Mater Dei withstands Long Beach Poly to win Nike TOC girls basketball title

"That was the definition of hanging on for the win, wasn't it?"

Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) coach Kevin Kiernan was more in survivor mode than beast mode after his team knocked off Long Beach Poly (Calif.) in the championship game of the Joe Smith Division Saturday at the Nike TOC in Arizona, as the Monarchs only scored seven points in the last 12:17 but still won 45-38.

"We got a little tired," said Kiernan, and that was clearly true of MVP Katie Lou Samuelson, who only scored two points in the second half after getting 15 in the first 16 minutes. But luckily Andee Velasco, who had struggled with her shooting in the entire tournament, caught fire early in the third quarter, scoring the first nine points of the half (for both teams) and extending the Mater Dei lead to 40-15.

From then on, though, it was all Long Beach Poly.

"I think they were really wearing Katie Lou down," said Kiernan. "Three games in three days and she was getting beat up the whole time – and that's a good strategy. You've got to make her work.

"I don't know if she had much left in the second half – I don't know if we had much left in the second half."

But a great first two quarters gave Mater Dei the cushion it needed. "We played about as well as we can play in that first half," said Kiernan. "We played really great halfcourt defense in the first half. We slowed them down a little with a full-court press and then our halfcourt defense was really good today."

But after Velasco's third quarter outburst, with the Monarchs up by 25, the air went out of the balloon. "We got conservative and we wanted to get in the vans and go home," said Kiernan. "They're just a great team – they're one of the best teams in the country."

"We knew they were going to come back hard," said Samuelson, " but we relaxed a little too much."

Still, the Jackrabbits only got as close as seven points, and that was with less than 10 seconds left, so the issue was never really in doubt. Down the road, however, the story could be quite different, as transfers become eligible in early January, and Long Beach Poly will welcome 6-foot-3 post Lajahna Drummer into the lineup.

"Jan. 6 it changes for everybody," said Kiernan. "It's a tale of two seasons."

Right now, though, Kiernan will enjoy this part of it, as winning the Joe Smith Division of the Nike TOC is always a significant accomplishment. "These are generally the toughest games we face," said Samuelson. "We have to prepare for all the physicality and that every team is going to be super aggressive."

In the end, Mater Dei was just prepared enough – and hung on for a win in what could be a preview of the Southern California Open Division title game in March.

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The other top team in Southern California, Windward (Los Angeles), was considered by most to be the favorite in the Blue Division final, but Nazareth (Brooklyn, N.Y.) – which lost to eighth-place Joe Smith finisher Christ the King earlier in the year – gutted out a 63-58 overtime win after leaving several chances to win in regulation on the table.

In the end, though, MVP Bianca Cuevas and Yazmine Belk, all-tournament, made enough big plays in the extra four minutes to knock off Windward and its two stars, Jordin Canada and Kristen Simon. Jen Fay also came up big for Nazareth, drilling a 3-pointer to give the New York team the lead for good in overtime, and despite 22 points from Simon and 16 from 3-point specialist Emily Surloff, Windward came up just short in its hunt for two straight Nike TOC titles.

Joe Smith Division

MVP: Katie Lou Samuelson, Mater Dei
All-tournament: Ayanna Clark, Long Beach Poly; Mikayla Cowling, Saint Mary's (Albany, Calif.); Justine Hall, Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.); Charise Holloway, St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.); Jayde Woods, Mater Dei.

Blue Division

MVP: Bianca Cuevas, Nazareth
All-tournament: Yazmine Belk, Nazareth; Jordin Canada, Windward; McKynzie Fort, Etiwanda (Calif.); Tynice Martin, Southwest DeKalb (Decatur, Ga.); Natalie Romeo, Carondelet (Concord, Calif.).