Randall Walker turned it up for Edison, earns Daily Pilot Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year award

When Randall Walker stepped onto the court, Edison High Coach Rich Boyce liked to say that 90% of the time Walker was the best basketball player out there.

Getting Walker to believe that would be the key to his and the Chargers’ success. Walker began to play with that mindset as a senior, and the 6-foot-2 guard turned into the top player in the area this season.

Walker elevated his play, averaging 23 points, 7.5 rebounds, five assists and 2.1 steals per game, earning him the Daily Pilot Boys’ Basketball Dream Team Player of the Year award.

“What makes Randall great is that he can be indefensible,” Boyce said of his four-year varsity player, who shot 49% from the field, 33% from three-point range and 75% from the free-throw line in his final season. “You get up on him and he will go by you. You sag off and he will bury a three. He does it all. He rebounds, blocks shots, and gets steals. He is as good an offensive player as I have coached in my 32 years.”

Walker received a lot of recognition for his abilities.

He made the All-CIF Southern Section Division 1AA team and the All-Orange County first team, and shared the Sunset League MVP award. The All-CIF selection was his second, and he was a three-time first-team all-league selection.

Walker played in the third annual Open Gym Premier Orange County High School All-Star Game for seniors at Santiago Canyon College last Saturday. His next outing will be in the 52^nd edition of the Orange County North-South All-Star Game for seniors at Cypress College on April 29.

When Walker plays, he isn’t one to show much emotion. He said staying calm allows him to play better, as opponents never know whether he’s excited, mad or in pain.

One thing is for sure, it was hard for Walker to hide his discomfort 2½ months ago. He said he hyperextended his left knee in a crucial league game at Los Alamitos on Feb. 7. He lost his explosiveness, and the Chargers lost for the first time in league, costing them an outright league title that night.

The setback also cost Edison a berth into the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs. The Chargers wound up sharing first place with Los Alamitos at 9-1, and a coin flip determined the league’s top entry into the Division 1AA playoffs. The Griffins won that as well, and it gave Edison, ranked No. 2 in the final Division 1AA poll, a much tougher road in the postseason.

Any chance of Walker and Edison making a third section finals appearance quickly ended.

Keep in mind that Walker wasn’t 100%. He said he sat out the final game in the regular season, right after hurting his knee at Los Alamitos, to let the swelling go down.

In the first round, Walker was ready to go. The Chargers opened at home with Inglewood, and behind Walker’s 36 points, they won, 86-79.

The next round at Hemet Tahquitz didn’t go Edison’s way. Walker had 22 points, but it wasn’t enough, as Tahquitz upset Edison, 78-64.

The Chargers finished with a 23-5 overall record. Two of those losses came in tournament championship games, to Bellflower St. John Bosco, 75-68, at the Corona del Mar Beach Bash, and to Mission Hills Alemany, 58-47, at the Maui Invitational in Hawaii.

“I treated Hawaii as a business trip,” Walker said.

Walker was at his best when he used that approach.

Three of his top performances came in league. He scored an Edison single-game record 45 points in a 75-70 overtime win at Newport Harbor, poured in 39 points in a 72-59 win at home against Huntington Beach, and finished with 38 points in a 72-56 win at home against Los Alamitos.

There’s a reason why his aunt Zenobia Keeton gave Walker the nickname “Icee” as a kid.

“She went to my games, and I was always like the coldest dude on the court,” said Walker, who is talking to some colleges about continuing his career. “I was always so clutch. I got ice in my veins.”

Below are the rest of the members on this year’s Dream Team:

Coach of the Year

Jeff Berokoff

Pacifica Christian

Pacifica Christian’s debut varsity season ended 10 days before Berokoff’s 37^th birthday on March 21. The Tritons gave their coach the ultimate gift: an unforgettable season. Berokoff took over the program in 2015-16, when the school was in its first year of existence, and while playing a lower-level schedule that season, Pacifica Christian only won one game. In his second season, Berokoff guided tiny Pacifica Christian, with an enrollment of 95 students, to the CIF Southern Section Division 6 finals, a win in the opening round of the CIF State Southern California Regional Division V playoffs, before bowing out in the next round. With four freshmen starters in Dominick Harris, Cal Whitney, Timmy Bahadoor and Josh Sims, Berokoff led the Tritons to a 24-5 record. Three of the team’s losses came against Saddleback Valley Christian, Capistrano Valley Christian and Gardena Executive Prep Academy of Finance in the regular season, and two in the postseason, to Riverside Carnegie in the section finale and Encino Holy Martyrs Armenian in the SoCal Regional quarterfinals. A day before his birthday, the CIF Southern Section released its Division 6 Coach of the Year award and it went to Berokoff.

D.J. Rodman

F | Corona del Mar | So.

Unlike his father, Dennis Rodman, the younger Rodman could light it up offensively. The 6-foot-4 sophomore elevated his play when it counted the most, in the CIF Southern Section Division 1A playoffs. The Sea Kings lost their top two players to graduation and moved up from Division 3A, and none of that mattered to Rodman. He scored 30 points in CdM’s 67-64 first-round win at home against El Toro, 40 points in the 68-58 second-round upset win at Compton Dominguez, and 24 points in the 47-44 quarterfinal loss at home to No. 2-seeded Pasadena. For the season, Rodman averaged 20.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He made 55 three-pointers, shooting 38% from behind the arc. He was the Pacific Coast League MVP, and garnered All-CIF Southern Section Division 1A and All-Orange County third-team accolades. Coach Ryan Schachter said Rodman would be a top-five player in Orange County next season.

Dominick Harris

G | Pacifica Christian | Fr.

As a freshman, Harris led Pacifica Christian to a historic run in the program’s inaugural varsity season. The Tritons reached the CIF Southern Section Division 6 finals and the CIF State Southern California Regional Division V playoffs, winning in the opening round at San Fernando Chavez. The 6-foot-3 point guard averaged 25.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists, three steals and 2.7 three-pointers per game, and shot 48% from the field and 81% from the free-throw line. He scored 50 points against Wildomar Cornerstone Christian, and had two 40-plus-point performances, including 43 points in the section quarterfinals at Carpinteria Cate. Harris earned the John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year Award for players in CIF Southern Section Division 6, and he made the All-CIF Southern Section Division 6 team and the All-Orange County sixth team, and was an honorable mention on the national MaxPreps Freshman All-American Team.

Collin Pipkin

G | Newport Harbor | Sr.

For the third straight season, Pipkin started every game for Newport Harbor and helped the program finish in the top three in the Sunset League and qualify for the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA playoffs. Pipkin lifted the Sailors to their first postseason win since the 2012-13 season, scoring 18 of his 23 points in the second half to rally Newport Harbor to a 61-60 upset win at Northwood in the first round. Pipkin averaged 13.5 points, 15.5 in league, to go with 4.5 rebounds and four assists per game. The 6-foot senior point guard shot 40% from three-point range, increasing his percentage to 42 in league action and 50 in the postseason. Pipkin received first-team All-Sunset League and tenth-team All-Orange County laurels, and he earned a spot in the Orange County North-South All-Star Game. The Newport Harbor record for most games played is 114 and it belongs to Pipkin.

Mehkel Harvey

C | Ocean View | Jr.

After missing the Seahawks’ final nine games during the 2015-16 season because of a patella tendon injury, Harvey bounced back this season. The 6-foot-8 center looked better and stronger, playing in all 29 games. In his third game back as a junior, Harvey recorded a triple-double. He finished with 12 points, 21 rebounds and 10 blocks in Ocean View’s 62-30 win against the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies in a pool-play game at the Jim Harris Memorial Tournament of Champions. The triple-double marked one of two by Harvey, the other came in a 68-50 pool-play win against Western at the Loatella Tournament at Loara High, where he had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 12 blocks. For the season, Harvey averaged 14.7 points, 11 rebounds, 5.4 blocks, tops in Orange County, and 1.1 steals per game. He made the All-CIF Southern Section Division 3AA team and All-Orange County seventh team, and shared the Golden West League MVP award.

Kevin Kobrine

G | Corona del Mar | Jr.

With Kobrine’s older brother, Sam, having graduated, the 6-foot-4 junior emerged as one of the Sea Kings’ top scoring threats. The guard is the second member in his family to make the Dream Team, as Sam was the Player of the Year last season. Kobrine averaged similar stats this season as his brother did in 2015-16, putting up 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. Kobrine is a two-sport standout who has already committed to play for the UCLA men’s volleyball team, which his brother is a member of and recently wrapped up his freshman season. Kobrine led CdM to a Pacific Coast League title and the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 1A playoffs. In all but four of CdM’s 30 games, Kobrine, a first-team All-Pacific Coast League selection, scored in double figures. With his length, jumping ability and athleticism, Kobrine is exciting to watch.

SECOND TEAM

Position, Name, School, Year

F Blake Burzell, Laguna Beach, Jr.

G Nate Matthews, Edison, Sr.

G Paul Head, Ocean View, Jr.

G Hayden Moore, Huntington Beach, Sr.

G Nico Dasca, Costa Mesa, So.

david.carrillo@latimes.com

Twitter: @ByDCP