Brad Bumgarner, with a father - Norman - who played basketball at St. Mary's College, seemed likely to take to the hardwood.

But Bumgarner also began playing soccer at an early age and it grew on him.

"I signed up for soccer when I was 5 years old and it just stuck with me more," Bumgarner said.

Good decision, as Bumgarner emerged into a star at Mountain View High, accumulating 25 goals and six assists this season - in just 16 matches - in leading the Spartans to a 16-3-1 record. For his efforts, he is the Prep2Prep Central Coast Section Senior of the Year.

"I like the teamwork involved and the fact you have to rely on other people," Bumgarner said.

One of Bumgarner's better efforts came as he scored a goal and had an assist in a 2-1 win over CCS Division II co-champ Serra and its star, Nick Schnabel.

The 6-foot, 160-pound forward also had five goals in a victory against Saratoga. It was his second game back after spraining his ankle and missing four games.

"It was great coming back and scoring five goals in my second game back was nice," Bumgarner said.

Bumgarner is no slacker in the classroom, either, with a 3.0 GPA.

Next year Bumgarner will play on scholarship at Cal State Sacramento.

"I'm very excited to play D-I next year," he said. "It will be hard, but I think I'll be able to contend pretty well."

Also considered: Logan Chapman, G, Los Gatos; Benito Chavez, F, Alisal; Christian Aldama, D, Bellarmine; Danny Pulido, D, Alisal; Nick Schnabel, F, Serra.

NOTE: We would like to thank our readers for all of the nominations you sent in for the season-ending CCS soccer awards. It is a daunting task to narrow down our selections to just the top few as we recognize there are lots of great players who make contributions on the court that are not necessarily well-documented but mean a great deal to the success of their teams. We salute all of the players that have made this a wonderful season of CCS soccer.