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Girls’ basketball coach of the year: Stan Delus of Etiwanda

Etiwanda coach Stan Delus gives instruction from the sideline during a game.
Stan Delus coached the Etiwanda High girls’ basketball team to a 29-1 record this season.
(Jeremiah Soifer)
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Stan Delus lost one of his best players to a season-ending injury in January. It didn’t prevent him from keeping Etiwanda High’s girls’ basketball team on a path to winning 29 consecutive games and the Southern Section Open Division championship.

The Eagles were a young team that faced repeated challenges because every opponent wanted to end the winning streak. It wasn’t until the Southern California regional final that Chatsworth Sierra Canyon was able to hand Etiwanda its only defeat.

Delus remained proud of what his team accomplished.

“It was such a pleasure to coach them all year,” said The Times’ girls’ basketball coach of the year. “They played so many tough games and almost got there. I have to give them credit for being so young and to do the best they could. They worked their tails off every practice. We came up short against a really talented team.”

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Etiwanda and Sierra Canyon are just beginning their rivalry.

“We’re disappointed, but the good thing is we have everyone back,” he said.

Corona Centennial’s Donovan Dent and Sierra Canyon’s Juju Watkins headline the L.A. Times’ All-Star boys’ and girls’ basketball teams. Read more here.

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