Chow is lone local to get All-CIF honor

GLENDALE — Just being named the Prep League’s Most Valuable Player would have been sufficient for Flintridge Prep boys’ basketball player Edmund Chow.

While that happened, Chow learned something more following a breakthrough season — that he earned All-CIF Southern Section Division V-AA first-team accolades.

Chow, a junior guard, added that honor after averaging 9.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals and a team-high 3.6 assists per game to help the Rebels (18-7, 8-0 in league) to the second round of the playoffs in February.

“I didn’t think about that type of individual honor,” said Chow, who served as a team captain and earned All-CIF honors for the second straight season. “I think that the leadership role that I had allowed me to push myself and be able to set an example for the rest of the team.

“I just went out by working hard at practice. We pushed each other so that we could reach our potential.”

Chow certainly did that and more.

Flintridge Prep Coach Garrett Ohara gave Chow, one of two juniors named to the first team, some of the more difficult responsibilities to tackle shortly before the season began. The Rebels started out 1-3 before regrouping with Chow at the helm.

“He’s the one who makes our offense go, and he does that well by getting the open shots and getting the ball to the others,” Ohara said. “On defense, he’s guarding some of the quickest guards.

“He finished a lot better when he took his own shots. He’s a good decision-maker who can see the floor well.”

The Rebels might well be in line to win another league title next season. They’ve won seven since 2002.

Should that happen, Chow will once again be asked to provide leadership and move the ball around the court. The Rebels will also return center Kenyatta Smith and guard Jonathan Woo.

“I think after what we were able to do this season, it will put us in a good spot next year with Kenyatta, Jonathan and I coming back,” said Chow, who is a member of the school’s boys’ volleyball team. “We can get better.

“We had a lot of ups and down this season with the way we struggled at the beginning. We know what we are capable of doing.”

Pacific Hills’ Derick Flowers was named the division’s player of the year after helping his squad capture the CIF championship.