Windward Players Make All-State Hoops Squads

High school basketball has been over for almost a month now, yet the accolades keep pouring in for several players. Both the boys and girls teams won state titles in the winter.

, who was named in Division 4AA and a Los Angeles Times All-Area Team member, has now been selected to the MaxPreps boys all-state third team and is the Most Valuable Player in Division IV.

Joining him on the Division IV first team are Cezar Guerrero of Bellflower St. John Bosco, Colin Gruber of Santa Cruz Harbor, Grant Verhoeven of Visalia Central Valley Christian and Jabari Bird of Richmond Salesian.  

The Wildcats' senior power forward and captain, who is headed for Harvard, was the star on a team ranked ranked No. 101 in the country, No. 13 in the state and No. 7 in the Southern Section in the latest Freeman computer poll. 

Saunders averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks per game this past season and led the Wildcats to 27 victories, finishing with 15 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and three steals in the team's 63-57 victory over Richmond Salesian in the state final March 26.  

Senior forward Ryan Anderson of Long Beach Poly was named the MaxPreps Boys Basketball Most Valuable Player in California.

Joining Saunders on the All-State third team are Corona Centennial's Dominique Dunning, Taft's Spencer Dinwiddie, Fontana Summit's Dorian Cason and Etiwanda's Byron Wesley. 

, who was named in Division 4AA and a Los Angeles Times All-Area Team member, has now been selected to the MaxPreps girls all-state third team and is the Most Valuable Player in Division IV.

The Wildcats' junior center was also listed as an honorable mention on the All-American team after averaging 13 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks and guiding Windward to its first state crown, scoring 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds in the team's 61-57 victory over Albany St. Mary's in the championship game.

Windward is ranked ninth in the nation and No. 1 in Division IV in the latest Freeman computer poll.

Joining Stafford on the Division IV first team are teammate sophomore , who was co-Player of the Year in the Southern Section, Paige Brown of Tollhouse Sierra, Taylor Holeman of Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies and Saidah Allen of Piedmont.  

Joining Stafford on the All-State third team are Janae Sharpe of Rialto, Keani Albanez of Ventura Buena, Chairese Culberson of Berkeley and Piedmont's Saidah Allen. 

Kaleena-Mosqueda Lewis of Santa Ana Mater Dei is the MaxPreps Girls Basketball Most Valuable Player in California.

chose a 30-member overall all-state team for both boys and girls, followed by 10-member all-division teams with MVPs in each division. The overall teams are split into first, second and third teams, with 15 honorable mentions each.

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