Recently in Christian League Category

BOYS BASKETBALL
MVP
Courtland Wharton, Sr., Aquinas
Coach of the Year
Jeff Wheeler, Western Christian

first team
Gerald Amene, Jr., Aquinas
Shaquille Gilbert, Jr., Aquinas
Courtland Wharton, Sr., Aquinas
Andrew Hyde, Jr., Western Christian
Gabe Perez, Sr., Western Christian
Sammy Santillano, Sr., Western Christian
Aaron Sanchez, Sr., Ontario Christian

Inland Division (no at-large entries)
Baseline
Big VIII (4 entries)
Citrus Belt
Sierra
Southwestern
Notes: The Baseline League essentially had four entries for the two seasons it was in the Inland Division, claiming the lone at-large berth each year. Last year the at-large team, Upland, won the entire division. In an Inland Division where it produced one collective playoff victory in its last two seasons there, life is going to be different for a Baseline League that produced six of the last eight semifinalists in the Central Division.

Central Division (no at-large entries)
Mt. Baldy (4 entries)
Desert Valley
Inland Valley (4 entries)
San Andreas (4 entries)
Notes: Colony won this division two years in a row before the arrival of the Baseline and Sierra Leagues two seasons ago. New coach Matt Bechtel, formerly Los Osos High's offensive coordinator, likely won't be disappointed he doesn't have to face his old league foes in the playoffs.

Ontario Christian High School's Andrew Lachelt, who played a variety of positions for the Knights, has accepted an offer from the University of Oklahoma to be a preferred walk-on as a wide receiver, according to his father, Brent Lachelt.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Lachelt suffered a multitude of injuries during his high school career, beginning with shoulder problems that forced him from his original position of quarterback. After surgery to repair a torn ACL last year, Lachelt had his best season as a senior. The Christian League offensive MVP earned all-CIF honors as the Knights' leading passer and second-leading rusher (by a mere 24 yards). Playing the position he'll man at Oklahoma, he had 12 receptions for 199 yards and three touchdowns for Ontario Christian, which reached the CIF championship game.

Finally got a hold of the All-Christian League football team...

League MVP: Jim Jones, WR, Aquinas, Sr.
Offensive MVP: Andrew Lachelt, QB/WR, Ontario Christian, Sr.
Defensive MVP: Jake Henderson, LB, Aquinas, Sr.
Special Teams MVP: Derrick Radden, RB/SS, Aquinas, Sr.

EASTERN DIVISION
Co-Offensive Players of the Year: Michael Karls, QB, Palm Springs, Sr. & Nephi Garcia, RB, Palm Springs, Jr.
Co-Defensive Players of the Year: Josh Shirley, LB, Kaiser, Sr. & Christian Spears, LB, Palm Springs, Sr.
Coach of the Year: Steve Fabian, Palm Springs

OFFENSE
Quarterback
Nigel Barksdale, San Jacinto, Sr., 6-0 180 12
Derrick Dison, Ridgecrest Burroughs, Jr., 6-0 175

In my recent interview with Upland's Tim Salter for the football Coach of the Year story, I wasn't asking all the questions. Fresh off a CIF championship, the Upland coach, who is one of the most engaging in the Inland Valley, had a question for me.

"Why weren't we in your preseason Top 10?"

A valid question, to say the least, given that the Highlanders lost two games by a total of five points this season on the way to a CIF title. Ironically, with one spot left in my preseason Top 10, I was debating between two teams: Upland and Los Osos - the two that eventually squared off in the CIF-SS Central Division championship game. I gave the spot to Los Osos, which seemed to have lost slightly less from its star-studded 2008 team.

Recalling my preseason efforts, or lack thereof, I thought I'd do final rankings based on all that transpired in the 2009 season. Not just a Top 10 but a slotting of every team in the Daily Bulletin coverage area...

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Anthony Brown, Senior running back/defensive back, Kaiser High School
The USC-bound Brown missed two games this season but still compiled 1,681 yards and 18 touchdowns on 198 carries in leading the Cats to their ninth consecutive Sunkist League championship and the semifinals of the CIF-SS Eastern Division. Brown, who is talented enough on both sides of the ball that USC hasn't yet determined what position he'll play in college, had 55 tackles and an interception as a cornerback.

COACH OF THE YEAR:
Tim Salter, Upland High School
A season after graduating four players with a collective total of circa 50 scholarship offers, Salter led Upland to its first CIF championship since 2000. With members of an offense that averaged more than 35 points per game gone to Stanford, Northwestern and Arizona State, Salter rode a defense that held opponents under 11 points per game to his third CIF championship at Upland.

San Dimas' Bill Zernickow finished a close second after guiding the Saints to their first ever CIF championship this season. After taking Diamond Ranch from its second consecutive 1-6 start to a second consecutive CIF championship game appearance, Roddy Layton was under consideration along with Los Osos' Tom Martinez, who led the Grizzlies to the school's first-ever CIF championship game after losing 38 seniors.

Will Lester/Staff Photographer
Upland head coach Tim Salter celebrates the Highlanders' 19-7 win over Los Osos in the CIF-SS Central Division championship game on Dec. 11.

Down to 14 healthy players, the La Verne Lutheran football team has elected to forfeit the remainder of its games this season.

In their first year as an 11-man football team, the Trojans simply couldn't withstand the ambitious schedule arranged by former coach Bobby Godinez, who quit late enough in the school year that Rob Castaneda was hired a little more than three months ago.

A roster consisting of four players in June increased to 23 in time for the season opener but by the time La Verne Lutheran lost its third game in as many tries 88-0 to Webb Sept. 19, seven players were lost to injury, one to disciplinary issues and one to Arizona.

"We just couldn't continue with our schedule because we would have gotten pummeled," Castaneda said. "Our only healthy players left were underclassmen and it wasn't fair to them and it wasn't fair to the teams we'd be playing. The whole school is disappointed but these things just weren't foreseeable."