By high school female basketball standards it’s a huge deal and a big draw.
Mater Dei's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis is national POY candidate.
Photo by Dirk Dewachter
It’s a prep showdown of the highest measure when Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) hosts Brea Olinda in a 7:30 game tonight at the Meruelo Athletic Center.
“Any time you play Brea Olinda you’re facing the standard,” Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan said. “They’ve always been the standard in Orange County; The standard in the state.”
This coming from the coach of the No. 1 team in the country.
The Monarchs are 17-0 and winners of 49 of their last 50, the lone defeat to, of course, Brea Olinda 44-38 in last year’s CIF South Region Division II finals en route to its record ninth state crown.
Both teams – though each missing premier junior front-line stars all season to injury – are deep in talent, skill, confidence, fight and cohesion.
Mater Dei features two of the nation’s brightest per class, 6-foot junior and Connecticut-bound Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and 6-1 sophomore point guard Jordan Adams.
Mosqueda-Lewis, averaging about 25 points per game, is considered a national Player of the Year candidate.
Adams holds the team together and averages 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists per night.
Brea Olinda, 14-2 and ranked third in the country, are led by one of the country’s top coaches Jeff Sink. The Wildcats can strike from more angles, with up to five double-digit scorers led by 5-9 wing Kelsey Harris, 5-11 sophomore Keitra Wallace, 5-7 junior point guard Alexis Perry and 5-9 sophomore wing Jeanier Olukemi.
All average between nine and 13 points per game.
Mater Dei is without Brea is without 6-2 junior post Justine Hartman, out for the year with a torn ACL. Mater Dei has missed 6-1 junior forward Alexyz Vaioletama all season, out with stress fractures in both shins. There’s no timetable for her return.
“Brea is definitely more balanced than we are at this point,” Kiernan said. “We’ve played extremely well but the only thing that concerns me sometime is we rely so much on Kaleena.”
The storylines here are immense and numerous.
Can Brea slow Mosqueda-Lewis?
Brea Olinda sophomore Keitra Wallace has stepped up.
Photo by Mitchell Reibel
Will Mater Dei match Brea’s depth?
How bad does Mater Dei seek revenge?
Can Brea ruin another perfect Monarchs’ season?
Truthfully, Kiernan and Sink agree that despite all the angles and a near capacity crowd expected, the result is really of secondary consequence.
That’s because the game was arranged for simply one purpose – to show love, respect and support for former coaching peer and colleague Tony Matson, a highly successful girls basketball coach at nearby Orange Lutheran who died suddenly in April at age 44.
Matson passed quickly and unexpectedly from a heart attack, rocking a very tight coaching community and of course, Orange Lutheran family. He had just led Orange Lutheran to its first Southern Section title game since 1981 and was named the Orange County Register’s Coach of the Year.
He appeared in good shape and good health, making this particularly shocking.
Particularly heart-breaking because he was also survived by a wife and three young daughters.
“It hit all of us very hard,” Kiernan said. “He was someone I competed against in coaching for 22 years. Everything you want in a coach Tony was: tough, well-prepared, and organized. He had built a great program. He cared about it and his girls. He was just a very good guy who represented his school and this community well.”
He was actually a former assistant to Sink and the two were especially close. In five seasons together at Brea Olinda, the Wildcats reached five Southern California regional finals and won two state titles in the 90s.
Matson moved on to Orange Lutheran after that.
"Clearly his impact on girls basketball and the coaching community was significant," Sink said. "He coached because he loved kids and loved to teach. Winning was important but it was secondary to developing character."
Shortly after Tony passed, Sink and Kiernan met up talked about honoring their friend in some way.
“I think we both felt so powerless and we wanted to do something to honor Tony and help his family,” Kiernan said.
Thus, Monday’s monumental national showdown is the finishing touch on the first annual Tony Matson Memorial Classic.
Earlier games pit Foothill and Rosary at 4:30 p.m. and Orange Lutheran, with new coach Tom Howard, take on Villa Park at 6 p.m.
General admission tickets are $15 and special courtside seats are $100 with all net proceeds benefiting the Matson Memorial Fund.
Though all storylines still apply – and a national championship could be in the balance – Sink said all participants realize this contest takes on much deeper meaning.
“The real purpose is to give back to a man and a family who understood that basketball is a game and that the real reason we play and coach and support the game is the opportunity to grow as people,” Sink said. “There will be no losers on Monday.”
So, does that mean that Mater Dei and Brea Olinda will go through the motions? Play soft?
Kiernan scoffs at such a notion.
Not only because it’s not in either team’s nature to coast, but because they are honoring Matson, who was as tough and competitive as they come.
“It’s an honor to play a game representing him and his life,” Kiernan said. “Besides that, it’s Brea Olinda and Mater Dei. Of course we’ll lay it all out there. I know last year we felt we could have played better. Brea earned it fair and square but sure, but for so many reasons, we want to show better.”
But simply planning and playing this game shows well for all participants.
Not because a No. 1 ranking is at stake.
But as Sink says: "Just by playing in this game helps keep (Tony's) legacy alive."
Look for coverage of the Tony Matson Memorial Classic Monday night from MaxPreps correspondent and former Los Angeles Times staff writer Martin Henderson, who contributed to this report.
