What first appeared to be a detriment to the Mater Dei girls basketball team might end up being a blessing in the long run.
When star senior Katie Lou Samuelson went down with a knee injury against Orange Lutheran on Monday, the Monarchs might have collectively held their breath, but in two games without her, they haven’t skipped a beat.
In each game, a different player has stepped in to fill the scoring void. On Thursday night against No. 4 JSerra, it was senior Andee Velasco, who scored a a season-high 22 points for the top-ranked Monarchs in a 58-34 Trinity League victory.
Normally a facilitator, the LMU-bound point guard was seemingly unstoppable in the first half, with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor, allowing the Monarchs (21-1, 5-0) to open a 41-16 lead at the break. Velasco, at 5-foot-8, also led the Monarchs on the boards with seven rebounds and snagged five steals.
“She had a great run in the first half,” Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan said. “She can score. We’ve asked her to look for (Samuelson) a lot and she’s sacrificed that. Tonight, that’s exactly what we needed from her.”
Ten other Mater Dei players scored and none tallied more than five points, but Kiernan felt it was beneficial to play without Samuelson against a quality opponent, even though the Connecticut commit is expected to return to action soon.
“I mean, she could be in foul trouble (in the playoffs),” Kiernan said. “If Katie Lou is out of the game, other people have to score. Tonight is great practice for that and might help us down the road. You never want to see Katie Lou (on the bench), but for the other kids, that first half was really good.”
JSerra (15-6, 3-2), which was without senior Coco Miller, struggled offensively in the first half and shot 2 of 17 from 3-point range, but got consistent play from point guard Lexi Vail. The sophomore did her best to handle the constant pressure from the Mater Dei defense and finished with a team-high 14 points.
“She was just really confident tonight and it showed in how she carried the ball down the court,” JSerra coach Mary Rossingnol said.
In the South Coast League:
San Clemente 59, Tesoro 51: The Tritons (13-7, 4-1) moved into a first-place tie with the Titans (18-4, 4-1) with the victory at Tesoro. Tesoro defeated San Clemente in their first two meetings this season, by margins of 59-41 and 77-62.
In the Garden Grove League:
Garden Grove 35, Rancho Alamitos 34: The Argonauts (13-9, 6-0) took a commanding lead in league with their second win over the second-place Vaqueros (10-7, 4-2).
Sophomore Vea Gauta had a game-high 17 points for Garden Grove. Gabrielle Carbajal had a team-high 12 points for Rancho.
Contact the writer: jbalan@ocregister.com
