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SANTA ANA – Fresh fruits and vegetables have given MJ Cage a fresh approach to basketball.

“I have more energy now,” Cage said.

Cage energized Mater Dei on Thursday. He scored 22 points with 16 rebounds and eight blocked shots as the Monarchs defeated Price of Los Angeles, 65-56, at Mater Dei in an Open Division first-round game of the CIF-Southern Section boys basketball playoffs.

Mater Dei (25-3) will play Chino Hills (14-12) in the second round Wednesday at Chino Hills. Chino Hills’ record includes seven wins that became forfeits when it was discovered Chino Hills used an ineligible player in those wins.

It will be a rematch of last year’s CIF-SS Open Division championship game. Mater Dei won it, 48-44, as Stanley Johnson scored 28 points for the Monarchs.

They don’t have Johnson. He is at Arizona for what might be a brief stay before heading to the NBA. Mater Dei does have a few players from that team, including Cage, La’vette Parker and Rex Pflueger.

Parker scored 18 points with four 3-pointers. Pflueger scored 12 including a clutch 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.

Mater Dei jumped to a 10-0 lead and was ahead by 17 points in the second quarter. Price (21-6) scored the final eight points of the half and the Monarchs took a 34-25 lead into halftime.

Price kept the pressure on in the third quarter and took a 40-39 lead. That would be the Knights’ only lead.

Mater Dei carried a 48-47 lead into the fourth quarter.

Cage, who said he has changed his diet and is spending more time on pregame stretching, scored eight points in the fourth quarter. Many of his points came from offensive rebounds and nice passes from Bailey Stout (five assists) and others.

His best basket of the game was on a fast break. Body contact on the drive sent Cage twisting so, with his back to the basket after the foul, Cage flipped the ball over his shoulder and into the basket and made the free throw to complete the three-point play.

“This was the best he’s played offensively,” Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight said of Cage, a 6-foot-10 junior. “He went hard to the basket, and he played well at both ends of the court.”

Pflueger’s 3 later in the quarter put the Monarchs on top, 57-52.

Now it’s on to Chino Hills to play the Huskies and their Ball brothers, Andre and Lonzo, who also were top players on last year’s Huskies.

Lonzo Ball, a 6-foot-5 junior point guard, had 35 points, 12 rebounds and six assists against Long Beach Poly on Thursday.

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com