SANTA ANA, Ca. – To beat a Mater Dei High basketball team, especially within the walls of the program’s snazzy Meruelo Athletic Center, an opponent is best advised to bring its “A game” – and then some.
The L.A. Fairfax Lions brought a 25-0 record into the building for the end of a nine-game Saturday schedule of the 20th Nike Extravaganza.
But Coach Harvey Kitani’s club was well short of “acing” its performance against the Monarchs – most especially on the offensive end of the floor.
What they turned in was something well short of a “passing” grade, too – most especially on the offensive of the floor – which is why the Lions filed out of the place into a mild “winter” Saturday night with the first loss, 47-34, after a game played in front of an estimated (by me) gathering of 3,000-plus.
Despite scoring the game’s first nine points, the Monarchs trailed the Lions 29-24 a couple of minutes into the third quarter.
But they ratcheted their defense a couple of notches and held the Lions, and their terrific set of seniors guards in Lindsey Drew and Lorne Currie, to five points the rest of the way, scoring the final 13 points to improve to 22-3.
The Lions hit just .313 from the field (15 of 48) and hit .500 in their two trips to the free-throw line while committing 15 turnovers.
Coach Gary McKnight’s team didn’t shoot a lot better from the field (.357) but converted 13 of 18 free-throw attempts and was credited with nearly as many blocked shots and steals (seven each) as it was turnovers (just eight).
Rex Pflueger’s pass from the high post led directly to La’Vette Parker’s 3 from the left corner that put the Monarchs ahead with three minutes remaining and trigged the 13-zip run.
Parker, who scored 18 points Friday night in the 62-40 win over Colony, missed 12 of his 19 attempts from the field (including seven of 10 from behind the arc) while finishing with a game-high 22 points.
But, seemingly, every one of the seven field goals he hit was critical and a figurative dagger into the side of the Fairfax squad.
Pflueger was the only other Monarch to score in double figures (11) and missed eight of his 12 shots from the field (including all four 3s).
But he continued to look like a strong contender for “Best defender in Southern California” honors with his work against Fairfax’s best player, Drew (four of 12 shooting and 13 rebounds but five turnovers) and also tossed in four defensive rebounds, four assists and a steal while only turning the ball over once.
And junior center Michael Cage Jr. missed all four of his shots from the field for the Monarchs but snatched 12 defensive rebounds and was credited with six blocks, three assists and a steal.
If you were among those in the building or who watched via the www.foxsports.com live-streaming who dug the defensive tenacity on display (the teams combined to shoot .333 from the field), there is a reasonable opportunity to see a rematch in March, either in the semifinals or final of the State Southern Regional Championships.
In the other eight games played Saturday (listed in reverse order of the sequence in which they were played):
*Mouth of Wilson (VA) Oak Hill Academy 63, Oakland (CA) Bishop O’Dowd 52: The Warriors overcame some sloppiness with the ball (15 turnovers) and paltry shooting from behind the arc – they missed 10 of 11 3-point attempts – to improve their “official” record to 29-0 with their second victory this season over the best team from Northern California.
One of the Warriors “victories” is one of the forfeit variety after the team they lost to in (Memphis Hamilton) was found to have been using an ineligible player in the game.
McDonald’s All-American Dwayne Bacon (Florida State signee) finished with a game-high 22 points for Oak Hill about 24 hours after scoring 24 in his team’s 64-60 win against Chatsworth (CA) Sierra Canyon in Day I of the Extravaganza.
The Warriors also got the usual solid contributions from both sides of the floor out of point guard Terrence Phillips (just six points but four assists and six steals) and an exception effort from reserve center Kahdim Sy (10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks).
O’Dowd’s McDonald’s All-American, Ivan Rabb, had 15 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks while Boise State signee Paris Austin led the squad with 20 points.
The Warriors also prevailed against O’Dowd in the final of a pre-Christmas tournament in Hawaii.
*Las Vegas Bishop Gorman 72, Etiwanda 51: The Gaels were in front by 11 at intermission and were never, in reality, “threatened” in the second half as the all-senior frontcourt of Nick Blair, Chase Jeter and Stephen Zimmerman combined for 48 points, 30 rebounds and a bunch of dunks.
With dad sitting at the end of the bench as an assistant coach and grandparents “Big Ed” and Madeline O’Bannon in the stands behind the Gorman bench, Gaels sophomore wing Charles O’Bannon Jr. added 15 points.
The Eagles shot just .309 from the field as Pepperdine-bound forward Kameron Edwards scored 20 points to go with eight rebounds.
*Chino Hills 58, L.A. Westchester 52: With his sophomore brother (and the squad’s second-best player) Li’Angelo Ball sitting on the bench with the ankle sprain he suffered Tuesday night, junior Lonzo Ball scored 34 points as the Huskies held off the Comets.
It was anything but an impressive jump shooting performance by Ball – he was just 11 of 29 from the field – but the 6-5 junior contributed in a multitude of other ways via 13 rebounds, three assists (with four turnovers), four blocks and six steals.
Junior center Keith Fisher (a transfer from Long Beach Rancho Dominguez who didn’t become eligible until early last month) led the Comets with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
*Corona Centennial 69, Bellflower St. John Bosco 66: The Huskies were in an early 12-point (20-8) hole before gaining the momentum in the second quarter.
And that was in large part because of the jump shooting of junior Jordan Griffin (five 3s en route to 21 points) and all-around performance of 6-9 sophomore Jalen Hill (10 points and eight rebounds; he was credited with three blocks but it seemed like he had twice that many).
When the Braves mounted a comeback of their own in the fourth quarter (after being down by 12 points), it was senior guard Sedrick Barefield who seemingly hit every key shot and made every critical play down the stretch while finishing with 24 points, six rebounds, seven assists (with four turnovers).
Vance Jackson, Rocket Henderson and newcomer J.J. Watson (deemed eligible two days earlier after transferring from Diamond Ranch on Monday) scored a cumulative 49 points for the Braves but missed a combined 30 of 45 shots from the field.
*Orange Lutheran 75, La Habra Sonora 72: The Lancers built a 20-point advantage one possession into the third quarter.
But they need a 3-point from the right corner by sophomore Chris Williams – set up by a pass from senior Rogers Printup – in the final seconds to secure the win.
Senior forward Ben Rico had tied the score on an eight-footer with 21 seconds to go for the Raiders in the battle between the No.’s 2&3 (behind Mater Dei, of course) clubs in Orange County.
Rico led all scorers with 24 points while senior guards Josh Rodriguez and Christian Rhodes added 18 and 17, respectively, while combining for 11 assists.
Printup scored 20 points (with nine rebounds and three steals) while classmate C.J. Hankins added 18 points and 12 rebounds and Williams kicked in 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.
*Anaheim Canyon 64, San Juan Capistrano Valley JSerra 50: The Comanches got double-figure scoring from four players (led by Kaleb Phillips’ 15 points) to overcome a three-point deficit at intermission.
Junior Alex Hickman paced the Lions with 21 points and seven rebounds.
*Los Alamitos 67, Villa Park 50: The Griffins got strong efforts out of senior post Jack Kaub and junior guard Eyassu Worku while improving to 22-2.
Kaub scored 24 points to go with nine rebounds and a couple of steals while Worku went for 20 points, five rebounds, seven assists three steals and just one turnover.
Sophomore Myles Franklin was the only Spartans to score in double figures (19 points) while hitting five of six attempts from behind the arc.
*Anaheim Servite 55, SJC St. Margaret’s 42: The Friars got things underway in a game that tipped off at 8:30 as senior guard Trevor Treinen led the way with 16 points.
Seniors Matt Nichols and Brent Cahill had 17 and 13 points, respectively, for the Tartans.
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