SANTA ANA – The Mater Dei basketball team didn’t earn any style points Friday night.
Scoring points were difficult too, but the top-ranked Monarchs eventually found a late spark to pull away from fourth-ranked Santa Margarita for a 52-44 home Trinity League victory.
The victory was about the only thing Coach Gary McKnight liked from the game.
“We have everybody back now, but we don’t seem to be better for it, where we should be,” he said “When we had guys out I thought the guys played a little harder because they were scared or a little hungry, but they had to play at a higher level to perform.
“Maybe they’re getting complacent … I don’t know. Maybe they’re going to get thumped here, if they’re not careful. I’ve seen it happen.
For McKnight, that extra effort wasn’t on display until late in game. Mater Dei (19-3, 7-0) trailed 33-31 late in the third period, but went on an 8-0 into the fourth to take the lead for good.
Pierre Aguirre provided a boost off the bench with his defense, leading to a couple of easy baskets. In the fourth, KJ Smith led the way, scoring seven of the first 10 points for the Monarchs to them pull away.
“He gave us a great spark, diving on a couple of loose balls (in the second half),” McKnight said of Aguirre. “He got everybody going.”
Smith finished with 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
The offensive struggles began early for the Monarchs, who missed six of their first seven shots from the field. They would regroup to take a seven-point lead after the first period.
The Monarchs ended up shooting 32 percent in the first half. Santa Margarita shot 31.8 percent.
Mater Dei led 23-21 at halftime.
Both teams saw an improvement, somewhat in the second half. The Eagles (13-5, 3-4) shot 40 percent from the field, while the Monarchs went up to 34.5 percent.
“We practice harder than we play at times,” McKnight said. “I thought in the second half, we showed some emotion and got after it, but you can’t rely on that. You have to rely on starting the game off on a high note and playing that hard for four quarters.”
The Eagles were without guard Noah Rasheed. Freshman Jordan Guest led the Eagles with 12 points. Kaden Rasheed added 10.
“We just didn’t have enough,” Santa Margarita coach Jeff Reinert said. “Credit to Mater Dei. They win in a variety of ways and people don’t give them credit, but they’re really, really good.”
Rex Pflueger ended up leading the Monarchs with 17 points. La’Vette Parker added 12 and MJ Cage had 10 and led the way with 14 rebounds.
The Monarchs won the first meeting, 73-69, Jan. 14
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
