It was kind of like watching that hot sports car cruise through your neighborhood.

You think, boy, that car looks great and obviously has a lot of power. What can it do on an open highway?

That was the impression culled from the first observation of Mater Dei's boys basketball team as the Monarchs motored past Squalicum of Washington, 79-50, in the championship game of the Orange Holiday Classic, last week at Chapman University. They never really pushed the accelerator to the floor, because it was unnecessary, although the No. 1 team in USA Today's national rankings had to do plenty of that a few days before while beating nationally ranked competition to win the championship of the ridiculously rugged City of Palms Classic in Florida.

Just like in the classroom, high school kids in athletics need to be challenged to bring out their best.

The Monarchs might not be challenged much in the Trinity League:

• Santa Margarita is good but not as good as last year;

• JSerra saw top players like Demetrius Walker and Casey James transfer out when Tom Lewis resigned as coach;

• Orange Lutheran is skilled but not Mater Dei-type skilled;

• St. John Bosco of Bellflower seems to be a .500 team;

• Servite endured a rough December before beating Capistrano Valley on Saturday, although any team that plays at Servite's gym, like Mater Dei does in a league opener Friday, will encounter an unpredictable adventure.

Mater Dei might have to rev it up in a couple of nonleague games. The Monarchs travel to Springfield, Mass., to play Whitney Young of Chicago, which is led by 6-foot-2 senior Marcus Jordan, whose dad, Michael, was a good player for another Chicago team some years ago.

Mater Dei plays nationally third-ranked St. Benedict's of Newark, N.J., in the Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei on Feb. 7.

After that, maybe the CIF-Southern Section Division I-AA semifinals will be the next time the Monarchs have to rev 'er up.

Taking a look around Orange County high school sports:

• Best of the boys basketball league openers on Friday: Capistrano Valley at Dana Hills, in the South Coast League; Sonora at Sunny Hills, in the Freeway League; and Foothill at Huntington Beach, in the Sea View League.

• Edison basketball junior Kyle Boswell has played only five games this season because of a back injury that Chargers coach Rich Boyce said seems to be a muscle strain. Boswell, a 6-foot guard, set the school single-season scoring record last season.

• El Toro boys basketball's second-leading scorer, Justin France, could miss at least three weeks because of a knee injury that could be a torn meniscus (cartilage). An MRI will reveal specifics. El Toro, ranked fifth in the county and 11-4 going into this week, went 3-2 in the Senators Division of the Maxpreps Holiday Classic in Torrey Pines last week.

• Santa Margarita's Pat Moran was the most valuable player of last week's Century Holiday Classic, in which Santa Margarita beat Laguna Beach, 63-49, in the championship game. Moran, a 6-3 senior, scored 17 in that game. Daniel Munoz, a 5-11 senior who was a role player on the Eagles' state championship team last season, has transitioned into a scorer this year; he had 19 points against Laguna Beach.

• Another top player in the Century Holiday Classic was Laguna Beach 6-4 senior Ryan Lawler, who averaged 19 points as the Breakers went 3-1 in the tournament. Laguna Beach is a good outside-shooting team, is active and aggressive on defense, and has one of the county's top coaches, Bret Fleming.

• Los Alamitos' boys basketball team won the KSA Tournament in Orlando, Fla. The Griffins' James Walker was the tournament most valuable player. Walker, a 6-3 junior guard, is a constant-motion, high-energy player who is fun to watch.

• Girls basketball game of the week: Brea Olinda at Foothill, Saturday at 7 p.m. Brea is ranked No. 2 and Foothill is No. 3 in the county rankings. Foothill 6-1 senior forward Christina Marinacci, who signed with USC, might be the county's best player.

• Our boys soccer athlete of the week, Mater Dei's Chris Zamarippa, could be out for a few weeks because of a fractured ankle and fractured elbow. Zamarippa, who led the Monarchs to the championship of the Marina Tournament last week, suffered the injuries in a 3-2 victory over Fullerton in the tournament final Dec. 30.

• All-CIF-Southern Section football teams will be released soon after the section office receives all 13 divisional All-CIF teams. The Western Division, which is composed of five leagues of schools generally in the southwest part of Los Angeles County, is the only division yet to have sent its All-CIF team to the section office. We will post the teams at ocvarsity.com when we get them.

• Rumors of Mater Dei quarterback Matt Barkley possibly backing away from his commitment to USC should have been killed last month when Barkley's father Les and Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson literally laughed at the rumor before squashing it. Barkley is going to USC, and he is going to be the Trojans' starting quarterback sooner than some would guess. He was named MVP at the Under Armour All-American Game over the weekend, so it looks like Barkley has put his up-and-down senior year behind him.

• Tesoro quarterback Robbie Picazo, the county offensive player of the year, took a recruiting trip last week to Princeton.

• Coaches for the Orange County North-South All-Star Football Game will be announced March 9 at the National Football Foundation Orange County Chapter's Scholar-Athlete Banquet at Anaheim Convention Center. The event honors the county's high school and community college, and Chapman University, players who were all-league or all-conference first team while maintaining a grade-point average of at least 3.3. This year's game, annually organized by the Brea Lions, will be the 50th county all-star football game (date and location TBA).

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com