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Mater Dei wraps up Trinity League title with rout
SANTA ANA – Mater Dei clinched at least a share of the Trinity League championship with an 83-62 victory over St. John Bosco of Bellflower on Friday, the first day of the two-day Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei.
So how did Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight take this 21-point victory that guaranteed him a 29th league championship in 30 years coaching Monarchs basketball?
Not well. Not well at all.
The Monarchs were tenacious and together through a dominating first quarter in which they forced St. John Bosco into eight turnovers while making none of their own, made 8 of 17 shots while Bosco’s Braves were 2 for 8, and built a 21-4 lead.
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Something happened midway through the second quarter, and it was not good. The Monarchs played far less cohesively and far more individually.
“We played very well for the first quarter and a half,” McKnight said. “The last two and a half quarters, we were very selfish and I was very disappointed because the effort was not there. They stopped playing for each other and started playing for themselves.”
So what can McKnight do to change the attitudes?
“Just play other players,” said McKnight, which is what he did Friday when he sat a couple of senior stars for long segments of the second half. “And I will keep doing it, too. If somebody’s scoring average dips four or five points, that’s fine, they can pout all they want and keep playing as individuals.”
Katin Reinhardt led Mater Dei (21-2 overall, 8-0 in league) with 18 points, and the Monarchs other senior All-County returnee, Xavier Johnson, scored 16 with eight rebounds.
The most consistent Mater Dei player was 6-foot-7 sophomore Stanley Johnson, who scored 15 points, including a 6-for-7 effort at the free-throw line, and had a team-high 10 rebounds.
“Stanley’s been playing well,” McKnight said. “He’s starting to hit his outside shot, and he plays well inside. He’s an awfully talented sophomore.”
Mater Dei concluded the first quarter with a 14-2 run that gave it the 21-4 lead going into the second quarter. The Monarchs had a 32-point lead at halftime and led by 28 points after three quarters.
Two St. John Bosco players scored in double figures, the Hamilton brothers, Daniel and Isaac, younger brothers of Jordan Hamilton of the Denver Nuggets. Daniel Hamilton, a 6-6 sophomore, scored 26 points and Isaac Hamilton, a 6-5 junior, scored 14 with 10 rebounds.
Bosco shot 30 percent from the floor in the first half, then shot 64 percent in the second to finish at 50 percent.
Mater Dei made 51 percent of its first-half shots and 60 percent of its second-half shots to finish at 55 percent. Mater Dei was 15 for 20 at the free-throw line while Bosco was 10 for 18.
The Nike Extravaganza continues Saturday with an all-boys schedule divided into a three-game early session and a six-game evening sessions. In the evening session, Orange Lutheran plays Long Beach Poly, No. 2 in the state rankings, at 6 p.m., state No. 1 Mater Dei plays La Verne Lutheran, featuring 6-foot-10 Arizona signee Grant Jerrett, at 7:30 p.m. and Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas, starring national No. 1 prospect (unsigned and uncommitted, too) Shabazz Muhammad, plays Whitney Young of Chicago at 9 p.m.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
