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Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

Monarchs never trail in Trinity win over JSerra

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SANTA ANA – The Mater Dei High boys’ basketball team did its part Friday night to set the stage for a Trinity League showdown with its St. John Bosco counterpart Saturday evening at the Crypto.com Arena.

The host Monarchs never trailed while improving its league and overall records to 2-0 and 16-1, respectively, with their 78-67 victory over visiting JSerra.

Coach Gary McKnight’s squad (No. 6 in the BurlisonOnBasketball Top 30 to the Lions’ No. 4) got 14 to 17 points from four players.

Junior  forward Brandon Benjamin leading the way while hitting six of nine from the field and all five free throws and grabbing six rebounds with five assists and two blocked shots.

Sophomores Brannon Martinsen (pictured) and Luke Barnett added 16 apiece, Martinsen grabbing four rebounds with three blocked shots while Barnett scored 13 of his points in the first half (including three 3s).

Junior Blake Davidson was five of six from the field and four of four on free throws for 14 points.

The Lions, who fell to 0-2 in league and 15-3 overall, will have to play their next game (Wednesday night’s home Trinity game against Orange Lutheran) without Head Coach Keith Wilkinson.

That’s because Wilkinson was ejected by the officiating crew – via two technical fouls – after he came well onto the floor with 3:07 remaining following a “no call” after JSerra forward Sebastian Rancik missing a driving shot despite what appeared to be contact by Martinsen on the attempt.

The 6-foot-10 Wilkinson (who played at Capistrano Valley and USC) made his displeasure evident more than just vocally – he pulled both of his red basketball shoes off his feet and tossed them onto the floor during the verbal outburst.

The Lions had pared a 15-point point deficit to seven points before Wilkinson’s ejection.

Rancik (who signed with the University of Colorado in November) scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds despite picking up his second foul with 1:23 to go in the first half, his third 30 seconds into the third quarter and his fourth with four minutes to go in the third.

Rancik, who missed all five of his fourth-quarter shots, picked up his fifth and disqualifying foul on a flagrant call against Davidson with 17.9 seconds to go and his team down nine points.

Senior guard Aidan Fowler – the Lions’ leading scorer this season – went scoreless in the first half (while missing eight shots) but scored a game-high 18 points after intermission.

Freshman forward G.C. Eboigbodin added eight points and 10 rebounds for JSerra.

No. 3 St. John Bosco (which improved to 2-0 in league and 15-2 overall with its 83-57 home win over Servite Friday night) swept the Monarchs last season on the way to an outright league championship.

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