SANTA ANA – The frustration from the Roosevelt of Eastvale bench became more and more apparent as the night progressed and the heaves from beyond NBA 3-point range continued to fly.
The defensive effort Mater Dei played with was inspired for stretches on Tuesday night, and with a 7-foot shot-blocker spooking potential penetrators from even attempting to attack the rim, the Monarchs used its defense to set the stage for a highly anticipated rematch Friday night with a familiar foe.
Third-seeded Mater Dei forced Roosevelt to chuck up 30 3-point attempts, dominated the boards, and used its unselfish play on the offensive end to claim a 71-55 victory in the CIF-SS Open Division quarterfinals at Mater Dei High.
The Monarchs (30-1) will play second-seeded Chino Hills on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. at USC’s Galen Center in the semifinals. Roosevelt (19-7) moves to the division’s consolation bracket.
While the Mustangs’ Jared Williams and Matt Mitchell each put up a game-high 18 points a piece, the duo did so by shooting a combined 7 of 23 from beyond the 3-point line. Roosevelt shot 11 of 30 from distance, which accounted for more than 50 percent of its field goals on the night.
Mater Dei shot 58 percent from the field (29 of 50) and had four players finish in double figures. Justice Sueing and Harrison Butler each scored 15 points. Michael Wang added 13 points and Bol Bol finished with 10. The Monarchs had assists on 16 of their 29 makes. They also added 16 second-chance points on 10 offensive rebounds.
“They came at us,” Sueing said of Roosevelt. “We were going back-and-forth there in the beginning, but we took over the game in the second quarter. Started to get our way. We’re very versatile, very well-rounded, and I think that’s where we took off.”
The teams traded leads seven times in the first 10-plus minutes of the game. With Roosevelt leading 23-20 three minutes into the second quarter, Mater Dei went on a 16-2 run over the final five minutes of the half to take a 36-25 lead into the intermission.
Bol swatted away four shots in the opening half, and finished with five blocks.
“It’s taken us awhile to adapt,” Coach Gary McKnight said of the addition of Bol. “We were 20-1 without him. Then all of a sudden he shows up, and it’s a different style. It just changed the game. I think we took two steps back, and now we’re taking three steps forward.”
The Monarchs previously played Chino Hills in December in the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas and suffered its only loss of the season to the Huskies, 84-73.
“We have to play our style and we have to play well,” McKnight said. “Last year we got thoroughly embarrassed out there at Chino. In Las Vegas it was a pretty good game, but they were still 10 or 11 points better than us. So it will be interesting to see how it plays out.”
Contact the writer: kconnolly@scng.com