Durango’s Taj Degourville (24) and Liberty’s Dedan Thomas (11) fight for the ball during the Big City Showdown basketball tournament at Cox Pavilion at UNLV Saturday, Jan 21, 2023. Durango beat Liberty 76-69.
Monday, Feb. 13, 2023 | 7:57 a.m.
Editor's note: The girls basketball list will be published Tuesday.
The Liberty High basketball team will begin its state title defense in the playoffs this week with the Most Valuable Player in Class 5A.
Dedan Thomas Jr., the prized UNLV prospect who averaged 22 points and five rebounds per game during the regular season, was selected by coaches as the large-school classification’s top player.
Coaches also picked Coronado High senior Sebastian Mack (UCLA) as the best offensive player and Josiah Cunningham of Coronado as the best defensive player. The Coach of the Year was a unanimous pick in Durango’s Chad Beeten, who two weeks ago resigned after a conflict with school administrators, he said.
The first-team all-conference selections included: Taj DeGourville and Tylen Riley of Durango, Angelo Kambala (Liberty), John Mobley Jr. (Bishop Gorman), and Thomas and Mack.
The second-team included: Christopher Nwuli and Jase Richardson of Gorman, Zak Abdalla (Foothill), Greg Burrell (Desert Pines), Brian Townsend (Arbor View) and Cunningham.
In the Class 4A, the Players of the Year were R’Zha Whittle of Rancho (Desert League), Nakalayah Fabello of Valley (Mountain League) C.J. Shaw of Mojave (Lake League) and Gerald Patterson of Cimarron-Memorial and Qualib Ghallab of Chaparral (Sky League).
Defending state champion Mojave went undefeated in league games, with the sophomore Shaw averaging 21.9 points per game.
First-team all-conference picks for the Lake League included: Osvaldo Biebrich (Spring Valley), Kenneth Ned (Spring Valley), Devin Mabry (Spring Valley), Jakoi Lide (Rancho), Josef Major (Cheyenne) and E.J. Dacuma (Sierra Vista).
Second-team all-Lake League: Jordon Cosby (Spring Valley), Xavion Staton (Sierra Vista), Jailen Childress (Rancho), Idenurbemeh Braimoh (Cheyenne), Steven Carter (Cheyenne) and George Garcia (Eldorado).
First-team all-conference picks for the Mountain League included: Charles Riley (Legacy), Rahjon Chambers (Legacy), Calin Farrimond (Bonanza), Jalen Butler (Shadow Ridge) and Damian Rodriguez (Desert Oasis).
Second-team all-Mountain League: Aaron Duke (Legacy), Liam Guthrie (Shadow Ridge), Antonio Burns (Legacy), Kevan Wilkins (Valley), Zedric Thomas Jr. (Desert Oasis) and Ephraim Ezediedu (Bonanza).
First-team all-conference picks for the Mountain League included: Giali Chapman (Mojave), Tayshaun Jackson (Las Vegas), Marcus Gomez (Las Vegas), Brock Barney (Green Valley) and Cyril Franklin (Silverado).
Second-team all-Mountain League: Gaston Zumaya (Green Valley), Julius Robinson (Silverado), Scott Hammond (Green Valley), Jordan Massey (Las Vegas) and Zaccarion Jackson (Mojave).
First-team all-conference picks for the Sky League included: Brenden Pruitt (Basic), Christian Cardona (Cimarron-Memorial), Rayshawn Armstead (Chaparral), Alvonte Nelson (Basic) and Elijah Bard (Chaparral).
Second-team all-Sky League: Christian Baltierrez (Basic Academy), Casey Branham (Cimarron-Memorial), Geremiah Rone (Cimarron-Memorial), David Lynch (Cimarron-Memorial) and Oscar Sampallo (Del Sol).
