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Damian Calhoun. Sports Newsroom Assistant.

// MORE INFORMATION: Associate Mug Shot taken August 24, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

The Mater Dei boys basketball team had moments where it looked ready to take the lead away from Chino Hills on Tuesday night.

However, each time the Monarchs got within striking distance, the Huskies had a response, eventually sprinting away to an 84-73 victory over Mater Dei in the Platinum Division final of the Tarkanian Classic at Bishop Gorman High.

“We ran out of gas,” Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight said. “We didn’t rebound and gave them too many extra shots.”

This was the first meeting between the teams since the CIF-SS Open Division semifinal that saw Chino Hills defeat Mater Dei, 102-54.

“I’m hopeful we can learn from this,” McKnight said. “They’re a very good team, but there are other really good SoCal teams.”

Chino Hills is ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today, and Mater Dei is ranked No. 5.

Chino Hills (11-0) led 36-31 at halftime and from there Mater Dei (11-1) was left fighting uphill in the second half.

After a 3-point field goal by Justice Sueing cut the Huskies’ lead to 44-38, they responded with a three-point play.

Later, Michael Wang drilled a 3-point field goal to cut Chino Hills’ lead to 52-46. The Huskies responded with a quick 6-0 run to retake command of the game.

Later, after a 3-point play from Sueing cut the lead to 58-52, LaMelo Ball came down and hit a 3-pointer. 

Chino Hills’ largest lead in the second half was 80-66.

“They got 20 more shot attempts,” McKnight said. “We gave up 18 offensive boards and they had 84 shots and that makes a huge difference.”

Chino Hills senior LiAngelo Ball scored 25 points and had five rebounds, while LaMelo Ball had 21 points with 11 assists. Eli Scott finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Scott and LiAngelo Ball were named tournament co-MVPs.

Sueing led the Monarchs with 27 points and seven rebounds.