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Brandon Benjamin, a 6-foot-5 junior who averaged 13.7 points and 8.4 rebounds in 22 games for the Mater Dei High basketball team, has checked out of school and re-enrolled at Canyon of Anaheim, Monarchs Coach Gary McKnight confirmed Friday afternoon.

Benjamin was the Orange County Player of the Year last before transferring into Mater Dei.

He became eligible for the Monarchs after Christmas and was at his best for the Monarchs during the playoffs, including efforts of 22 points, 16 rebounds and six assists in the final CIF SS Open pool game with Roosevelt.

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BELLFLOWER – If the St. John Bosco High basketball team seemed reasonably comfortable in the most stressful of moments in its State Regional D-I semifinal with visiting Mater Dei Tuesday night, that’s with good reason:

Coach Matt Dunn’s Braves had grown used to playing ­– and winning – in that physical and emotional environment.

The hosts needed a four-minute overtime – and some significant defensive stands ­– to hold off their Trinity League rivals, 71-68, in front of an elbow-to-elbow crowd to earn a spot in Friday night’s State championship game in Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center.

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SANTA ANA – The Trinity League boys basketball championship was decided more than a month ago, when the Mater Dei High Monarchs held off St. John Bosco on their home floor, 72-66, on Jan. 30, for their second win over the Braves.

But those squads will meet for a third time Tuesday night with much more than a league banner at stake.

The Monarchs (29-5), following their 79-71, State Southern D-I regional semifinal win over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame Saturday night, will visit Bellower to play on the Braves’ home court.

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Seven-foot junior Nate Garcia has proven a difficult matchup for pretty much every opponent that the Damien High basketball team has faced this season.

Thursday night was no different.

The 250-pounder missed three of his first four shots against Redondo High before finishing converting nine of his final 10, finishing with 22 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots in the Spartans’ 74-54 victory over the visiting Sea Hawks in the State Southern Regional D-I quarterfinal.

The victory puts Coach Mike LeDuc’s team (28-5) into a Saturday, 7 p.m.,

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NEWPORT BEACH – Mission Bay High boys’ basketball coach Marshawn Cherry and his team made the 76-mile jaunt up the 5 Freeway Tuesday afternoon for its State Southern Regional Division II game at Corona del Mar High.

And the Buccaneers played just well enough to earn a near-double-the-distance drive Thursday for their second-round game.

Senior forward Charlie Hutchison scored half of his team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter and the visitors overcome some final-minute chaos to prevail, 57-55.

The win means another long bus ride for Cherry and his players – 140 miles or so, via the 5 and 405, to Northridge where they will take on top seed Heritage Christian Thursday night.

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