HUNTINGTON BEACH, Ca. – Gary McKnight’s Santa Ana Mater Dei may have lost three starters from last season to major college programs.
But don’t expect much drop-off at all from of the best high school programs in the U.S. of A.
That was evident Wednesday night with the Monarchs cruised to an 83-38 quarterfinal victory over Downey Warren in a quarterfinal of the Jim Harris Memorial Tournament of Championships at Ocean View High.
Katin Reinhart (UNLV) and Xavier Johnson and Eli Stalzer (both at Colorado) were key elements to Mater Dei’s run to Southern Section IAA and State Division I titles last spring.
But the return of key players in point guard Jordan Strawberry and wings Elijah Brown and Stanley Johnson provided a potent foundation for a club that will try to successfully those crowns in the coming spring.
Joining that threesome in the starting lineup Wednesday night were 6-foot-6, 230-pound senior Mike Tisdale and 6-5 junior Mario Soto, each of which contributed to the club last season.
And there is plenty of depth in place via a deep reservoir of post talent in 6-8 freshmen Michael Cage Jr. (his dad was of the better power forwards in the NBA and is now a television commentator) and Jayce Johnson, along with 6-6 sophomore Troy Kramer.
The backcourt depth is solid too, especially when Chris McNealey returns from injury to join fellow senior James McGee off the bench.
Brown (whose father, Mike, has had NBA head-coaching stints with Cleveland and most recently the Lakers and is known to offer a player a tip or two during practices) and Johnson are as potent of pair of scorers, from the wings, as any high school team in the west can offer up.
Things should be considerably tougher for the Monarchs in their Friday night 8’clock semifinal (they had a school scoring record in their 137-26 victory over Norwalk John Glenn Monday night) against Compton.
The Tarbabes edged Encino Crespi, 66-60, in late Wednesday night quarterfinal.
Coach Tony Thomas’ team is stacked with exceptional juniors, including a couple of bouncy wings, Isaiah Bailey and Iziahiah Sweeney, who should create some interesting matchups with Brown and Johnson.
Crespi has one of the best senior point guards in the region in Virginia-bound London Perrantes.
The standout for the Celtics on Wednesday night, however, was a 5-7 freshmen.
But Max Heidegger certainly played a lot bigger and beyond his chronological years against Compton, though.
He scored 28 points – a healthy hunk of those in the fourth quarter when he helped his team fight back from a double-digit deficit – on a variety of drives, floaters and mid-range jumpers.
A few years from now he and fellow frosh De’Anthony Melton (who scored nine points Wednesday) will make up one of the region’s best backcourts.
In the first quarterfinal played on Wednesday, the host Ocean View Seahawks held off Compton Dominguez, 73-69.
Terrific sophomore point guard Kendall Small led the winners with 32 points (17 from the free-throw line) while junior left-handed wing Dillon Reise chipped in with 19.
Senior point guard E.J. Johnson, sidelined last week during the Pacific Shores Tournament at Redondo High with a sore right shoulder, tallied points for the Dons.
Friday night’s first semifinal at 7:30 will have Ocean View against the winner of Thursday night’s JSerra vs. Clovis West quarterfinal, with Mater Dei taking on Compton at about 9 o’clock.
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