Mater Dei turns Trinity battle into blowout

With his team trailing by two points, Mater Dei boys basketball coach Gary McKnight called a timeout to restore order.

This occurred only one minute and fifteen seconds into the game.

The Monarchs, straightened out by McKnight's reminders-filled timeout, scored 16 of the first-quarter's final 20 points to surge ahead and then rolled from there for an 80-45 victory over JSerra in a Trinity League game Friday at JSerra High.

Katin Reinhardt scored 26 points for Mater Dei. Reinhardt, a 6-foot-5 senior guard who signed with UNLV, scored 20 in the second half. Xavier Johnson, a 6-7 senior who is a Colorado signee, scored 21 with 15 rebounds.

Jamal Aytes, a burly 6-7 junior, led JSerra with 19 points and nine rebounds.

Mater Dei (17-2, 4-0) is tied for first place in the Trinity League with St. John Bosco of Bellflower. Those two teams play next Friday at St. John Bosco. JSerra is 12-6 overall, 3-2 in league.

The Monarchs are ranked No. 1 in Orange County, and have defeated the teams ranked 2-5. They beat No. 2 Mission Viejo by 36 points, beat No. 3 Capistrano Valley by 36, beat No. 4 JSerra by 35 and beat No. 5 Orange Lutheran by 14.

Mater Dei's losses were to teams that are top-ranked in their states, and both occurred on long road trips - Grace Prep of Arlington, Texas, at the City of Palms Classic in Florida, and to Gill St. Bernard's of New Jersey at the Cancer Research Classic in West Virginia.

Mater Dei had not played since Monday, when they beat Christ the King of New York at the HoopHall Classic in Springfield, Mass. The school had semester exams this week, too.

Johnson said it was good to put the exams and the travel behind and get started on the final three weeks of league play.

"It felt good to come out here, play hard, and do our business," Johnson said.

In the South Coast League:

No. 3 Capistrano Valley 67, Tesoro 57: Nick Thomas scored 22 points, including five 3-pointers, for the host Cougars (19-2, 5-0).