Mater Dei tops Foothill in Orange Holiday Classic
ORANGE - Mater Dei played well for only one quarter. It was enough.
The Monarchs outscored Foothill by 15 points in the second quarter to take a big lead and cruised to a 69-48 victory in an Orange Holiday Classic semifinal game at Chapman University.
Mater Dei (12-1), ranked No. 1 in Orange County, will play No. 3 Canyon (13-1) in the tournament's championship game today at 8:30 p.m. at Chapman. Mater Dei beat Canyon in last year's Orange Holiday Classic semifinals before beating Foothill in the championship game, and beat Canyon in the championship game of the Loara Tournament earlier this month.
Foothill (10-3), ranked No. 7 in the county, will play Jesuit of Carmichael (9-3) in the third-place game today at 6:50 p.m.
Three Monarchs scored in double figures. Junior forward Xavier Johnson had a game-high 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting, and freshmen Shaqquan Aaron and Stanley Johnson scored 11 and 10, respectively.
Junior guard Adrian Garcia led Foothill with 10 points. Foothill shot 38 percent from the floor, not close to Mater Dei's 57 percent.
The Knights had a five-point lead early in the first quarter when Mater Dei went on a 10-4 run to take a 17-16 advantage into the second quarter. That second quarter was the big one for Mater Dei. The Monarchs scored 19 of the quarter's first 23 points, and overall outscored the Knights, 23-8, in the quarter to take a 40-24 lead into halftime.
Mater Dei built the lead to 23 going into the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
The Monarchs played in the prestigious, highly competitive City of Palms Tournament in Florida and finished third before playing in the Orange Holiday Classic. Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight said the Monarchs have not played close to that in this week;s tournament.
"Since we got back from Florida, the effort just has not been there," McKnight said. "Tonight was actually better than last night (Tuesday). Last night was one of the worst efforts in all of my time at Mater Dei."
Given that time covers more than 900 games coaching the Monarchs, that is quite a statement.
Also in the Orange Holiday Classic:
No. 3 Canyon 69, Jesuit of Carmichael 61: JoJo Ballestero scored 25 points, including five 3-pointers, as the Comanches (13-1) advanced the championship game.
Chris Anderson added 17 points for Canyon, which had a 21-13 lead after the first quarter that was tightened to 32-30 at halftime. Ballestero made two 3-pointers in the third quarter.
