BREA – It was almost impossible for the game to live up to the hype.
When the Open Division bracket was released 12 days ago, local fans salivated over a potential quarterfinal matchup between top-ranked Mater Dei and No. 2 Brea Olinda.
It had been three years since the Monarchs and Ladycats shared the same court, but there was one key ingredient added to the rivalry’s latest installment that was missing back in 2012: Katie Lou Samuelson.
Playing in front of a sold out gymnasium, the Monarchs senior star tallied a game-high 33 points in leading Mater Dei to an anticlimactic 77-50 win over Brea Olinda on Tuesday night in the CIF-SS Open Division quarterfinals.
The Monarchs (27-1) will host fourth-seeded Alemany of Mission Hills (24-5) on Friday night in the semifinals. The winner of that game earns a berth in the Open Division championship game.
“We were fired up to play tonight,” Monarchs coach Kevin Kiernan said. “We knew this would be a crazy atmosphere. This isn’t like every girls basketball game. Both these teams might play in a final somewhere. You’re just not going to play in front of a better crowd than this.
“We were all real fired up to play, and our seniors – Andee (Velasco) and Lou – were just awesome.”
Velasco and her sister, Bianca, were the only current players on the Mater Dei roster who were on the last team to play Brea back in 2012.
Being a rookie to the rivalry, it took Samuelson all of 25 seconds to understand the physicality these games are played with. The UConn-bound senior took a hand to the face on her first jump shot of the night, eventually ending up on her back when it was all said and done.
It proved to be a theme in the first two quarters, the 6-foot-3 wing finding a home at the free throw line.
Samuelson netted 24 points in the first half, going 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.
“Katie Lou is the real deal,” Ladycats coach Jeff Sink said. “That’s why she’s going to UConn and is going to be the next Diana Taurasi. Next to Diana, she’s the best kid I’ve seen.”
Mater Dei jumped out to a 22-12 lead after the first, and extended it to a 42-24 advantage by the break.
The Monarchs full-court press forced the Ladycats into 10 first half turnovers, and limited Brea (23-4) to a 9-for-25 shooting clip from the field.
Ladycats junior Reili Richardson hit the team’s only field goal of the third quarter on its first possession. With only six total points in the third, Brea found itself chasing 31 points headed into the fourth.
Velasco and Ally Rosenblum both finished with 13 points a piece for Mater Dei.
Richardson led Brea with 24 points, but 16 of those came down the stretch in the fourth quarter.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
