PREP BASKETBALL : Parks and Phillips Are Top Players in Southland

Cherokee Parks of Huntington Beach Marina High and Tamika Phillips of Chaffey High have been selected the top boy and girl high school basketball players of the year in Southern California by The Times.

The two were honored Sunday at a banquet at the Anaheim Sheraton.

Parks, a 6-foot-11 center, was presented the George Yardley Award, and Phillips, a 6-foot center/forward, was presented the Cheryl Miller Award. This is the first year those awards have been given.

Yardley attended Newport Harbor High in the 1940s. As a player at Stanford, he broke Hank Luisetti’s scoring record. He became the first man to score more than 2,000 points in the NBA when he scored 2,001 in 1958 for the Detroit Pistons, breaking George Mikan’s record.

Miller was a four-time prep All-American while at Riverside Poly High, scoring 105 points in one game. She also was a four-time All-American at USC and won the Naismith Award as the best female player in the country three times from 1984-86.

Parks, who will attend Duke, finished with 1,964 points at Marina. He led his team to the Southern Section Division I-A championship game this past season.

Phillips was a four-year starter at Chaffey. She led the Southern Section in scoring and rebounding this past season, averaging 28.4 points and 20 rebounds per game. She will attend Cal Poly Pomona.

Winners of the boy and girl player and coach of the year for each of The Times’ 12 circulation areas also were honored at the banquet, at which Times Senior Vice President William A. Niese was the guest speaker. They were:

Central City--Chris Ford, Fremont (boys’ player); Sam Sullivan, Fremont (boys’ coach); Charisse Sampson, Washington (girls’ player); Lorenzo Garcia, Roosevelt (girls’ coach).

Glendale--Jeff Lord, La Canada (boys’ player); Tom Hofman, La Canada (boys’ coach); Jennifer Dalton, Glendale (girls’ player); Paul Broneer, Glendale (girls’ coach).

Inland Empire--Ray Owes, San Bernardino (boys’ player); Mike Bartee, Riverside North (boys’ coach); Tamika Phillips, Chaffey (girls’ player); Danny Arellano, Arlington (girls’ coach).

Orange County--Cherokee Parks, Marina (boys’ player); Tom McCluskey, Tustin (boys’ coach); Tracy Titus, Loara (girls’ player); Lisa McNamee, Estancia (girls’ coach).

San Diego County--Eric Meek, San Pasqual (boys’ player); Doug Wealch, Poway (boys’ coach); Christina Murguia, Castle Park (girls’ player); John Duberville, Carlsbad (girls’ coach).

San Fernando Valley--Jerry Allen, Granada Hills (boys’ player); Jim Woodard, Taft (boys’ coach); Anjanette Dionne, Hart (girls’ player); Rich Allen, North Hollywood (girls’ coach).

San Gabriel Valley--Johnny McWilliams, Pomona (boys’ player); Ed Taylor, Pomona (boys’ coach); Davette Williams, Walnut (girls’ player); Wesley Stewart, Ganesha (girls’ coach).

South Bay--Stais Boseman, Morningside (boys’ player); Jack Kordich, San Pedro (boys’ coach); Janet Davis, Morningside (girls’ player); Cedric Hunt, Bishop Montgomery (girls’ coach).

South Coast--Brandon Titus, Gahr (boys’ player); Ron Massey, Long Beach Jordan (boys’ coach); Melissa Gower, Lakewood (girls’ player); Dow Lawson, Lakewood (girls’ coach).

Southeast--Juaquin Hawkins, Lynwood (boys’ player); Wayne Merino, Artesia (boys’ coach); Kim Barfield, Lynwood (girls’ player); Bob Santisteven, Pius X (girls’ coach).

Ventura County--Chris Loll, Thousand Oaks (boys’ player); Don Salado, Channel Islands (boys’ coach); Michelle Palmisano, Thousand Oaks (girls’ player); Chuck Brown, Thousand Oaks (girls’ coach).

Westside--LeRoi O’Brien, Westchester (boys’ player); Leo Klemm, St. Monica (boys’ coach); Joi Turner, St. Bernard (girls’ player); Lori Pawinksi, St. Bernard (girls’ coach).