Nike Extravaganza: No. 1 Brea girls, No. 3 Mater Dei roll

SANTA ANA, Calif. – Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) High School girls basketball coach Kevin Kiernan had one piece of advice for Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis after the Connecticut-bound senior made just 2-of-12 shots in the first half.

“Keep shooting baby,” Kiernan said. “I’m not the smartest guy in the world, but I’m not that dumb either. She can shoot any time she wants.”

Mosqueda-Lewis followed her coach’s advice, scoring 24 of her game-high 28 points in the second half as the nation’s No. 3 team fought from a six-point third-quarter deficit to beat a very capable and dangerous La Jolla Country Day team 68-54 in the 16th annual Nike Extravaganza on Friday night.

Lewis made 9 of 15 shots after intermission, including three 3-pointers as the host Monarchs improved to 22-1 and got in the competitive game they sought before heading into the landmine that is the CIF Southern Section playoffs in two weeks.

La Jolla Country Day (20-4) gave Mater Dei a run for its money until the Monarchs’ money player went bonkers. She led an 11-2 run to close the third quarter to erase a six-point deficit and take the lead for good.

Lewis hit an outside jumper, 3-pointer and fastbreak lay-up in the flurry which was finished off with a jumper at the third-quarter buzzer by Kaija Powell.

When Jessica Duarte (15 points) and Powell (10 points) opened the fourth quarter with 3-pointers, the Monarchs were on their way.  From there it was all Mosqueda-Lewis who made 12 straight points on a variety of putbacks, outside jumpers and pull-ups. 

“That’s Kaleena,” Duarte said.

It helps that her teammates have such confidence in her, Mosqueda-Lewis said. “They’re encouragement kept me shooting,” she said. “And they got me the ball in the right places.”

They could have found her in Catalina Island and it would have been her range on Friday.

“We know she’s the best player in the country and eventually her shots were going to fall,” said Country Day star sophomore point guard Kelsey Plum, who had 13 points and handled Mater Dei’s vaunted press with ease as her team took a 28-25 halftime lead. “In the first half we did a pretty good job on her. The second half we didn’t have an answer.”

Part of that could have been fatigue.

As strong as the Torreys are and as well as they played for 2.5 quarters, they simply don’t have the depth.

They got 19 points and nine rebounds from terrific 5-10 junior Maya Hood and 15 points – all on 3-pointers – from sharpshooter Kaylah Miller

But once Mosqueda-Lewis got hot, La Jolla Country Day just couldn’t maintain the execution or defense. With only 10 on its roster, the Division IV power simply ran out of gas.

Mater Dei, the defending mythical national champion, also got a big game from one of the top junior point guards in the country Jordan Adams (seven points, six assists), who played superb defense on Bloom in the second half.

“We really had nothing to lose because nobody expected us to beat them,” Plum said. We just came out swinging.”

“With Mater Dei, they’re so talented, you just pick your poison,” Country Day coach Terri Bamford said. “We’re very talented too and we feel we can play with the best. But in the end, Kaleena and a couple others made some big shots and we just couldn’t keep up.”

No. 1 Brea Olinda (Brea, Calif.) 61, Bishop Gorman 20

Bishop Gorman coach Sheryl Krmpotich played in the WNBA so she knows a thing or two about talent.

When assessing the nation’s top-ranked team, Brea-Olinda, she said boldly: “They really have it all. Honestly, I think they can beat some college teams.”

Might seem like hyperbole, but Gorman came in with a sparkling 19-4 record and Krmpotich has built a regular Nevada dynasty at the Las Vegas campus.

Clearly, the Gaels were no match for the Wildcats (23-0), who led 10-0 in the first four minutes and 16-3 after the first quarter.

The got 19 points and seven rebounds in just 23 minutes from 6-2 senior center UCLA-bound Justine Hartman, who is coming off a lost season with a torn ACL.

Jeanier Olukemi, an extremely long and athletic 5-9 junior, added 11 points and six rebounds and Keitra Wallace contributed eight points and nine rebounds.

The Wildcats held a huge 44-20 edge in rebounds, forced 27 turnovers and limited the Gaels to 14 percent shooting (5 of 36).

More than all that, Brea simply plays unselfishly and fundamentally near perfect.

“We pride ourselves on defense,” Hartman said. “I think we did a real good job defensively tonight, but our offense could have been much better.”

Earlier games

Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) 58, Edison 51: Natalie Luzar had 24 points and Krissy Karr 13 for the winners, who outscored Edison 22-14 in the first quarter and held on. Edison (22-3) was led, as usual, by the Samuelson sisters Bonnie (Stanford-bound) and sophomore Karlie, who each scored 17 points. Lutheran improved to 19-6. 

Rosary (Fullerton, Calif.) 50, Mission Viejo 34: A 16-7 run in the second quarter carried the Royals (16-8), who got 12 points and 15 rebounds by Tara Campbell and 15 points from Maya Arellanes. Mission Viejo (13-12) managed just 10 points in the first half and shot just 24.5 percent for the game. Ashley Costello had 12 points and Allie Ivar 14 rebounds for the Diablos, who actually held a 52-39 rebound edge.
 
Bishop's (La Jolla, Calif.) 51, JSerra 42: A fast start and a combined 33 points by Alissa Campanero and Imani Littleton led the Bishop's to the decisive victory. The Knights (13-9) opened the game on a 19-6 run and never trailed. August Tochard and Jenna Morris had 11 points each for the Lions (9-16).

Live blog

Tonight, Brea Olinda (21-0), ranked No. 1 in both MaxPreps rankings service (computer and human), plays perennial Nevada power Bishop Gorman-Las Vegas (19-4) at 7 p.m.

Mater Dei (21-1), ranked third in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 and No. 2 in its computer rankings, face La Jolla Country Day (20-3) in the late game at 9 p.m.

There are three other earlier games that feature some of the best in Southern California.

Here's a live update from today's action. Keep refreshing through the night.

Mater Dei 68, La Jolla Country Day 54 (final): If Brea proved it is the best team in the country earlier with a resounding victory, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis might have proved she's the best player in the country, scoring 24 of her game-high 28 points in the second half.

Jessica Duarte had 15 points and Kaija Powell 10 for the winners, while Maya Hood had 19 points, Kaylah Miller 15 points and Kelsey Plum 13 for La Jolla Country Day, which led 40-34 midway through the third quarter.

Mater Dei 45, Country Day 42 (End of third quarter): This is fantastic game. Country Day opened up a six-point lead 40-34, before Mosqueda-Lewis took over, scoring 12 of her 16 points and assisting on two buckets to close the quarter.

Two-more 3-pointers by Miller helped Country Day open up the lead and the point guard play of Plum and superb ball movement by the Torreys definitely woke up the Monarchs.

A jumper at the buzzer by Kaija Powell gave Mater Dei a three-point lead and closed an 11-2 run for the Monarchs.

La Jolla Country Day 28, Mater Dei 25 (halftime): Wow, Country Day is not going away. Great 3-point shooting (5 of 7) and a huge first-half from Hood (11 points, six rebounds) has the Division IV powers in front. Miller (nine points) and Plum have combined for five 3-pointers.

Mater Dei, meanwhile, is getting good looks but is just 10 of 32 from the floor (31.3 percent). Mosqueda-Lewis is just 2-of-12 and 0-for-4 on 3-pointers. She missed a short jumper in the lane as the buzzer sounded epitomizing the first half for her and the Monarchs.

Duarte is the only Monarch shooting well and leads the team with eight points.

Mater Dei 18, La Jolla Country Day 17 (end of the first): In one of the more entertaining quarters we've seen in girls play, all of the stars in this game starred.

High-flying Maya Hood scored six of Country Day's first eight points and super sophomore point guard Kelsey Plum drilled a couple of 3-pointers as did teammate Kaylah Miller.

There's no more talented foursome in the country than Mater Dei's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (UConn-bound), Alexyz Vaioletema (USC), Jessica Duarte (Northridge) and arguably the nation's top junior Jordan Adams.

Adams had the play of the quarter, flying down the middle on a 3-on-2 fastbreak, cut left and then fed a streaking Mosqueda-Lewis for a hoop. Vaioletma had a couple nice mid-range jumpers and Duarte continues to look like one of the most under-rated players in the country.

Brea 61, Gorman 20 (final): Brea coach Jeff Sink isn't into pouring it on, but his team needs the work. And Gorman, despite this score, is one of the better teams the nation's top-ranked team will see for a while.

Perhaps the play of the night came early in the fourth when Keitra Wallace had a nice look from the key, but instead drew two defenders and dished to highly athletic Jeanier Olukemi for a bucket.

That kind of unselfishness is yet another reason why Brea (22-0) is ranked No. 1 in the country.

Hartman finished with 19 points on 8-of-13 from the floor. She also had seven rebounds. Olukemi added 11 points and Wallace had eight points and nine rebounds.

Brea held a 44-20 edge on the boards against Gorman, which made just 5 of 36 shots (13.9 percent). Brea was 21 of 46.

"There's a reason why (Brea) is No. 1 in the country," said Gorman coach Sheryl Krmpotich, who played in the WNBA. "They really have it all. Honestly, I think they can beat some college teams."

Brea 51, Gorman 14 (end of third): Lost in the lopsided score, the superlative effort of Hartman (now 21 points and 10 rebounds though she barely played in the third quarter), is Brea's defense. Quick addition shows Gorman got only a deuce that quarter.

Beyond on the skills and impressive ball movement and open court play, defense might just win the Wildcats the mythical national title.

Brea 38, Gorman 12 (halftime): Well, that was impressive. Very impressive.

Judging from Brea coach Jeff Sink's reaction, this wasn't his team's best half but boy they more than passed the eye test with a dominating 16 minutes.

Hartman made 6 of 8 shots and has 15 points and six rebounds. The Wildcats own a 25-9 edge on the boards and forced 15 turnovers.

With 11 turnovers, Brea isn't playing perfect, but they have so much depth and all are so sound and fundemental. Sink has said this is his best team ever and considering he's coached six state champions, that's saying something.

Bishop's coach Marlon Wells, whose team earlier in the day beat JSerra 51-42, said: "Loaded," he said when describing Brea. "Absolutely loaded. They're making a pretty good team look terrible."

Gorman defeated Bishop's 65-52 earlier in the year.

Brea 16, Gorman 3 (end of first quarter): Hartman is absolutely controlling the paint. The 6-foot-2 senior scores on a fastbreak layup and then scores after a nice feed from Jeanier Olukemi to take a 13-point first quarter lead. Gorman's Amber Lane, an impressive 5-6 senior guard, scores Gorman's only basket.

Brea isn't exactly sharp, but it's dominance on the boards and tenacious defense has already turned this into a rout.

Brea Olinda 10, Bishop Gorman 0 (3:29 left in the first quarter): Our first look at Brea this season and in the early going, very impressive. The Ladycats take 10-0 lead largely because of its work on the offensive boards. Like all Jeff Sink teams, Brea moves the ball beautifully and the guards are constantly looking up the court.

All of the players have great court awareness, and combine that with superb athleticism, wow, no wonder they're 21-0. Great to see Justine Hartman back in the post after missing last year with a torn ACL.

Earlier games

Orange Lutheran 58, Edison 51: Natalie Luzar had 24 points and Krissy Karr 13 for the winners, who outscored Edison 22-14 in the first quarter and held on. Edison (22-3) was led, as usual, by the Samuelson sisters Bonnie (Stanford-bound) and sophomore Karlie, who each scored 17 points. Lutheran improved to 19-6. 

Rosary 50, Mission Viejo 34: A 16-7 run in the second quarter carried the Royals (16-8), who got 12 points and 15 rebounds by Tara Campbell and 15 points from Maya Arellanes. Mission Viejo (13-12) managed just 10 points in the first half and shot just 24.5 percent for the game. Ashley Costello had 12 points and Allie Ivar 14 rebounds for the Diablos, who actually held a 52-39 rebound edge.

The Bishop's School 51, JSerra 42: A fast start and a combined 33 points by Alissa Campanero and Imani Littleton led the Bishop's to the decisive victory. The Knights (13-9) opened the game on a 19-6 run and never trailed. August Tochard and Jenna Morris had 11 points each for the Lions (9-16).