By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
SANTA ANA, Calif. – The monkey continues to perch on the shoulders of Mater Dei’s boys basketball team but the Monarchs seem oblivious.
They’re even throwing it peanuts.
The host Monarchs continued their undefeated season with a solid 59-50 win over one of the Midwest’s best, the Farragut Academy Admirals out of Chicago, in the premier and final contest of the 13-game Nike Extravaganza XIII before about 3,500 fans on Saturday.
The nation’s third best team, according to MaxPreps, were once again wonderfully balanced as Andy Brown led the way with 16 points, sophomore Gary Franklin added 12 and Travis Wear 10.
Wear’s 6-foot-10 twin brother David Wear added nine points and 13 rebounds as the Monarchs improved to 25-0.
"Yes there's a big monkey on your back when you haven't lost, but we can't even think about it," David Wear said. "At this point of the year, you have to just keep winning."
They did Saturday thanks to some tough interior defense. Farragut managed just 33 percent shooting from the field (20 of 60) and the foul line (4 of 12). The Admirals stayed competitive with some tenacious defense of their own and nine steals that led some easy fastbreak points.
“When your undefeated, everyone gives you their best shot,” said Franklin, who scored all of his points on three pointers including one with 1:01 left to key an 11-0 run to end the game. “We took a pretty good one tonight but still haven’t lost. This was a good one to toughening us up for the playoffs.”
The Admirals (15-4), making their first ever trip to the West Coast, gave a spirited effort, led by 15 points from Isiah Williams, 13 by Darius Stowers and 10 by Marvin Thigpen.
But Mater Dei’s huge front line seemed to give troubles to Farragut’s big gun, 6-9, 230-pound Michael Dunigan, who finished with just seven points and eight rebounds. The Oregon-bound star did have four blocks, two that led to spectacular fastbreak dunks.
“Those guys were big and round and strong,” Dunigan said. “And we didn’t make adjustments down the stretch.”
Said 25-year Farragut coach William Nelson, whose most famous pupil is Kevin Garnett: “We normally get more production out of our bigs. But I have no complaints. We had a lot of contributions all around. We just lost to a team that’s 25-0. No shame in that.”
Mater Dei seemed in control after a three-pointer from Franklin gave them a 49-44 lead with 4:50 left. But the Admirals scored six straight on two free throws from Stowers, a spectacular dunk by Troynell Adams and another fastbreak hoop by Adams.
That gave Farragut its last lead, 50-49 with 3:02 left.
Brown made two free throws to put Mater Dei up for good, before Franklin drilled his last three-pointer, giving the Monarchs some breathing room.
“Gary has been coming up big with three-pointers all year,” Travis Wear said. “He’s been really clutch.”
Said Franklin: “You can shoot with confidence when you have big guys like we have down low.”
Mater Dei 59, Farragut 50
Mater Dei 11 14 15 19 – 59
MATER DEI (25-0): Trice 3 0-0 7, Franklin 4 0-0 12, Brown 5 6-6 16, D Wear 4 1-2 9, Amet 2 0-0 5, T. Wear 4 1-1 10. Totals 22 9-10 59.
FARRAGUT (15-4): Williams 7 0-1 15, Thigpen 4 0-0 10, Stowers 4 2-6 13, Adams 2 1-3 5, Dunigan 3 1-2 7. Totals 20 4-12 50.
3-point goals: Trice, Franklin 4, Amet, T. Wear, Williams, Thigpen 2, Stowers 3.
FAIRFAX (Los Angeles) 62, ST. PATRICK (St. Elizabeth, N.J.) 61
It wasn’t the last-second three-point miss by Jermel Jenkins that St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle was lamenting.
It was the uncontested 15-footers the Celtics kept missing in the fourth quarter that cost them this battle between East- and West-Coast powers.
St. Patrick (16-3) missed seven free throws in the final stanza, including four by the game’s top player Dexter Strickland (28 points, seven rebounds) that helped Fairfax, which played the last 6:38 without star center Renardo Sidney who fouled out.
The 6-foot-10, 245-pound Sidney, ranked the No. 1 junior in the country, was barely a factor, going for just nine points and four rebounds in 23 minutes. He did show a superb passing ability with five assists.
Sidney’s foul out made the defeat all the more frustrating for the Celtics, the three-time defending New Jersey Parochial B champions.
“The last game we were 19 of 24 from the line,” Boyle said. “Today we were 5-for-12 in the fourth quarter. It’s just a matter of being mentally tough and taking advantage of your opportunities. We didn’t do that.”
Fairfax (19-3), ranked 24th nationally by MaxPreps and No. 8 in California, made just enough plays and showed it can win without Sidney being a major factor. Solomon Hill, a 6-6 junior, led the charge with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Solomon, a 6-3 guard added 11 points for the winners.
“We had a lot of guys step up and that’s a good thing,” Fairfax coach Harvey Kitani said. “But we still have a lot of room for improvement.”
Strickland, a lightning rod 6-3 junior who has already committed to North Carolina, absolutely kept the Celtics in the game, hitting 9 of 12 shots, including a pair of three pointers. But he was only 8-for-15 on free throws and St. Patrick was 16 of 28.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” Strickland said of the free throws. “I felt good. I wish I could take all (the misses) back.
“We just didn’t play that well. And we didn’t do a good job getting Quintrell (Kansas-bound forward Thomas) the ball.”
Indeed with Sidney out, the Eagles would have liked to go to the 6-7 Thomas, who took just seven shots and seven points. Kevin Boyle Jr. was the only other St. Patrick player in double figures with 10.
An acrobatic driving jumper by Boyle gave St. Patrick its first lead, 31-30 with 6:10 left in the third quarter. From there the game see-sawed with neither team leading by more than five points.
The score was tied at 45-45 entering the fourth quarter, when St. Patrick took its next lead 56-55 on a putback by highly-touted 6-7 freshman Michael Gilchrist. Donte McFrazier responded with a three-pointer for Fairfax, but Jenkins made a steal and layup to tie things at 58-58 with 1:41 left.
Hill drained two free throws and Thomas and Darius Singletary traded free throws, giving Fairfax a 61-59 lead with 36 seconds left. Strickland went immediately to the basket and made a strong drive and layup, tying things at 61-61 with 25 ticks left.
Fairfax missed a couple interior tries, but Lance Bailey got an offense rebound and was fouled. He made one of two free throws with 9.1 seconds left, setting up one final sequence after a St. Patrick timeout.
The plan was for Strickland to go end-to-end, but he was doubled and kicked the ball nicely to Jenkins who was open on the left wing. His three-pointer was straight but a touch long and Fairfax had survived.
It was payback of sorts for the Lions, who lost to St. Patrick 63-61 at last year’s HoopHall Classic in Springfield, Mass.
“It was a total team effort,” Katani said. “It was a back and forth game and we made just enough free throws at the end. We hustled and played hard throughout. That was the difference.”
Fairfax 62, St. Patrick 61
St. Patrick 11 15 19 16 – 61
Fairfax 16 12 17 17 – 62
ST. PATRICK (16-3): Strickland 9 8-15 28, Thomas 3 1-3 7, Jenkins 3 0-0 7, Boyle 3 3-4 10, Bennett 1 0-0 3, Gilchrist 1 4-6 6. Totals 20 16-28 61.
FAIRFAX (19-3): Sidney 3 3-6 9, Weathers 1 0-0 2, Solomon 4 1-1 11, McFrazier 1 1-2 4, singletary 1 5-6 7, Bailey 1 5-6 7, Hill 6 8-10 22. Totals 19 19-26 62.
3-point goals: Strickland 2, Jenkins, Boyle, Bennett, Solomon 2, McFrazier, Hill 2. Fouled out: Gilchrist, Sidney.
WESTCHESTER (Los Angeles) 75, DE LA SALLE (Concord) 56
For the first time in Frank Allocco's fantastic 11-year coaching run at De La Salle, the Spartans gave up at least 70 points.
And the remarkable thing is that Allocco’s team didn’t even play that poorly on defense.
Westchester (22-3) simply was on fire and its hot hand spread all over the court.
Five different players scored in double digits for the Comets, led by 6-2 senior guards Jarred Dubois (signed to SMU) and Oscar Bellfield with 13 apiece.
Westchester, which got 12 points from Jordin Mayes, 11 by Cordell Hadnot and 10 by high-flying 6-8 sophomore Dwayne Polee, made 13 of its first 15 two-point attempts, shot 62 percent for the game and even made 14 of 15 free throws.
The simply couldn’t miss and was clicking from the get go, taking a 6-0 lead on two acrobatic shots by Dubois and a spectacular fastbreak ally-oop dunk by Polee off a feed from Dubois.
“I knew he was going to throw it up there,” said Polee, who verbally committed to USC when he was in middle school. “I had an open lane and he put it there perfectly. That was fun.”
Not so much for the Spartans, who never led and after closing to 10-8, never got within five points in the first quarter. When Westchester went on an 11-4 run to start the second quarter De La Salle could never get back in even though it made 10 three-pointers, four by Jose Rivera, who had a game-high 16 points.
Jeff Powers added 11 points for De La Salle (18-3) while point guard added eight points and nine assists. The Spartans actually played well offensively, easily breaking Westchester's press, not turning the ball over and hitting the long ball. Simply, they couldn't stop the Comets.
“We came down here to play against the best and see what we need to work on,” Smith said. “We found out we need to work on more than we thought. We wanted to see what kind of teams we’ll see at the state championships and we saw one. We plan to work hard and get to the state-title game. I know this team can do it.”
By halftime the Comets had a 40-25 lead and scored more than De La Salle allows (39.1) per game. Westchester coach Ed Azzam said it might have been his team’s best game of the season.
“When our guards shoot like that we’re pretty tough,” Azzam said. “And our big guys played awfully well also. That was a very good effort against a great team.”
While the Comets shot lights-out, De La Salle made just 37 percent of its shots.
“They (Westchester) came out loose and made some amazing shots and we came out too tentative and missed ours,” Allocco said. “Give (Westchester) credit. This was a big-time event and they came out big time.”
Westchester came in ranked seventh in the state by MaxPreps.com, while De La Salle was No. 12.
Westchester 75, De La Salle 56
Westchester 20 20 19 16 – 75
De La Salle 13 12 16 15 – 56
WESTCHESTER (22-3): O’Connor 1 6-6 8, Dubois 5 1-2 13, Polee 5 0-0 10, Mayes 4 2-2 12, McCoy 3 0-0 6, Bellfield 5 2-2 13, Jamar 1 0-0 2, Hadnot 4 3-3 11. Totals 28 14-15 75
DE LA SALLE (18-3): Smith 3 2-4 8, Martellaro 3 0-0 8, St. Jean 1 0-0 2, Levesque 1 2-2 5, Rivera 5 2-2 16, Powers 4 0-1 11, McArthur 2 2-2 6. Totals 19 8-11 56.
3-point goals: Dubois 2, Mayes 2, Bellfield, Martellaro 2, Levesque, Rivera 4, Powers 3.
DOMINGUEZ (Compton) 59, SANTA MARGARITA (Rancho Margarita) 55
Jordan Hamilton, a 6-8 junior, loves the spotlight so he was in all his glory with 25 points and 14 rebounds as Dominguez, the nation’s sixth-ranked team, pulled out a nip-and-tuck battle with 17th-ranked Santa Margarita.
The Eagles got 16 points from Zack Zaragosa, 14 from Santa Barbara-bound Jaime Serna and 11 by Washington State-signee Klay Thompson.
Even though the Dons (21-2), who are without 6-8 post Aaron Moore for the rest of the season (broke school rules), gave up plenty of inches down low, they outrebounded the long and rugged Eagles 42-23.
“One way or another we’re going to pull through,” Hamilton said. “I missed a lot of shots, but all that matters is we got the victory. We have a great coach and we got guys who are hungry.”
Said Dominguez coach Russell Otis: “I couldn’t wait for the final buzzer. I’m not sure how we pulled that out with a bunch of guards.”
They tightend the screws defensively in the fourth quarter when the Eagles (22-4) didn’t make a basket for the first 4:10.
“We win games on the defensive end,” said Myron Green, who had seven points and nine rebounds. “That’s what we did tonight. It helps to have Jordan Hamilton on our team to.”
Hamilton, ranked the fifth best junior in the country by CSTV, made 11 of 27 shots and was only 1 of 7 from three-point range. But he seemed to will the Dons to victory with six offensive rebounds. Five of Mandingo’s eight rebounds were also at the offensive end.
Hamilton was the MVP of the MaxPreps Holiday Classic in Torrey Pines and was all-tournament at the Amare Stoudamire Classic in Florida. He led the Dons to championships in both those December tournaments. Even though he’ll probably be an off-guard in college he was forced to play post defense on Saturday.
“The kid is a winner,” Otis said.
Said Hamilton: “Whatever it takes.”
Mandingo also scored his team’s final four points after Hamilton made a tough jumper to put the Dons up 55-49 with 3:05 left. Santa Margarity responded as Thompson hit a pull-up jumper and Zargosa added a putback to close to 55-53 with 1:08 left.
Mandingo tipped in a Bryce Cartwright miss, making it 57-53 and after another jumper by Thompson, he drained two free throws with 12.4 ticks left to help seal it.
Dominguez 59, Santa Margarita 55
Dominguez 17 14 14 14 – 59
Santa Margarita 11 21 12 11 – 55
DOMINGUEZ: Espy 3 0-0 6, lacosta 1 0-0 2, Cartwright 2 0-0 5, Hamilton 11 2-3 25, Mandingo 4 2-5 10, Green 3 2-2 9, Turpin 0 2-2 2. Totals 24 8-12 59.
SANTA MARGARITA: Serna 6 2-4 14, Thompson 5 0-0 11, Pancoe 2 0-0 4, Zargosa 7 0-1 16, Munoz 1 0-0 3, Hazely 3 1-2 7. Totals 24 3-7 55.
3-point goals: Cartwright, Hamilton, Green, Thompson, Zaragosa 2, Munoz.
Other games
Orange Lutheran 78, Brea Olinda 59: The rested Lancers (14-10) used their depth and balance to wear down the weary Wildcats (16-7), who played Friday night, a 79-65 win over Villa Park. Tyler Funk, a 5-10 sophomore point guard, had 20 points to lead Orange Lutheran while freshman Ronnie Stevens added 11 points and Zachary Koehnke 10. Brea Olinda got 20 points and six assists from 6-5 senior Kyle Fogg and 14 from 6-4 junior Brett Kelley. The Lancers outscored Brea 47-28 in the second half.
JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 74, Colony (Ontario) 53: Alec Williams made 10 of 16 shots, had eight rebounds and scored 22 points leading Serra (16-9) to victory. Chris Gabriel added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the winners, who went on a 19-9 second-quarter run to take control. They made half of their 56 shots while Colony (15-9), which got a game-high 23 points from 6-5 sophomore Tyler Lamb, made just 21 of 57 (37 percent).
Canyon (Anaheim) 62, Los Alamitos 50: UCLA-bound guard Jerime Anderson did it all with 26 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as Canyon (20-4) used an 18-9 second-quarter run to key the victory. Chris Ball added 11 points for the winners. Corbin Moore, a 6-10 senior, had 18 points and eight rebounds, and Tim Chung added 14 points for Los Alamitos (18-7).
Gahr (Cerritos) 83, Corona del Mar 69: Long Beach State-bound Casper Ware, a 5-10 senior, made 13 of 22 shots and added six of his team’s 17 steals as Gahr (17-9) used big runs in the second and fourth quarter to roll past Corona del Mar (18-7), which got a tremendous one-man show from Stefan Kaluz, a 6-9 center, who had 34 points and 13 rebounds. Kaluz made 15 of 21 shots but the rest of his team was just 14 of 32. Ervin Ware added 15 points, all on three-pointers, and Cameron Nettles 11 for the winners, who scored a combined 57 points in the second and fourth quarters.
Ocean View (Huntington Beach) 80, Servite (Anaheim) 60: Anthony Pancoast had 22 points, Avery Johnson 19 and Takeshi Clifford 14 as Ocean View (14-6) used a combined 45-20 run in the middle quarters to win going away over Servite (13-11), which got 14 points from Kyle Wallace and 13 by Andrew Ostergaard.
CLICK HERE for previews and CLICK HERE for Day 1 girls action.
