Missed shots, mistakes trip up Mater Dei

LOS ANGELES  - Mater Dei got away with it two weeks ago against Etiwanda. The Monarchs did not get away with it against Westchester on Saturday.

The Monarchs did too much standing around on offense and shot poorly in a loss to Westchester of Los Angeles, 71-63, in the CIF Southern California Regionals Division 1 championship game at USC's Galen Center. 

Westchester (31-3), defending state Division 1 champion, will play Newark Memorial in the CIF State Championships Division 1 game next Saturday in Bakersfield.

Click here to see photos from Saturday's regional final.

Mater Dei (32-2) was seeking its 12th trip to a state championship game. With Saturday’s loss, the Monarchs are 11-7 in Regionals finals. Mater Dei was 8-0 against Westchester going into Saturday’s game.

The Monarchs, who had won 26 in a row, overcame poor shooting and too much individual play for much of the game on offense when they beat Etiwanda, 68-65, in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1AA championship game at Honda Center.

On Saturday, they shot 35 percent from the field, including 5 of 29 on 3-pointers. They missed 10 free throws, too.

“Believe it or not, we had a game plan,” McKnight said. “We were too individualistic out there.”

Westchester was far more patient on offense, moving the ball around until finding a good shot. The Comets shot 45 percent from the floor.

Tyler Lamb was Mater Dei’s most-effective player. Lamb, a senior headed for UCLA, made 13 of his 22 shots for 32 points with 14 rebounds.

The Monarchs who struggled the most were seniors Gary Franklin and Keala King. Franklin, a Cal signee, was 5 of  18 from the floor and 1 of 10 on 3-pointers. King, who has signed with Arizona State, was 3 of 14 and missed his three 3-point attempts.

Franklin did have five assists, and King had 10 rebounds.

Mater Dei also had a big matchup problem. The Monarchs had nobody who could handle Westchester’s thick 6-foot-9 center Brian Murphy. Murphy had a game-high 14 rebounds, seven of them offensive.

Mater Dei trailed by 20 points in the third quarter, then put together a 10-0, Lamb-led run and had a 10-point deficit going into the fourth quarter.

The Monarchs worked their way back to within two points when Lamb made a left-handed drive, was fouled and made the free throw to cut Westchester's lead to 54-52 with 4:45 to go. Lamb made a free throw 20 seconds later to make it 54-53, finishing a Mater Dei 12-3 run, but that would be the Monarchs’ last threat.

Dwayne Polee made two free throws for Westchester, Jordin Mayes made a 3-pointer, and a Polee dunk off of a Denzel Douglas lob gave the Comets a 61-54 lead with 2:29 remaining.

Symbolic of the Monarchs’ plight, Polee was assessed a technical foul for hanging on the rim after the dunk. Mater Dei sent Franklin to the line for the two technical foul shots, and Franklin missed them both.

Mater Dei got within five points in the remaining time and got a last-gasp 3-pointer from Lamb to make it 69-63 with 22 seconds to go, but that would conclude the Monarchs’ scoring.

Mayes, a 6-foot-2 senior guard who committed to Arizona, led the Comets with 21 points. He was 4 for 6 on 3-pointers. Polee finished with 20 points and was 6 of 10 from the floor.

Mater Dei had an 18-17 lead after the first quarter, but was outscored, 20-7, in the second quarter as Westchester had a 27-25 lead at halftime.

“Westchester’s a fine basketball team,” McKnight said. “They just played better.”