There was no hiding Santa Cruz High’s DeMarco Hunter on the basketball court. Every opposing coach knew that if his team hoped to beat the Cardinals, his players had to limit the damage done by the 6-foot-6 forward, a third-year varsity talent.

Most of their attempts were futile.

“He can score at all three levels,” Cardinals coach Lawan Milhouse said. “The thing I like most: he can change the game at both ends of the court. He was a dominant rebounder, and, if he didn’t get the block, he was changing people’s shot. And on the offensive end, it was, ‘OK, now you gotta stop me.’ I know I’m a coach and I shouldn’t be in awe, but there were so many times where I was like, ‘How … how’d you do that?’ “

Hunter’s ability to finish was uncanny. He routinely penetrated double and triple teams for dozens of gravity defying finishes above the rim. (He was dunking by the time he entered eight grade.) He also made circus-like layups, pull-up jumpers, and buried it from beyond the arc, too.

Hunter, who shared Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League MVP honors with Aptos forward Isaiah Ackerman, was awarded another honor on Saturday: Cal-Hi Sports named him the Division IV State Player of the Year.

“That’s hella cool,” said Hunter on Sunday, after competing in an AAU tournament with the Oakland Soldiers’ 17U EYBL team in Los Angeles.

Hunter admitted he didn’t know this prestigious honor existed. “I wasn’t expecting this because we didn’t make it to the state final,” he said.He’s the first Cardinal to earn the honor since guard Junior Russell was named D-III State Player of the Year in 2004-05.

Hunter, who received his first NCAA D-I offer this season, recorded a whopping 30 double-doubles in 33 games this season. He averaged 25.5 points, 12.3 rebounds and 4.3 blocks.

“He’s super coachable,” Milhouse said. “He’s hard on himself, but he’s a great teammate and, probably, too unselfish. I’m always asking him to shoot it more. I’m happy for the kid. That’s a special accomplishment.”

In nonleague action, Hunter scored a career-high 40 points twice in wins over James Logan and AIMS College Prep at the Damian Lillard Classic in Oakland. And in seven playoff games, he averaged 28.7 points.

Hunter led the Cardinals (21-12 overall, 8-2 SCCAL) to the Central Coast Section D-III title after they finished in second place in the league. After securing the school’s first section title in 10 years, the Cardinals advanced to the CIF NorCal Regional final for a second straight season.

Hunter helped Santa Cruz reach the CIF D-III state championship game as a sophomore, and his Cardinals came one win shy repeating the feat in 2024-25 in D-IV.

“He goes to the state final as a sophomore and is one game away as a junior, playing with pretty much all new faces,” Milhouse said. “That’s pretty difficult.”

Hunter scored Santa Cruz’s first 29 points and finished with 33 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks in a win over Lincoln of San Francisco in the NorCal semifinals. In the regional final, a loss to eventual state champion Woodside Priory, he had 29 points and 15 rebounds.

Milhouse said Hunter had the greatest postseason he’s ever seen by a Cardinal. The coach anticipates his star will receive several more college offers this summer.

In addition to playing in L.A., Hunter and the Soldiers will compete in tournaments in Las Vegas, Indianapolis, and Kansas.

“There will be a lot of scouts watching; you get a lot of recognition from that,” Hunter said.