SANTA ANA – Isaiah Juarez played four minutes last season.
Juarez expected more minutes would be in store for him this season, his senior year on the Mater Dei basketball team.
Monarchs coach Gary McKnight projected Juarez to be the team’s seventh man, the second player off the bench.
Then, just as the school year was about to start, 6-foot-11 sophomore Jayce Johnson transferred to JSerra. A week into the season, 6-5 senior Mario Soto left for Saddleback Valley Christian.
Two starters gone. Two doors open.
Juarez, a 6-3 guard, was ready to make his entrance.
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TODAY’S GAME
Open Division Regional Final
Mater Dei vs. Westchester
At Citizens Business Bank Arena, 8 p.m.
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“I knew this would be my time,” he said in the Mater Dei gym after practice Thursday. “I’ve been working my butt off since I got here my sophomore year.”
Juarez is not one of the offensive stars for Mater Dei, which plays Westchester of Los Angeles in the CIF Southern California Regionals Open Division final today at 8 p.m. at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario. The Monarchs have plenty of those, with All-American Stanley Johnson, rising sophomore MJ Cage and steady junior Rex Pflueger.
Juarez, hard-nosed and serious on the court and personable off it, knows his role.
“Defense, rebounding and making sure I finish when I get an open lane,” Juarez said. “Make no turnovers, look for MJ and look for Stan, move the ball around.”
McKnight appreciates it all.
“Isaiah can get up and block shots, and he can really defend,” McKnight said. “He’s done a good job and gained confidence as the season’s gone on.”
That growing confidence has made Juarez more of an offensive contributor in the playoffs. He is the team’s third-leading scorer in the CIF-Southern Section and Southern California Regionals games, at 9 points per game. Juarez picked a good time to have his best offensive output of the season – 17 points in the Monarchs’ overtime win over Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Montebello in the CIF-SS Open Division playoff opener.
Juarez transferred to Mater Dei from Sunny Hills before his sophomore year. He knew some of his new teammates, especially Johnson. Juarez played with Johnson on the SoCal Tigers youth basketball team, coached by Johnson’s mom, Karen Taylor.
Juarez gives Coach Karen much credit for his growth.
“She was my motivator, the one who pushed me,” he said. “She’s a ‘go hard, work your butt off, no excuses, get the job done’ coach.”
Juarez gets some of his athletic drive from home, too. His mother, who ran the 400 and 800 meters in the Olympic Trials, coaches track and field at Warren High of Downey, and his father is a personal trainer.
Still, with that athletic DNA and the no-nonsense coaching, Juarez had some butterflies when the starting opportunity came this past December.
“I was very nervous,” he said. “About the fourth game into the season, I found my role with the team.”
Playing on the team with Johnson, who was named Gatorade state player of the year Friday, has been special.
“I love it,” Juarez said. “I’m going up against the best player every day in practice.”
Juarez figures that playing against his teammates in practice and the high level of competition Mater Dei has seen during the season, especially in the playoffs, will have him ready for more challenges in college basketball. He is not sure what college that will be, but he plans to continue playing somewhere.
Until then, he is hoping for a win tonight that would send the Monarchs to Sacramento for a chance at a fourth consecutive CIF State championship.
Juarez has been an important component to that drive for a state title, although just a few months ago he did not know how much of a component he would be.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
