Valencia’s Kamilla Basyrova, Dabe Princewill named MVPs after helping their teams to victory
Santa Clarita Valley high school basketball stars showed their skills and bade farewell to the 2024-25 season at the third annual SCV All-Star basketball games held at College of the Canyons.
In games showcasing the top boys and girls from the season that just wrapped up a couple of weeks ago, Team McKell, led by Valencia junior and Foothill League co-Player of the Year Cara McKell, and Team Guardado, led by Saugus senior and Foothill League co-Player of the Year Max Guardado, picked up wins in the friendly contests.
“It’s a competitive environment. It’s also just fun,” McKell said. “There was a lot of people that showed up, a lot of parents, lot of fans. It was a good turnout.”
Canyon senior Lanie Rafkin won the girls’ 3-point contest and West Ranch senior Luca Marcil won the boys’ 3-point contest.
Rafkin took down Hart senior Andrea Aina in the final round, 10-7. The sharpshooting Cowboy said she had never really been a part of a contest like that, but found her groove on the right wing, making four of her five attempts.
“I was just thinking, ‘Next ball, next shot, just keep making, keep hitting, and just keep trying my best,’” Rafkin said.
Marcil, who had no idea he would be competing until his name was called, made 10 in the final round against Valencia sophomore Issac Michel-Zavala, who made six.
But he wasn’t nervous.
“I knew I was gonna make them,” Marcil said.
Taylor Statham, founder of Statham Academy and host of the SCV All-Star basketball games, said it’s important to highlight some of the “hidden gems” that the SCV has to offer.
“So many hard-working players never got the credit I feel like they deserve,” Statham said. “So, this is just like a fun way at the end of the year to showcase in front of the valley, you know, all their hard work paying off, all their accomplishments. Because a lot of the times, you know, especially when you’re rooting for one team, you don’t really realize all the great things some of these other players are achieving.”
Both games were close near the end, though Team Mack, led by two-time Foothill League Player of the Year and Long Beach State commit Morgan Mack of Hart High School, had to claw back from a deficit of nearly 20 points.
Valencia senior Kamilla Basyrova had 14 points, two rebounds and an assist to help Team McKell to a 56-51 victory. She hit a couple of deep threes in the second half, showing the crowd just what she can do after helping the Vikings to a tie for first place in the league with Hart.
The freshman also set the Valencia girls’ basketball single-game scoring record with 40 points in a game early in the regular season.
“I actually was not expecting it,” Basyrova said of being named the MVP on Wednesday. “I didn’t think I was gonna win it as a freshman, but I’m so grateful, and thanks for everyone who believed in me.”
The boys’ game started off close before Team Guardado pulled away to beat Team Kubel, 89-83. Valencia senior Dabe Princewill was named the MVP after recording 27 points and three assists.
Co-Player of the Year in the Foothill League along with Guardado after Valencia and Saugus shared the league title, Princewill knocked down five shots from beyond the arc. He said he wasn’t really playing to win anything, but just wanted to have fun in his last game in a Valencia jersey.
“I’m gonna miss playing against all these guys, my teammates,” Princewill said. “People really sleep on the (SCV), the Foothill League, you know, but when you have fun with everyone that’s competing, your rival teams, it’s fun. Like, I’m listening to Bryce (Mejia) and Max, like we’re rivals, but when it comes to this and we’re all together, it’s really fun.”
Team Kubel, captained by Canyon senior and two-time Foothill League scoring champion Eric Kubel, was led by West Ranch senior Prince Okonkwo, who dunked his way to 25 points and even hit a long-range three to cap off his big night.
“It’s great to put on another show for the SCV,” Kubel said. “It was like another league matchup. It was fun.”
Kubel said the best part of the night was when he and his teammates trapped Legacy Christian Academy junior Jason Perle, highlighting how the games were competitive, but it was all about having fun.
“It was funny. We planned that before the game,” Kubel said.
Golden Valley senior Donovan Webb won the dunk contest that took place during halftime of the boys’ game. He beat out Legacy freshman Josh Lowery in the final round.
“It feels good,” Webb said. “I’ll take the champion of best dunker in the league, you know. So, that’s a big thing for me.”
Some other notable performances on Wednesday included Golden Valley junior Alex Villejo knocking down four 3-pointers in the first half of the boys’ game and Mack dishing out four assists to go along with six points and five rebounds.
Mack made sure to pick up her fellow Hart seniors, Aina and Emery Eav, for her team, though they had to go up against Hart junior Faith Purfoy on the other side.
“My main goal was to play with my teammates, but the whole team was fun,” Mack said. “I like to come out and have fun. I think it’s different from league and everything — it’s competition, and my team had fun, and I hope the other team had fun, and I’m glad that was my last game. I had fun.”
Canyon boys’ basketball coach Ali Monfared, who helped coach Kubel’s team on Wednesday and was just a few weeks removed from leading the Cowboys to their first-ever CIF title, said it was special to be able to see some of the highlight plays that you normally wouldn’t see in a regular-season game.
“I think this night is all about the players showcasing their abilities,” Monfared said. “And, you know, all year long, we have so many structured things that we do as coaches, that tonight, it was cool to see guys come out and make plays that you might not always get a chance to see in the high school setting, because there’s five-on-five and plays. So, it’s really cool to see these guys, because there’s so many talented players in this valley.”
