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  • Stanley Johnson has been in the middle of all the...

    Stanley Johnson has been in the middle of all the attention at Mater Dei, but the Monarchs likely would not be playing for a fourth consecutive state title without the season-long contributions of, from left, La'Vette Parker, Rex Pflueger, MJ Cage and Isaiah Juarez. Mater Dei faces Bishop O'Dowd of Oakland in the CIF State Open Division title game.

  • The Mater Dei basketball team is trying to win its...

    The Mater Dei basketball team is trying to win its fourth state title and go undefeated this season. Stanley Johnson, front, leads the lineup with La' Vette Parker from left, MJ Cage, Rex Pflueger and Isaiah Juarez.

  • The Mater Dei basketball team is trying to win its...

    The Mater Dei basketball team is trying to win its fourth state title and go undefeated this season. Stanley Johnson , front, leads the lineup with La' Vette Parker, from left, Rex Pflueger, MJ Cage and Isaiah Juarez.

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SANTA ANA — There have been more talented Mater Dei boys basketball teams. There have been more dominant ones. There surely have been deeper ones.

These Monarchs are unbeaten yet not unbeatable. They are also one win away from completing the most prolific season in the basketball program’s storied tradition.

“This team has overachieved,” Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight. “They’re definitely one of the best as far as being the best we can possibly be.”

Mater Dei is 34-0 and on the precipice of history as it heads into Saturday’s CIF State Open Division title game in Sacramento against Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland.

No school has ever won four consecutive upper-division state titles. No Mater Dei team has gone undefeated with a state crown. McKnight’s 1985 squad went 29-0 but didn’t play for state because the CIF Southern Section didn’t send any teams to the tournament that season.

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CIF State Championships

Mater Dei (34-0) vs. Bishop O’Dowd (28-4)

Saturday, 8 p.m., at Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento

Preview: A look at the Open Division matchup

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“I knew that since freshman year,” Mater Dei All-American Stanley Johnson said. “We have a book with all the records and I tried to make goals of what I wanted to break. Most of them I’ve done already. The team one was the biggest one.”

It’s taken a team around Johnson to do it. As the 6-7 point forward opened his final season on a scoring spree, fellow starters MJ Cage, Rex Pflueger, La’Vette Parker and Isaiah Juarez readily deferred to Johnson while finding other ways to contribute.

Juarez, a senior guard, developed into a solid perimeter defender. He’s been the team’s third-leading scorer in the postseason, this after being the fifth option during the regular season. Parker, a junior guard, has also made his mark on defense while leading the team in 3-point shooting and free-throw shooting.

Pflueger, a 6-6 junior wing, has carried the offense for brief periods. McKnight considers him the team’s best defender. Cage, a 6-10 sophomore, has been a vital cog on offense and defense. He’s averaging 14.9 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.6 blocks.

“It’s been a long season, “McKnight said. “They’re resilient. They battle through a lot of things and they adapt to whatever type of team we’re playing.”

And rarely do any of the five come out of a game.

The first real threat to Mater Dei’s perfect season came against O’Dowd in a tournament in Las Vegas in December. Johnson was still carrying a disproportionate load then, collecting 25 points and eight rebounds as the Monarchs prevailed in overtime.

The other four starters took turns co-starring in the Monarchs’ close calls thereafter.

Parker made four 3-pointers in the third quarter in the Monarchs’ January comeback victory against St. John Bosco. Pflueger scored 30 points as Mater Dei held off Neumann-Goretti of Philadelphia at a showcase in Massachusetts the following week. Johnson scored a season-low 12 points and battled foul trouble in that one.

Four players scored in double digits when Mater Dei needed overtime to outlast Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Montebello in the first round of the CIF-SS playoffs. The Monarchs wouldn’t have edged out Chino Hills in the Open Division section title game two weeks later without Juarez making four of the team’s 14 field goals.

Against Etiwanda in the state tournament, Mater Dei rallied from a six-point hole in the fourth quarter as Johnson scored nine consecutive points. He had 28 of the Monarchs’ 31 points over the course of two overtimes and the fourth quarter.

It was the latest herculean effort by a player widely considered to be the best in Orange County history. But Mater Dei isn’t in position to make history without Cage’s 13 points and 14 rebounds in that game, either.

“There’s been a lot of growth as individuals,” Johnson said. “Everybody has their time and place when they’re going to shine. Everybody has their games.”

The final three minutes of the Monarchs’ last contest served as a microcosm for just how far Johnson’s supporting cast has come.

Mater Dei trailed Westchester of Los Angeles by six points with 2:48 remaining in the regional finals this past Saturday. It was the biggest hole the Monarchs had been in that late in a game all season.

“(Losing) never really goes through my mind with this team,” Parker said. “I just knew we were somehow going to pull it out.”

Johnson initiated the rally by getting to the line and making two free throws. Cage’s box-out on the ensuing possession cleared the way for a Johnson rebound. After Cage grabbed an offensive rebound over three Westchester players, he air-balled the follow-up, which Parker intuitively plucked out of the air before drawing a foul and making two free throws.

Parker, alongside Pflueger, then double-teamed Westchester star Elijah Stewart, causing a turnover. Johnson drove through the lane and passed up a good look for a better one, flipping the ball to Juarez for the tying layup.

Johnson soon closed out the victory at the free-throw line.

“They’re exceptionally disciplined and well-coached,” Westchester coach Ed Azzam said. “They don’t make many mistakes. It goes back to the ability to guard Stanley. He’s a mismatch no matter who’s guarding him. He makes scoring opportunities for everyone.”

It took Mater Dei 80 seconds to complete the comeback. For one more game, it’ll take Johnson and the other 80 percent of the starting five to complete perfection.

Contact the writer: amaya@ocregister.com