Flashy passing, scorching-hot 3-point shooting, plenty of dunks and even some defense — all were featured in the 2024 Santa Clarita Valley All-Star Game on Saturday at Canyon High School.
The Cowboys defended their home court well as senior Josie Regez took home MVP honors in the girls’ all-star game and sophomore Isaac Yuhico stole the show in the boys’ 3-point contest.
The second annual event was cohosted by The Signal and The Statham Academy.
In the girls’ 3-point shootout, one round couldn’t decide a winner as West Ranch senior Aubrey Molina and Hart junior Andrea Aina went head-to-head twice. Each 3-point contest featured two shooters on each side of the court taking shots from behind the arc from various spots for a minute.
Aina and Molina both cleared the competition with 14 three-balls drilled in the first round. Sensational perimeter shooters like Regez, Saugus’ EvaMarie Rios and Valencia’s Libby Oxciano just couldn’t match the pair’s high totals, forcing a rematch in the finals.
Aina just beat Molina out for the title and carried her momentum right into the girls’ all-star game with a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Regez took home the girls’ game MVP while West Ranch senior Darrell Morris earned the honors for the boys’ game. The pair helped their programs retain All-Star Game bragging rights as Canyon alumna Jade Sims and West Ranch alumnus Andrew Meadow were named MVP last season.
Regez led Team Josie to a 61-44 win over Team Morgan, led by Foothill League MVP Morgan Mack. The Canyon senior added 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and a block in her second SCV All-Star Game.
“I’m so grateful for the opportunity to play one once more here on my home court and not only that, but also walk away with a win,” Regez said.
The game appeared to be going in Mack’s favor early on as the team, coached by West Ranch’s Paul Gross, built up a 20-16 lead in the first quarter. Every Team Morgan starter scored in the first few minutes as the team moved the ball around well.
Trinity senior Emma Schaaf had a fantastic bid for game MVP before the team collapsed in the fourth quarter while Team Josie thrived. Schaaf, a Vanguard University commit, finished the night with nine points, six rebounds and four blocks.
Hart’s backcourt reunited for one last game as seniors Arleigh Eav and Lily Cornejo added some clutch buckets and a ton of rebounding for Team Morgan while Saugus sophomore EvaMarie Rios added 10 points and two steals off the bench.
For Team Josie, Saugus senior Destiny Onovo also played an MVP-caliber game as she finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Coaching also played a factor in the win for Team Josie as Canyon coach Jessica Haayer and Regez have had a winning formula for four years now.
“Coach Jessica Haayer really contributed to our win tonight,” Regez said. “She drew up one play and it worked perfectly. When I’m on the court and I get to look at the bench and see her, it’s great. We’ve gone through a lot the last four years and it was great having her coach me one more time.”
Aina added 14 points while Regez saw some stellar play from her Heritage League teammates.
Trinity senior Iris Weber pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds while Santa Clarita Christian freshman Emily Hackett added six points, five rebounds and one assist.
Regez praised her Heritage League teammates and rival Schaaf.
“I didn’t know the SCCS girls and I hadn’t really watched Emma Schaaf play much,” Regez said. “But they very pleasantly surprised me. Not only the SCCS girls in the way they contributed to our win but also Emma. She’s a beast and it was scary driving against her because you don’t know if that ball is gonna end up back in your face or not.”
For Regez, the SCV All-Star Game was one more game for her the court she called home for four years.
“I’m so thankful for what this program has offered me in the last four years,” Regez said. “It was a great way to end it on this floor.”
The boys finally took the floor at 7 p.m. for the 3-point contest. Yuhico hit 14 three-pointers in the first round before just edging past West Ranch sharpshooter Zach Bauman in the finals by one point. Bauman hit 18 shots behind the arc in the first round but was just taken down by the Canyon sophomore.
Canyon junior Eric Kubel hit 13 three-pointers while Golden Valley senior Tristan Tiu knocked down 12.
The boys’ game featured a comeback for the ages as captain Justin Perez’s team was able to erase a 21-point deficit at halftime and win the game, 94-88.
Team James, led by UNLV commit James Evans, dominated the game early. Four Team James starters scored twice in the first quarter as the team built up a quick lead thanks to a staggering size advantage.
Evans, a 6-foot, 6-inch forward and 6-foot, 10-inch teammate Tracy Bryden, also of West Ranch, pounded the ball inside and racked up points with ease.
Team Justin sprung to life in the third quarter as the team poured in 34 points to get back into striking distance.
Morris was the catalyst as he neared a triple-double after tallying up 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter along with game highs of 11 rebounds and six assists.
“I definitely was going for heads but that’s for every game I play,” Morris said. “I wouldn’t say tonight was just a special game for that.”
A surprising sight of defense at an all-star game led to the big run as multiple players were active in the backcourt. Valencia’s Ashton Carraway added three steals while Castaic senior Christian Clark tallied a pair of blocks and steals, including a stuff on Bryden.
Clark shined with 12 points and six rebounds off the bench.
Carraway soared through the air and missed a few dunks that nearly sent the crowd into a frenzy while his Viking teammate Stacey Webb showcased a strong all-around game.
Webb totaled 13 points, Perez added 13 points and eight rebounds while fellow Saugus senior Matthew Correa finished the night with 10 points, two rebounds and a pair of assists. Centurions senior Peter Burton, one of the Foothill League’s best defenders, added 11 points and three assists, including a layup at the buzzer to put the cherry on top of the monster comeback.
Evans finished the night with 20 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, and hit a handful of 3-pointers late in the game to keep his team alive, but Team Justin’s momentum was just too much to overcome.
“We just wanted to win, that was the plan from the beginning of the game,” Morris said. “We didn’t come out too hot and when halftime hit we just locked in and started hitting big shots.”
Just before the comeback, the boys competed in a slam dunk contest during halftime.
Castaic senior Gio Valentin took home the gold after jumping over All-Star Game co-organizer Taylor Statham, who stands a mere 6 feet, 5 inches tall, and slamming in the ball to ignite the crowd.
Evans also threw down a few windmill dunks but Valentin’s dunk was ruled the winner by the judges.
Valentin also shined off the bench for Team James as he totaled nine points, seven rebounds and two assists.
The event drew hundreds of spectators who were dazzled by the talent of the Foothill and Heritage Leagues. All spectators paid $5 to enter with all proceeds going to support Canyon High School basketball.
For freshmen like Hackett, Taylor Ford and Keira McLaughlin, Saturday may be the first of several all-star games in their high school careers.
However, for most of the 25 seniors who played, like Regez, it was their final high school game. Longtime teammates became short-term rivals but finally some longtime rivals may have finally turned into friendships.
“It was funny because I’ve played against these girls for four years and I’ve had a rivalry with a lot of them, especially the Hart girls for so long,” Regez said. “In the past week, we’ve kind of switched, we joke it’s from enemies to lovers and we’ve kind of started developing a friendship a bit in a way since we’re all kind of not gonna play against each other ever again. So it was fun to not only compete against them as rivals, but also starting a bit of a friendship with some of them.”
