By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
SANTA ANA, Calif. - Mater Dei first-year girls basketball coach Kevin Kiernan said he’s not even considering the notion – trying to match the lofty success of the boys program.
Not yet anyway.
Kiernan, who turned Troy (Fullerton) into a state power and led them to three state crowns, isn’t quite sure where his team stands even after another impressive win, 51-47 over a very strong Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach) squad in the premier girls game of the Nike Extravaganza XIII at the Meruelo Athletic Center on the campus of Mater Dei.
It was the last, best and most competitive of four girls games on Friday. Nine boys game, featuring some of the top teams in the country, will take place here Saturday, the first starting at 8:30 a.m. (see schedule below).
“I just don’t know how good we are,” said Kiernan, whose team, led by a pair of freshman, is 22-3 and ranked fifth in the state by MaxPreps. “Is this a great team? We’ve played a very average schedule. But that was a very good team we played tonight in a big setting.”
The Monarchs got 20 points and six assists from impressive 6-foot freshman guard Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and 10 points by tough senior point guard Kaitlyn Soto.
Another freshman, 6-1 post Alexyz Vaioletama, added nine points and a team-high nine rebounds.
It all helped offset a superb two-player show by Mira Costa 6-2 senior Mikah Maly-Karros, step daughter of former major leaguer Eric Karros, who had a game-high 24 points and 16 rebounds, and 14 points and 10 rebounds from impressive 5-11 senior guard Megan Richardson.
Maly-Karros has signed to Loyola-Marymount next season and Richardson to Cal State Fullerton.
“This was big because we had an emotional win last night with Orange Lutheran and came out and beat maybe the best team we’ve played all year,” said Lewis, who made five baskets, four of them three-pointers. “(Soto) was hurting tonight so a lot of girls had to step up.”
Mira Costa had to suck it up after an emotional 47-38 league loss to Redondo the previous night. When Mater Dei jumped to an 18-8 lead following three straight three-pointers, two by Lewis, the Mustangs could have easily packed it in.
But behind Maly-Karros and Richardson, they fought back and closed the second quarter on a 9-0 spurt, all by Maly-Karros. She made two mid-range jumpers, a left-hand layup and closed the half with a pretty spinning move and layup, cutting the lead to 25-24 at halftime.
When Richardson scored a fastbreak layup and then fed Maly-Karros for another deuce, Mira Costa was up 28-25 early in the third quarter.
“We showed some guts coming back,” Richardson said. “But we just didn’t execute down the stretch. We hung in there but it wasn’t enough.”
Mira Costa took its last lead 32-29 following a circus layup by Richardson and putback from Maly-Karros, when Mater Dei took control for good.
The Monarchs went on an 11-0 run, started and ended with three-pointers from Lewis. Vaioletama added a fastbreak layup, outside jumper and layup to put Mater Dei up 40-32. Mira Costa never got within four.
“This was a big step for us,” said Kiernan, whose team avenged an earlier loss to Orange Lutheran with a 51-37 triumph on Friday.
Kiernan, whose move from Troy to the prestigious private school rattled Southern California girls basketball followers, questioned his team’s desire after the 40-34 loss to Lutheran on Jan. 15, a week after it lost to Santa Margarita 44-42.
“The coaching staff was very upset (after the loss to Lutheran),” Kiernan said. “I threw a table at the next practice. I questioned how badly they wanted to succeed.”
With their sixth straight win, the Monarchs have showed it on the court. They can share the Trinity League championship with a win over Rosary (Fullerton) on Tuesday. They beat Rosary 49-37 at home last month.
It would be the first Trinity League title - or one of any sorts for the girls - according to Kiernan. Not bad considering the girls set a goal of winning just 14 games this season, one more than last year’s team.
Mater Dei had 14 wins by the end of December.
“I would have liked the girls to be a little more ambitious,” Kiernan said. “But their playing with a lot more ambition now.”
It would be ultra ambitious to attempt to reach Mater Dei’s boys status. The male Monarchs are currently ranked first in the state, third in the country and last year they won their sixth state crown.
“What (Mater Dei boys coach Gary McKnight) has accomplished it out of this world,” Kiernan said. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t shoot for it and not think about it. Whatever we do, we want to do it the right way.”
Mater Dei 51, Mira Costa 47
Mater Dei 18 7 15 11 - 51
Mira Costa 12 12 10 13 - 47
MATER DEI (22-3): Lujan 1 0-0 2, Heard 2 2-5 8, Soto 4 0-0 10, Vaioletama 4 1-2 9, Knapp 1 0-0 2, Mosqueda-Lewis 5 6-8 20. Totals 17 9-15 51.
MIRA COSTA (19-6): Nakamine 1 0-0 2, Daniels 2 0-0 4, Richardson 6 0-2 14, Johnson 1 1-2 3, Maly-Karros 11 2-3 24. Totals 21 3-7 47.
3-point goals: Soto 2, Heard 2, Mosqueda-Lewis 4, Richardson 2. Fouled out: Johnson.
BREA OLINDA (Brea) 48, FOOTHILL (Santa Ana) 31
When all else fails – and plenty did offensively for one of the nation’s top programs – Brea Olinda always has the old reliable.
Defense.
The Wildcats (21-3), California's No. 11 team and eight-time state champion, held Foothill to 26 percent shooting (14 of 54), including 8-of-26 by one the country’s top juniors Christina Marinacci.
Brea Olinda coach Jeff Sink wasn’t particularly pleased with how it looked, but behind 13 points from Kelsey Harris, 11 by superb freshman Justine Hartman and 10 from Kendall Rodriguez, the Wildcats won handily over the state’s No. 25 squad.
Marinacci had 17 points for the Knights (19-6) but no one else scored more than four.
“We can play a lot better,” Harris said. “But at least we did a good job on defense.”
Said Sink: “We stopped pushing the ball which was disappointing. We stopped being aggressive. But sometimes when you take a big lead that can happen.”
Indeed Brea Olinda, which has been missing two starters, 5-6 freshman point guard Alexis Perry (shoulder) and 5-11 senior Lauren Bell (knee) all season, raced to a 22-6 lead by the middle of the second quarter and Foothill never recovered.
The Knights made a nice run in the second half, cutting the lead to 33-26 with 6:38 left in the game following a driving layup by Marinacci, an outside jumper by Blair Shinoda and another layup from Adriana Hidalgo.
But the Wildcats kicked into high gear from there, playing the passing lanes, making steals and outscoring Foothill 15-5 the rest of the way.
Hartman, a very skilled 6-2 post, opened the spurt with a putback and finished it off with a fastbreak layup.
“That’s the best team around, no doubt about it,” Foothill coach Bill Seibert said. “We played extremely hard, got looks we normally make but we just couldn’t finish. When you can hold a great team like that to 48 points you have to feel pretty good.”
But not so good when you don’t score in double-digits in three of the four quarters. It wasn’t like Foothill didn't take care of the ball – it made just nine turnovers compared to 17 for Brea Olinda. The Knights just couldn’t convert baskets, plus they were outrebounded 37-28.
They also missed all four of their free throw chances, those by the sharp-shooting Marinacci, a 6-1 guard who Sink said might be the best player in the state.
“We were hoping to hold (Marinacci) to just 15 points but we’ll take 17 and the win,” Rodriguez said. “She’s an awesome player. We really tried to stay in front of her and after she shot, keep her off the boards.”
Marinacci, who came in averaging 21.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, led everyone with 11 rebounds. Rodriguez had nine rebounds and Harris and Jonae Ervin (eight points) added eight rebounds each.
Harris said the Wildcats are bent on getting back to the CIF State Division II title game where it lost to Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 54-49 in last year’s game.
It was only the second time Brea Olinda lost in the state finals in 10 tries. The Wildcats have also won a remarkable 15 Southern Section championships in 22 years.
“That loss (to Mitty) hurt for a very long time,” Harris said. “If we get back I guarantee we won’t lose this time.”
The Wildcats’ chances will be much greater with the addition of Perry, by all accounts, one of the top freshmen in the country. She’s scheduled to come back on March 1. Bell is out for the season.
“That’s scary to think they could be that much better,” Seibert said. “I think we’ll be much better after playing this game. We see where we need to be.”
Brea Olinda 48, Foothill 31
Foothill 6 5 13 7 - 31
Brea Olinda 12 12 7 17 - 48
FOOTHILL (19-6): Marinacci 8 0-4 17, Solis 1 0-0 3, Bokosky 1 0-0 3, Shinoda 2 0-0 4, Hidalgo 1 0-0 2, Hirz 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 0-4 31.
BREA OLINDA (21-3): Harris 6 0-0 13, Rodriguez 4 1-2 10, Lewis 3 0-1 6, Ervin 4 0-0 8, Hartman 5 1-2 11. Totals 22 2-5 48.
3-point goals: Marinacci, Solis, Bokosky, Harris, Rodriguez.
SANTA MARGARITA (Rancho Margarita) 57, DURANGO (Las Vegas) 39
Santa Margarita rebounded from a disappointing loss by beating Stanford-bound Lindy La Rocque to a pulp.
But at least they were nice about it.
La Rocque, who scored a game-high 23 points which is five under her state-best average, is used to getting beat up.
“But back home, sometimes it’s kind of dirty and it’s like they are trying to hurt me,” La Rocque said. “This was different. When they knocked me down at least they offered a hand to pick me up.”
The Eagles (21-4), California’s seventh-ranked team which lost 56-52 to league rival Serra (San Juan Capistrano) on Thursday, used physical, switching, man-to-man defense to hold Nevada’s fifth-ranked team (24-3) to 26 percent shooting (12 of 45) and its lowest output of the season (its previous low was in a 70-46 loss to Bishop Gorman).
Melissa Zornig, a fluid 5-foot-8 sophomore for Santa Margarita, was the best player on the court with 21 points, six rebounds and six assists. Lauren Oosdyke fought off foul trouble – she played only 21 minutes – to score 11 points while Elise Lorenz added 10.
Senior point guard Gillian Gipe also had a superb floor game with eight points on four-of-five shooting and five assists. She also had a major hand in holding La Rocque, a 5-9 senior, to 7 of 19 shooting.
To get away from Santa Margarita’s pressure, La Rocque went way out to make 5 of 13 three-point tries, giving her 116 treys this season. At least three of them were from 25 feet away.
“Once she got past midcourt you had to get up on her,” Gipe said. “She’s the best shooter I’ve ever played against. She was really tough.”
Zornig said the Eagles were particularly tough because they needed to rebound from Thursday’s defeat.
“This helps to get our confidence back,” said Zornig, who made 7 of 17 shots and was 6-for-6 from the foul line. “We played with a lot of energy tonight, unlike Thursday.”
After a slow start and a pair of three-pointers by La Rocque gave Durango an 8-5 advantage, Santa Margarita turned its energy into points with a 9-0 run to take the lead for good. Zornig keyed the spurt with a pair of driving layups and her only three-pointer, giving the Eagles a 14-8 lead.
Another 6-0 spurt on a baseline jumper from Kiley Berlinski, a driving lay-up from Zornig and power hoop from Oosdyke gave the Eagles their biggest lead of the half, 30-17 with 34.7 seconds left in the second quarter.
A driving hoop by La Rocque gave Durango a little momentum at halftime and when the Trailblazers scored eight of the first 10 points in the second half on a jumper and two free throws by Mia Bell (nine points), a layup by Cherelle Hicks and a three-pointer from Austin Rarere the lead was down to 33-28.
But Santa Margarita took control for good with a 9-3 run, highlighted by a pair of interior hoops from Oosdyke to make it 42-30.
“We played our butt off, left everything on the court but that was a great team we lost to,” La Rocque said.
Santa Margarita 57, Durango 39
Santa Margarita 10 20 14 13 - 57
Durango 8 11 15 5 - 39
SANTA MARGARITA (21-4): Gipe 4 0-1 8, Berlinski 1 0-0 2, McKenney 0 1-2 1, Zornig 7 6-6 21, Oosdyke 5 1-4 11, Lorenz 4 2-3 10, Hunter 2 0-2 4. Totals 23 10-18 57.
DURANGO (24-3): Underhill 1 0-0 2, Rarere 1 0-0 2, La Rocque 7 4-11 23, Bell 3 3-4 9, Hicks 0 2-4 2. Totals 12 9-19 39.
3-point goals: Zornig, Rarere, La Rocque 5. Fouled out: Oosdyke.
OCEAN VIEW (Huntington Beach) 45, LA QUINTA (Westminster) 29
First game. Small crowd. Tight rims. Tough defense.
All contributed to frigid shooting as the teams combined to miss 103 shots.
Still, Ocean View (17-7) used runs of 11-4 in the first quarter and 13-7 in the third to win going away. No one scored in double figures for the winners but Sara Mitchell, a 6-foot junior, had nine points and 10 rebounds while Rachel Sweezy, a 6-1 junior, added seven points and 10 rebounds. Clarissa Holz, a 5-9 senior, had five steals and eight rebounds.
Yesenia Gomez, a 5-11 senior, had eight points and a game-high 18 rebounds for La Quinta (10-10).
Ocean View 45, La Quinta 29
Ocean View 11 8 13 13 - 45
La Quinta 4 7 7 11 - 29
OCEAN VIEW (17-7): Rachel Sweezy 2 0-0 4, Horton 2 3-5 7, Kuehn 3 0-0 6, Pitts 1 0-0 2, Harris 3 0-0 9, Ohanian 1 0-0 2, Holtz 3 02 6, Mitchell 3 3-4 9. Totals 18 6-11 45.
LA QUINTA (10-10): Cardoza 3 0-0 7, Bui 3 0-0 6, Gomez 2 4-6 8, Sanchez 1 0-0 3, Nguyen 1 3-6 5. Totals 10 7-12 29.
3-point goals: Harris 3, Cardoza, Sanchez. Rebounds: OV - Sweezy 10, Mitchell 10. L – Gomez 18.
E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.
NIKE EXTRAVAGANZA XIII
At Mater Dei HS (Santa Ana, Calif.)
# State rankings according to MaxPreps.com
Saturday, Feb. 2 (Boys)
8:30 a.m., Servite (Anaheim) 13-10 vs. Ocean View (Huntington Beach) 13-6
10 a.m., Gahr (Cerritos) 16-9 vs. Corona Del Mar (Newport Beach) 18-6
11:30 a.m., Los Alamitos 18-5 vs. Canyon (Anaheim) 18-4
1 p.m., JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 14-9 vs. Colony (Ontario) 15-8
2:30 p.m., Lutheran (Orange) 13-10 vs. Brea Olinda (Brea) 15-6
4:30 p.m., #2 Dominguez (Compton) 18-2 vs. #5 Santa Margarita (Rancho Margarita) 21-3
6 p.m., #7 Westchester (Los Angeles) 21-3 vs. #12 De La Salle (Concord) 18-2
7:30 p.m., #3 St. Patrick (St. Elizabeth, N.J.) 16-2 vs. #8 Fairfax (Los Angeles) 18-3
9 p.m., #1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 24-0 vs. #4 Farragut (Chicago) 15-3
For a Nike Extravaganza VIII preview, CLICK HERE.
