San Diego's best: Who's on the short list for All-Section honors?

With only a few weeks left in hoops season, it's not too early to start looking at the postseason awards. CIF San Diego and the San Diego Sports Association will likely make their selections in March, which is around the time that I will announce my postseason honors as well.

Who's on my radar heading into the home stretch of the season? Here are some of my musings:

Player of the Year: Sanchez, Hall and the dark horses

For most of the year, the CIF Player of the Year debate has revolved around Montgomery's JJ Sanchez and Carlsbad's Jake Hall.

Sanchez for his part leads the state's 12th ranked team (and SD's top team wire to wire thus far) in points (18.3), rebounds (6.6), assists (5.5) and second in steals (3.4) on 52% shooting and 45% shooting from three. Hall, headed to UC San Diego, is among the section's top scorers and is 208 points away from becoming the third player in section history to score 3,000 points in a career.

If there's a dark horse in the discussion, it has to be Torrey Pines senior Cody Shen. The Cal Lutheran commit is averaging a team-high 18.9 points, 3.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds, but most importantly, has guided the Falcons to an undefeated record in the Coastal North County League -- arguably the deepest league in the section -- and outplayed Hall in both head-to-head matchups, which the Falcons won.

Other potential candidates:

CJ Aldrich, Jr. G, Rancho Buena Vista - his 30.1 point-per-game average is the highest among Division 1 players

Tristan Anderson, So. G, Olympian - Leads the Mesa League leading Eagles with 18.8 points per game, including a dominant performance in a 53-47 win over the Aztecs.

Jalen Williams, Jr. G, San Marcos - Leads the No. 2 Knights in scoring (19.3 points per game)

Will Montgomery's "Big 4" all make it again?

Last season, the Aztecs were able to get their entire "Big 4" -- JJ and Alek Sanchez and fellow juniors Devin Hamilton and Xair Mendez -- on the All-Section first- and second-team rosters.

With the Aztecs suffering their first loss in nearly two years in Mesa League play, the question is have they been dominant enough to justify all four on the teams this season?

In short, yes. JJ Sanchez and Devin Hamilton should be locks for the first team, and you can make an argument that Mendez is deserving of first-team consideration this year, too. Alek Sanchez's impact always belies his stats, but he's done enough in the Aztecs biggest games to easily make one of the two teams.

Who is on my All-Section "short" list?

Based on the games I've seen this year and the stats available, here's who I think has a legitimate chance to make the All-Section team this year.

First team locks:

Jake Hall, Sr. G, Carlsbad

JJ Sanchez, Sr. F, Montogmery

Cody Shen, Sr. G, Torrey Pines

Devin Hamilton, Sr. W, Montgomery

Jaden Bailes, Jr. G, St. Augustine

CJ Aldrich, Jr. G, Rancho Buena Vista

Jalen Williams, Jr. G, San Marcos

Tavid Johnson, So. G, Parker

First-team/ Second team bubble:

Chris Carrillo, Sr. G, La Jolla Country Day - First teamer last season, a lot will depend on how the Torreys finish in Coastal League

Tristan Anderson, So. G, Olympian - Tremendous sophomore campaign bolstered by excellent performance in win over Montgomery

Xair Mendez, Sr. G, Montgomery - Gifted scorer has matured in his final season

Patrick O'Brien, Sr. G, Cathedral Catholic - Second teamer last season still a triple double threat for the likely Open Division qualifiers

Dylan Griffin, Sr. W, University City - Dominant scoring and rebounding wing singlehandedly makes his team a competitive D1 squad

Alek Sanchez, Sr. G, Montgomery - Unsung catalyst for the No. 1 Aztecs

Pablo Balderas, Sr. F, Mission Bay - the county's most improved player averaging a double double for the Bucs, who are close to locking up a return to the Open Division.

Elijah Stephes, Sr. F, Sage Creek - Singularly dominant forward averaging 22 and 8 for the Bobcats, who just beat St. Augustine, bolstering his first-team case.

Wyatt Tilson, Jr. F, La Jolla Country Day - The second leading scorer and leading rebounder for the Torreys has had massive games against top competition

Dax Hall, Jr. G, Santa Fe Christian - Leader of the biggest surprise of the year, as the Eagles are on the verge of making the Open Division. Had big games earlier against Mission Bay and Montgomery

Caleb Newton, Jr. G, Mission Bay - Buccaneers leading scorer has become more consistent in Year 2 in San Diego

Richie Ramirez, So. G, San Marcos - The Knights second leading scorer, rebounder and one of the top distributors in the section has been averaging nearly a triple double in league play.

Second team bubble:

Jordan Garner, Sr. G, Carlsbad - Breakout senior has become the Lancers' second leading scorer and top defender.

Isaiah Marte, Sr. G, San Diego - Arguably the best shooter in the D1/Open bubble is averaging 20 points per game on 50/42/85 splits to lead the Cavers to a 19-4 record.

Tevaris Green, Jr. W, Torrey Pines - The most improved 2026 player has become Torrey Pines second leading scorer.

Angel Ochoa, Sr. G, Victory Christian - The Knights leading scorer at 20 points per game a year after leading the county in scoring at St Joseph Academy

PJ Jourdain, Sr. G, Cathedral Catholic - Took a big leap in his senior year to become the Dons' second leading scorer. at 17.6 ppg.

Juju Lebel, Jr. W, Christian - One of the top scorers in Division 2 is averaging a double double to push the Patriots to a potential Eastern League co-championship.

Diego Ortiz, Jr. G, Mira Mesa - Prolific scoring guard the catalyst to the Marauders 19-3 start.

RJ Miller, Jr. F, Madison - The burly junior forward is averaging nearly a double double at 14.4 ppg and 9 rpg for the Warhawks, who are in the drivers seat for the City League title.

Just outside of the short list:

Jasper Buck, Sr. G, La Costa Canyon

Gavin Guinn, Sr. G, Vista

Aaron Owens, Sr. F, Bonita Vista

Lucas Myer, Sr. W, Bishop's

Grant Rodriguez, Jr. G, Poway

Caleb Thach, Sr. G, Steele Canyon

Leo Hawkinson, Sr. G, La Jolla

Lincoln Grogan, Jr. G, St. Augustine

Lower division standouts who likely won't make an all-Section team

There are plenty of players who have had very good seasons but for various reasons - mainly because they play in lower divisions -- likely won't have much traction for an all-section selection.

Loxly Johnson, Sr. G, Coronado

Andre Dankha, Granite Hills

Lincoln Zetmeier, Valley Center

Jeremiah Turner, Tri-City Christian

Grant Stewart, Point Loma

JC Acosta, Vincent Memorial

Noah Soltero, Southwest SD

Elliott Watkins, Fallbrook

Mickelson Laguerre, Crawford

Omar Krenbeh, Mar Vista

Patrick Delahoussaye, Foothills Christian