was an easy direct comparison after his Rancho Cucamonga team defeated Etiwanda in their final meeting to share the Baseline League title.

McLaughlin was edged for the award last season by La Verne Lutheran’s Grant Jerrett, a Freshman at Arizona this season who was not only the All-Valley POY, but the California Gatorade Player of the Year in 2012. Etiwanda’s point guard, who already has a plethora of scholarship offers, didn’t have any gaudy statistics this season (15.6 ppg) but his team’s defensive style doesn’t lend itself to such things. McLaughlin ended any debate, however, by leading his team to the CIF-SS Division 1AA championship by defeating a Mater Dei team that would go on to win its third straight state title.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Dave Kleckner, Etiwanda
His 17th season at Etiwanda was arguably the finest coaching job of Kleckner’s career as the Eagles claimed their first CIF championship in eight years and second in the program’s history. Perhaps the best defensive team ever fielded at Etiwanda held teams to 42 points per game in capturing the CIF-SS Division 1AA title as the sixth-seeded Eagles defeated No. 1 seed Mater Dei, 54-51. Etiwanda finished with a 28-3 record and made the school’s second ever trip to the semifinals of the CIF state tournament before falling in a rematch with eventual state champion Mater Dei.

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Etiwanda’s McLaughlin deemed one of country’s top juniors by MaxPreps

The awards seem to keep rolling in for Etiwanda point guard Jordan McLaughlin. After leading the Eagles to the CIF-SS Division 1AA championship, the lastest honor is a spot on MaxPreps.com’s Junior All-American fourth team.

The honors, exclusively for juniors, included one other player from the CIF-SS. Stanley Johnson of Mater Dei, the team Etiwanda defeated in the CIF-SS championship game, was selected to the first team and named the National Player of the Year.

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Each with a title, Etiwanda, Mater Dei stars share top individual award


As it turned out, the Etiwanda and Santa Ana Mater Dei boys basketball teams each ended the season with a championship. Perhaps it’s only fitting that the teams’ star players share Southern California’s top individual award.

After leading the team to the school’s first CIF title in eight years, Etiwanda’s Jordan McLaughlin (right) was named the CIF-SS Division 1AA co-Player of the Year along with Mater Dei’s Stanley Johnson on Monday.

Etiwanda defeated Mater Dei in the CIF-SS championship game only to lose two weeks later in the CIF State tournament semifinals to a Mater Dei team on the way to its third straight state title. Etiwanda’s Dave Kleckner was granted sole possession of the CIF-SS Coach of the Year award after leading the No. 6 seed to the first championship since current NBA players Darren Collison and Jeff Pendergraph helped the Eagles to the 2005 CIF title.

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