Times Honors Erickson, Simon as Top Players

Nicole Erickson and Miles Simon received the top awards as The Times Orange County honored its all-county boys’ and girls’ basketball first-team members, their parents and coaches at an awards breakfast Sunday at the Anaheim Marriott.

Erickson, a 5-foot-6 point guard at Brea-Olinda, received the player of the year award for the second consecutive year. She has been a starter for the Ladycats since her first game as a freshman. Since then, Brea has won 130 games and lost five--a 96% winning percentage. Brea finished 33-0 this season, winning its fourth consecutive State championship. Erickson, who averaged 15.7 points and 8.1 assists, will play next season at Purdue.

Simon, Mater Dei’s 6-4 point guard, was one of the top high school seniors in the nation. He led the Monarchs to three Southern Section I-A championships, to the Southern California Division I Regional finals three times and the State championship game once. Mater Dei finished 33-1 this season, losing only to Los Angeles Crenshaw in the Southern California Regional final. Simon, who is also player of the year for the second year in a row, will play at Arizona next season.

The girls’ first team:

Jessica Eggleston (Cypress), Erickson (Brea-Olinda), Karun Grossman (Dana Hills), Colleen Hudson (Brea-Olinda), Michelle Macintyre (San Clemente), Jamie Oenning (Woodbridge), Melody Peterson (Mater Dei), Marie Philman (Edison), Shandy Robbins (Marina) and Akilah Rodgers (Rancho Alamitos).

The boys’ first team:

Schea Cotton (Mater Dei), Gil Gonzales (Orange), Doug Gottlieb (Tustin), Thomas Harmon (Century), Tim Lin (Los Alamitos), Olujimi Mann (Santa Ana Valley), Simon (Mater Dei), Chris Vlasic (Pacifica) and Demitrius Zeigler (University).