CIF Saturday boys championships: Mater Dei boys win eighth state crown

SACRAMENTO - The Mater Dei Monarchs used a 16-8 run in the fourth quarter to claim a 43-36 win over the De La Salle Spartans in the CIF Division I boys basketball state championship at Power Balance Pavillion on Saturday.

Xavier Johnson had seven of his nine points in the fourth quarter and Eli Stalzer had a steal and a layup with 7.8 seconds left to seal the win for the Monarchs, who won their eighth state championship in school history. The eight championships ties Crenshaw for the all-time lead in state history.

Katin Reinhardt finished with 17 points to lead the Monarchs while Stanley Johnson had a game-high 15 rebounds. Reinhardt had 10 of his 17 points in the third quarter when the Monarchs cut De La Salle's lead from six points, 26-20, to just one, 28-27, heading into the final period.

"Being down six points to these guys is like being down 20 to anyone else," said longtime Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight. "We just picked up our intensity and found a way to win."

De La Salle (Concord) led throughout the first half behind the three-point shooting of Duke Dare, who finished with nine points, and Amadi Udenyi, who had six. The two combined for four three-pointers to help put the Spartans up by six points at halftime, 18-12.

For Mater Dei (Santa Ana), the state championship helped assuage the disappointment of a loss in the Southern Section playoffs.

"This is a great group of guys," said McKnight. "To lose in the semifinals of the Southern Section and to win a state title shows their great character."

The Spartans played the majority of the game without sophomore starting guard Elliott Pitts, who left  the game in the first quarter with a reported fractured jaw.

Benny Battle led  the Spartans in scoring with 10 points, including all eight of De La Salle's points in the fourth quarter.

"Not to make any excuses, but losing Elliott hurt," De La Salle coach Frank Allocco said. "We're just not that deep of a team."

Mater Dei came in No. 3 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings. De La Salle was No. 13 in the state and No. 116 in the country.

The Spartans were ranked much lower than that coming into the season but overachieved all season without a Division I college commit on the roster or on the horizon. Their slow down, disciplined, defensive approach gave teams fits all season and Mater Dei all Saturday.

"The kids player their hearts out," De La Salle coach Frank Allocco said. "They did a hell of a job all year and represented the North well."

Mater Dei 43, De La Salle 36
Mater Dei (32-3)
Eli Stalzer 2-6 2-2 6, Katin Reinhardt 4-11 8-9 17, Xavier Johnson 2-8 4-6 9, David Brown 2-6 1-2 5, Stanley Johnson 2-4 2-3 6, Shaqquan Aaron 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Strawberry 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Cook 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-36 17-22 43.
De La Salle (27-6)
Amadi Udenyi 2-14 0-0 6, Duke Dare 2-7 3-4 9, Elliott Pitts 0-2 0-0 0, Kelvin Morgan 2-4 0-0 4, Travis Pacos 2-11 0-0 5, Benny Battle 3-6 4-6 10, Dan Peera 1-1 0-0 2, Elliot Pitts 0-2 0-0 0, Steve Oronos 0-0 0-0 0, Remington White 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-45 7-10 36.

Mater Dei 7 5 15 16 - 43
De La Salle 9 9 10 8 - 36

Three point shooting: Mater Dei 2-10 (Reinhardt, Johnson), De La Salle 5-22 (Udenyi 2, Dare 2, Pacos), Rebounds: De La Salle 26 (Udenyi 6), Mater Dei 34 (Stanley Johnson 15). Assists: Mater Dei 2 (Brown, S. Johnson), De La Salle 2 (Dare, Pacos). Turnovers: De La Salle 10, Mater Dei 16. DIVISION IV
Windward (Los Angeles) 63, Salesian (Richmond) 57
Windward used perfectly balanced scoring, superb and timely shooting and plenty of late-game poise to hold off Salesian.

The Wildcats also received some lofty inspiration.

Wes Saunders, considered a sophomore sensation when he scored 21 points in the title game helping his team to a state title in 2009, was dominant for a half and finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and at least six blocks - he was credited with only three.

When Salesian contained Saunders, Windward had more than enough as Nick Stover and Jordan Wilson tallied 13 points apiece and Charles Dawson added 12.

"The kids just got better and better all season," Windward coach Miguel Villegas said. "We had one of the toughest schedules in the state and I think it all paid off all night."

Jabari Bird, one of the state's top sophomores, had a game-high 23 points, Davion Mize 11 and Dominic Artis 10 for Salesian (26-12), which had a 19-game win streak snapped.

Windward made 21 of 41 shots (51 percent) compared to 34 percent for Salesian (21 of 62), which finished 25-12 but was 35-2 on the court (it had 10 forfeit loses). The Pride convert on athletic moves to the hoop and was cold when pressed to the perimeter (5 of 22).

“I think we played our hearts out, but they were a really good team,” said Bird, a 6-6 sophomore who made 8 of 18 shots, including a couple acrobatic dunks. “We fought back but didn’t have quite enough. I’m proud of what we accomplished.”

A 3-pointer by Dominic Artis (10 points) cut a nine-point Salesian deficit to 53-50 with 2:02 remianing, but with the shot clock winding down, Stover drilled a 3-point from the deep corner making it 56-50 with 1:25 left.

“That was a dagger,” Salesian coach Bill Mellis said.

Said Stover: "That was definitely the biggest shot of my life. I hadn't done much offensively all game and Wes found me. I'll never forget it."

Windward increased the lead to eight, but another 3-pointer – this one from Bird – closed it to 60-57 with 25.4 seconds left. Two free throws by Wilson all but sealed it.

The Wildcats had plenty of inspiration, Villegas revealed afterward. He broke into tears when asked about the late Daniel Tan, a former Windward player who died of complications due to Multiple scierosis. The last two years of Tan's life he attended Windward games and sat on the team bench in a wheelchair.

He was on the team's bench for the 2009 state championship.

Tan passed away on Jan. 28 a day after the entire team was at his bedside. He battled MS for six years.

The Wildcats dedicated their season and Saturday's win to Tan.

"If Dan can fight MS for six years there's nothing we can't overcome," Villegas said. "If we were resilient today and throughout the season it's because Dan was giving us strength."


Winward 63, Salesian 57

WINDWARD (27-8)

Charles Dawson 4-6 3-4 12, Nick Stover 5-10 2-2 13, Wesley Saunders 5-11 5-7 15, Jordan Wilson 4-7 4-5 13, Luke Silverman-Loyd 2-5 3-3 8, Miles Gueno 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 21-41 17-21 63.

SALESIAN (26-12)

Mario Dunn 2-5 1-4 5, Dominic Artis 3-16 2-2 10, Davion Mize 5-8 0-0 11, Jabari Bird 8-18 5-6 23, Freddie Tagaloa 2-5 2-2 6, Jawian Harrison 1-2 0-0 2, Markel Leonard 0-3 0-0 0 Bryce Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Jermaine Edmonds 0-2 0-0 0, Jeffrey Parker 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-62 10-14 57.

Windward   13  14  15  21  -  63
Salesian     10  16  12  19 -  57

3-point goals: Windward 4-12 (Dawson, Stover, Wilson, Silverman-Lloyd), Salesian 5-22 (Artis 2, Bird 2, Mize). Rebounds: Windward 27 (Saunders 9), Salesian 40 (Tagaloa 12). Assists: Windward 6 (Silverman-Lloyd 3), Salesian 3 (Mize 2). Turnovers: Windward 21, Salesian 17.


DIVISION IV
Lutheran (La Verne) 64, Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 59

Bishop O’Dowd team didn’t have much to say after its loss to Lutheran on Saturday. What was there to say?

Besides the sheer disappointment of losing in the state finals for the second straight year, there wasn’t much to second guess or regret.

The Dragons (25-7) outrebounded Lutheran, committed a season-low 12 turnovers and shot 50 percent from the field (23 of 46).

They ran off 10 straight points to start the second half to erase a 26-21 halftime deficit and received perhaps highly-touted junior Brandon Ashley’s best performance on a big stage (26 points, eight rebounds).

But simply Lutheran (27-5) from Laverne had every answer, more balance and just simply were more resilient.
It got 16 points each from highly-touted 6-8 junior Grant Jerrett and reserve Cameron Osorno and 13 by Carl Cooper.

Osorno got only a playing time because starter Xavier Jones had his heart defibrillator go off in the first three minutes. He was rushed to the hospital but according to coaches he was resting comfortably.

(Jones earlier in the year had a heart attack on the court, according to coaches).

“We’ve fought through a lot of adversity this year,” Lutheran coach Eric Cooper. “It’s a resilient group. Nothing they overcome surprises me.”

No one has gone through more than Kevin Payne, whose father was killed in a car accident in August. Payne made two 3-pointers in the final 1:45 to help bring his team back from 59-58 deficit. They were his only baskets of the night and he pointed to the sky after each.

“This is a storybook ending,” said Payne, the team’s best 3-point shooter. “It feels like a fairy tale right now. From everything we've gone through, and me personally, everything I've gone through. Sometimes I felt like quitting and my brothers (teammates) would not let me do it."

It was a tough loss for the Dragons, but Ashley promised the Dragons would be back. Perhaps the third time is a charm.

“We all wanted to win so badly and this is really painful,” Ashley said. “But I plan to be out there tomorrow to start practicing for next year.”
 
Terrence King, Anders Haas and Richard Longrus combined for 24 points for the Dragons. King made all four of his shots.

“I couldn’t be prouder of this group,” O’Dowd coach Doug Vierra said. “We gave it everything we had. We just couldn’t stop them down the stretch.”


Lutheran 64, Bishop O'Dowd 59

LUTHERAN (27-5)
Carl Cooper 5-11 1-1 13, Eric Cooper 1-4 0-0 2, Bruce English 4-8 0-2 8, Grant Jerrett 5-13 4-4 16, Brian Beard 0-1 0-0 0, Cameron Osorno 7-10 0-0 16, McKay Anderson 1-1 0-0 3, Kevin Payne 2-4 0-0 6. Totals 25-52 5-7 64.

BISHOP O'DOWD (25-7)
Terrence King 4-4 1-4 9, Richard Longrus 3-7 1-4 7, Brandon Ashley 9-14 8-10 26, Kendall Jackson 2-6 0-0 4, Anders Haas 3-8 2-3 8, Michael Texada 0-1 0-0 0, Joshua Crum 1-3 1-2 3, Terrence Daniel 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-46 13-23 59.

3-point goals: Lutheran 9-18 (Cooper 2, Jerrett 2, Osorno 2, Payne 2, Anderson), O'Dowd 0-9. Rebounds: Lutheran 27 (Jerrett 10), O'Dowd 32 (Ashley 8). Assists: Lutheran 2, O'Dowd 8 (Haas 3). Turnovers: Lutheran 11, O'Dowd 12.