Mater Dei to be tested by nation's elite
All eyes are on Mater Dei heading into the Nike Tournament of Champions this week in Chandler, Ariz.
UCLA-bound Nirra Fields, whose legal guardian is Lakers coach Mike Brown, was granted a hardship transfer last week by CIF-SS and is eligible to play for the Monarchs. Mater Dei was ranked No. 10 in the nation before Fields got her eligibility, and now that Fields joins USC-bound Jordan Adams on the court the Monarchs could be as good as last season's team.
Mater Dei looks like the favorite in the Joe Smith Division of this week's tournament, but nothing is a given with 20 nationally ranked teams in the top two divisions.
The Joe Smith Division also features No. 2 St Mary's Catholic of Phoenix, Ariz., No. 3 Riverdale Baptist of Upper Marlboro, Md., No. 5 St. John's College of Washington, D.C., No. 6 Bolingbrook, Ill., No. 7 St. Mary's of Stockton, No. 8 MacArthur of Irving, Texas, No. 11 Wesleyan School of Norcross, Ga., No. 13 Our Lady of Good Counsel of Olney, Md., No. 12 Buford, Ga., No. 22 Dr. Phillips of Orlando, Fla., No. 24 Cicero-North, Syracuse, N.Y., No. 29 Marion County of Lebanon, Ky., and No. 35 Incarnate Word of St. Louis, Mo.
The championship of the Joe Smith Division will be Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at Hamilton High of Chandler, Ariz.
Brea Olinda and No. 41 Edison will be in the John Anderson Division, which also has an excellent field of teams with No. 19 Academy of the Holy Cross of Kensington, Md., No. 28 St. Joseph's Academy of St. Louis, Mo., No. 43 Konawaena of Kealakehua, Hawaii, No. 44 Regis Jesuit of Aurora, Colo., No. 48 Edgewater of Orlando, Fla., and No. 49 Bishop O'Dowd of Oakland.
The tournament has always featured many of the top recruits in the nation, including Mater Dei's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (Connecticut), Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Elena Delle Donne. Breanna Stewart, who has signed with Connecticut, comes into the tournament as the top prospect in the nation.
Huntington Beach will be in the Black Division and Rosary is in the Mike Desper Division.
NOTES
Troy travels to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for the Crescenta Bank Invitational, which is the other big national tournament this week. The 16-team field includes No. 4 Spring Valley of Columbia, S.C., No. 20 Archbishop Carroll of Radnor, Pa., No. 33 Providence Day School of Charlotte, N.C., No. 36 Norcross, Ga., and No. 38 Myrtle Beach, S.C. Check out webcasts of the games at beachballclassic.com. The championship game is Thursday at 2:15 p.m. ...
Orange Lutheran and Yorba Linda are in the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions this week at Santa Barbara High. ...
Edison, Orange Lutheran, Esperanza, Yorba Linda and San Clemente are the county teams in the 16-team field of the Orange County Champions from Dec. 26-29 at Edison High. ....
Mater Dei is ranked No. 1 in the state in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings. The other CIF-SS teams in the state rankings are No. 3 Windward of L.A., No. 5 Long Beach Poly, No. 8 Santiago of Corona, No. 9 Edison, No. 11 Summit of Fontana, No. 13 Brea Olinda, No. 14 Orange Lutheran, No. 16 Troy, No. 19 Cajon of San Bernardino, No. 20 Etiwanda, No. 22 St. Bernard of Playa del Rey, No. 23 Canyon Springs of Moreno Valley, No. 24 Millikan of Long Beach, No. 25 Centennial of Corona and No. 28 Buena of Ventura. ...
Freshman guard Coco Miller averaged 20.5 points in victories over Dana Hills, Warren of Downey, University and Pacifica to lead JSerra to the Hawk Holiday Classic title last week at Ocean View High. Miller had had 25 points, including four 3-pointers, in the finals against Pacifica. ...
Senior guard Priscilla Lopez is averaging a county-high 25.4 points per game for Bethel Baptist, which is off to a 4-2 start. ...
Senior wing Mariah Duran is averaging 24.1 points and 12.7 rebounds per game to help Esperanza get off to a 6-4 start.
