Mater Dei rallies, reaches CIF state championship

Westchester's Ellis Salluhudin, left, and Mater Dei's La'vette Parker scramble for a loose ball in the CIF Open Division Regional Final on Saturday in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena. The Monarchs won, 59-54.
Mater Dei's Stanley Johnson adds two points to his 10 points against Westchester in the CIF Regional Final in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Mater Dei's Isaiah Juarez goes for two points against Westchester in the Open Division Regional Final Saturday in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight holds up the championship plaque after defeating Westchester 59-54 in the CIF Regional Final in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Mater Dei players gather for a photo after beating Westchester, 59-54, to become the Open Division Regional champs Saturday at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Mater Dei's Stanley Johnson takes a moment to greet Ayden Quinn, coach Jason Quinn's son, after they defeat Westchester in the Open Division Regional Final Saturday in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Mater Dei's Michael Cage gets an early dunk against Westchester in the Open Division Regional Final Saturday in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Mater Dei's bench explodes as it becomes apparent they would defeat Westchester in the Open Division Regional Final Saturday in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Mater Dei's La'Vette Parker drains a one of his three 3-pointers in the Monarchs' victory over Westchester 59-54 in the Open Division Regional Final Saturday in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Mater Dei's Stanley Johnson drives on Westchester defenders to score in the Open Division Regional Final Saturday in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Mater Dei's Isaiah Juarez waits for Westchester's Ellis Salluhudin to fly over his head before taking a shot in the Open Division Regional Final Saturday in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Mater Dei's Stanley Johnson drains the decisive free throws in the 59-54 victory over Westchester in the Open Division Regional Final Saturday in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Mater Dei's Charles Pflueger, left, and Isaiah Juarez are nervous after Pflueger fouls Layon Gooden, right on knees, at the three point line with only a four point lead in the late minutes of the fourth quarter during the Open Division Regional Final Saturday in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Mater Dei's Stanley Johnson watches as teammate Charles Pflueger drains critical free throws in their victory over Westchester in the Open Division Regional Final Saturday in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Mater Dei's fans do the popular "I believe that we will win" chant as the Monarchs faced Westchester in the Open Division Regional Final Saturday in Ontario at Citizens Business Bank Arena.

By Steve Fryer | sfryer@scng.com | Orange County Register

March 23, 2014 at 12:00 a.m.

ONTARIO – That was close.

Mater Dei trailed by six points with less than three minutes remaining, then scored 12 of the game’s final 13 points, mostly on free throws, to beat Westchester of Los Angeles, 59-54, in the CIF Southern California Regionals Open Division final.

The Monarchs (34-0) will play Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland (28-4) in the CIF State Championships in Sacramento on Saturday. Mater Dei beat O’Dowd, 63-59, in December.

Mater Dei’s recently named state player of the year Stanley Johnson had no baskets in the second half. But he made a string of crucial free throws in the fourth quarter. Johnson was 6 for 6 at the foul line in the final eight minutes.

Johnson finished with 19 points. He was 4 for 10 from the floor, 11 for 12 at the free-throw line. Johnson had a game-high nine rebounds.

La’Vette Parker scored 15 points for the Monarchs, and he made all three of Mater Dei’s 3-pointers. MJ Cage scored 13 points for Mater Dei.

Elijah Stewart led Westchester (30-7) with 19 points.

Mater Dei made 20 of its 24 free throws. Westchester made 9 of its 12 free throws.

Stewart made a 3-pointer with 2:42 left to give Westchester its biggest lead of the game, 53-47. The Monarchs then made a series of free throws, two from Parker, two from Johnson and two more from Parker to trim the Comets’ lead to 53-51.

Mater Dei tied it, 53-53, with 1:23 to go on Isaiah Juarez’s layup off of a deft pass from Johnson.

Rex Pflueger, who had a critical shot block in the final minute, made two throws with 47 seconds left to give Mater Dei a 55-53 lead. Johnson made four free throws in the final 22 seconds to secure the victory.

It was the second time Mater Dei and Westchester met in a Southern California Regionals final. Mater Dei lost to Westchester by three points in the Division 1 Regionals final in 2010.

Mater Dei had leads of 5-0 and 14-4 early before taking a 19-7 advantage into the second quarter.

Just a couple of minutes into the second quarter, it was 26-8 and the Monarchs had a 35-21 lead at halftime.

Westchester shot miserably in the first half, making only 7 of 31 shots. Mater Dei was much more efficient early, putting in 14 of 24 first-half shots.

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com