SANTA ANA – Mater Dei’s pursuit of a CIF-SS boys basketball title got underway Friday night, and the Monarchs cruised to an easy victory.
Justice Sueing scored 18 points and Spencer Freedman added 16 as Mater Dei routed Crossroads of Santa Monica, 80-44, in the first round of the Open Division playoffs at Mater Dei High.
The Monarchs (29-1) have won 18 consecutive games and advance to a quarterfinal contest against Roosevelt of Eastvale, which beat Redondo Union on Friday. The game Tuesday will be at Mater Dei.
The No. 1-ranked Monarchs started a bit slow but erupted for a 25-3 surge in the second quarter to take command of the game.
“We set the tone early and brought our intensity,” said Sueing, who made 6 of 7 shots. “We’re well rounded and versatile and they didn’t respond to our run.”
Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight was impressed with his team’s performance.
“We really shot the ball well and showed a zone defense which we haven’t done much of this season,” said McKnight, whose team shot 56.4 percent, including 9 for 18 on 3-pointers.
Crossroads took a 14-13 lead following Ira Lee’s 3-point play with 3:22 left in the opening quarter.
However, Freedman nailed two 3-pointers down the stretch to give the Monarchs a 21-14 lead after eight minutes of play. Freedman had four 3-pointers and nine assists in the game.
Mater Dei switched to zone at the beginning of the second quarter and the Road-runners were unable to penetrate or get good looks. Michael Wang scored eight points in the quarter as the Monarchs opened a 46-17 lead at the break.
“We know we have a target on our back and tonight we had focus and intensity,” Freedman said.
Wang and 7-foot center Bol Bol each added 12 points, and Miles Brookins had eight rebounds for Mater Dei.
Shareef O’Neal, the son of NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, led Crossroads with 20 points and Lee added 12.
