CIF Saturday girls championships: Mission complete for No. 1 Mater Dei

SACRAMENTO - The Berkeley Yellowjackets - the No. 5 team girls basketball team in the nation - recorded two clean overhand rights: 16-4 to start the game and 16-3 to start the fourth quarter.

Bam! Bam!

The Mater Dei (Santa Ana) Monarchs - the nation's No. 1 team - staggered if not because of the force of those blows but because their two top players were nursing significant injuries - Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis a deep left quadriceps pull and point guard Jordan Adams a separated shoulder.

A third starter - Alexas Williamson - played only six minutes recovering from appendectomy.

But these Monarchs, as proven over the past two seasons plus, are indeed the ruler of the girls high school game and they didn't reach the perch by backing down or giving way to pain or adversity.

Led appropriately by leader and consensus national Player of the Year Mosqueda-Lewis, the Monarchs knocked out Berkeley 52-15 the rest of the game to secure their second straight CIF State title and mythical national crown with a 59-47 Division I victory at Power Balance Pavilion on Saturday.

Mosqueda-Lewis matched her season high with 33 points and tied the Division I championship with four 3-pointers as Mater Dei finished 34-1 and on a 26-game win streak.

It was a perfect farewell for the 6-foot senior forward headed to the University of Connecticut.

"It's hard to put into words how great the last four years have been," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "To finish with back-to-back state and national championships is beyond words."

Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan said it felt like a visit to the dentist early on - especially for Adams who drilled her injured shoulder in the first minute against the physical and upstart Yellowjackets (31-2).

Cal-bound Brittany Boyd's coast-to-coast dribble-drive and spectacular lay-up made the pain worse and capped Berkeley's 16-4 run to start the game.

"They really jumped on us," Kiernan said. "Nobody has done that to us all year. We practiced well all week and our energy was good, but I think we maybe came out not to lose.

“The enormity of it all - the back-to-back national champions and all that stuff. No one has ever been national back-to-back champions in girls basketball, and I think we kind of psyched out ourselves.”

But after holding off Berkeley's initial flurry, Mosqueda-Lewis began heating up from the outside, inside and everywhere else.

Her 3-pointer at the end of the quarter cut the lead to 16-8 and another 3-pointer with 1:25 left in the half gave the Monarchs their first lead 22-20. Mosqueda-Lewis had 16 of the 22.

"I see why she's an All-American," Berkeley coach Cheryl Draper said. "I see why she's going to UConn."

Mosqueda-Lewis scored 10 more in the third when Mater Dei outscored Berkeley 22-10 to seemingly bury the Yellowjackets, taking a 46-30 entering the final quarter.

Draper knew better.

"I've never felt like we've been buried," she said. "I felt we had another run in us."

Did they ever.

Junior guard Elisha Davis (16 points) and Chairese Culberson (nine points, 15 rebounds) led a 9-0 run in the first 2:54. After Mosqueda-Lewis seemed to restore order with an outside jumper, the San Diego State-bound Culberson hit from the inside and Davis drilled one of her four 3-pointers to cut the lead to 49-44.

The highly-pro-Berkeley faithful rocked the NBA arena.

"We weren't going down without a fight," Davis said later.

But Culberson fouled out with 3:07 remaining which seemed to spoil Berkeley's chances. After Mater Dei missed the front end of a one-and-one, Khristina Hunter, another 6-1 San Diego State-bound forward, powered in another deuce and the Yellowjackets had knocked the deficit to three, 49-46.

"They're a tough team," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "We knew that. We hit them hard and they came back again."

But after two free throws from Mosqueda-Lewis, USC-bound Alexyz Vaioletma (eight points, 12 rebounds) put down the hammer, with a very determined putback with 1:30 left. Berkeley never got closer than six the rest of the way.

Kiki Alofaituli had 11 points and seven rebounds for Mater Dei, which was outrebounded 49-38 and forced Berkeley into 30 percent shooting (20 of 66).

The Monarchs did a great job containing Boyd, who finished with four points and four steals.

"Beyond all the skills and talent these girls are extremely tough," Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan said. "We played a national college-like schedule. We've been all across the country through 35 games. Berkeley played a tough, fantastic game, but our girls found a way to get it done again."

Mater Dei 59, Berkeley 47

MATER DEI (34-1)
Kiki Alofaituli 4-11 3-6 11, Jordan Adams 1-3 3-6 6, Alexyz Vaioletama 3-5 2-5 8, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 12-24 5-5 33, Kaija Powell 0-1 0-0 0, Alexas Williamson 0-3 0-0 0, Jessica Duarte 0-1 1-4 1. Totals 20-48 14-26 59.
BERKELEY (31-2)
Chairese Culberson 4-9 1-2 9, Jasmine Guinn 3-5 1-2 7, Elisa Davis 6-19 0-0 16, Khristina Hunter 3-4 1-2 7, Brittany Boyd 4-22 0-0 4, Ashley Webster 0-1 0-0 0, Rachel Howard 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 20-66 3-8 47.

3-point goals: Mater Dei 5-14 (Mosqueda-Lewis 4, Adams), Berkeley 4-24 (Davis 4). Rebounds: Mater Dei 49 (Vaioletama 12), Berkeley 38 (Culberson 15). Assists: Mater Dei 9 (Adams 6), Berkeley 7 (Davis 3). Turnovers: Mater Dei 19, Berkeley 14. DIVISION IV
Windward (Los Angeles, Calif.) 51, St. Mary's (Albany, Calif.) 47

The gamewinning shot of Windward's win over St. Mary's went just as Wildcat coach Steve Smith drew it up. Sort of.

With the two teams tied at 47-47 with 1 minute, 5 seconds left in the game at Power Balance Pavilion, Smith called timeout to set up a play.

"We had a play chosen that would allow everyone to have an opportunity to touch the ball," said Smith. "Our first option was to go inside to Imani (Stafford) but if St. Mary's sagged down and closed off the middle, we told them that the outside shot would be open."

Following the inbounds, the Wildcats (29-4) worked the ball into 6-foot-7 center Imani Stafford, but sealed off from the basket she decided to pass the ball to 5-7 Jordin Canada at the top of the arc. She calmly swished the three-pointer for the 50-47 lead.

Did the Windward (Los Angeles, Calif.) freshman feel any pressure in taking the last shot? Not a chance.

"I try not to think about taking the last shot," said Canada, who finished with 12 points. "That would be selfish. To me, it's just whatever happens, happens. But it did feel good."

The Panthers (30-5) had an opportunity to tie the game in the final 51 seconds, but Stafford blocked a shot and was fouled. She made a free throw for a four-point lead and St. Mary's final shot missed the mark in the waning seconds.

The final minute was an exclamation point for Stafford, who led both teams with 18 points and 19 rebounds. The daughter of former NBA player Kevin Stafford and WNBA standout Pam McGhee, Stafford missed the first part of the season. She joined the team in midseason and the Wildcats went 20-0 the rest of the way.

"We began the season a little shorthanded," said Smith. "Imani joined the team 20 games ago, and we are 20-0 in that time. Her ability to alter shots and rebound made us a tougher team to deal with."

St. Mary's coach Nathan Fripp, who fields a team with seven players 5-10 or taller, knew that stopping Stafford would be a challenge.

"We just wanted to keep her off the glass," said Fripp. "We weren't as worried about her scoring down low as we were about her being active on the window. Unfortunately we were unable to do that and they got some easy second chance buckets."

St. Mary's senior forward Emily Vann concurred.

"Usually we are the big team," said Vann. "We knew we had to box out and rebound and we didn't really do that early on. We started doing it in the second half and we were able to come back."
But Stafford noted that her presence alone was not the reason Windward won the first state championship in the program's history.

"This is a team, it's not just me," said Stafford. "They won big games when I wasn't here. It's everyone. It's not me, it's not Jordin, it's all of us."

The two teams put together a fast pace in the first quarter. Although both teams were pressing, both teams defeated the press fairly easily resulting in layups. Windward shot 69 percent in the first quarter for the early lead and it looked like the game might turn into a high-scoring affair. But both teams took off the press after the first quarter and settled into more of a halfcourt game.

"If we had both kept the press on, it would have been high-scoring," said Smith. "But when we went to the halfcourt game, that meant longer possessions and fewer baskets."

St. Mary's made several comebacks in the game after Windward took brief leads. The Wildcats had a 13-7 run at the end of the first period to grab a 20-14 lead, but the Panthers came back to tie the game at 28-28 just before halftime. Only two free throws by Windward's MacChiati Smith allowed the Wildcats to take the 30-28 halftime lead.

Windward held the lead again after three quarters of play, 43-38, on a three-pointer by Courtney Jaco, but St. Mary's took the lead at 44-43 with a 6-0 run culminated by Shannon Mauldin's drive to the basket with 5:52 remaining.

Stafford and Canada hit consecutive baskets for a three-point Windward lead, but a Vann free throw and a Mauldin basket tied the game at 47-47 and set up Canada's final shot.

"It was a game of runs," said Fripp "It came down to that last shot with 42 seconds and she nailed it."

St. Mary's, which lost in last year's championship game to Harvard Westlake, finished with three players in double figures as Vann and Mauldin both had 11 points and Gabby Green had 10.


Windward 51, St. Mary's 47
WINDWARD (29-4)
Milica Toskovic 3-8 0-0 7, Courtney Jaco 1-6 0-2 3, Jordin Canada 5-10 1-3 12, Paris Baird 2-5 1-4 5, Imani Stafford 8-17 2-3 18, Troye Mosley 0-0 0-0 0, MacChiati Smith 2-5 2-2 6, Kristen Simon 0-3 0-2 0. Totals 21-54 6-16 51.
ST. MARY'S (30-5)
April Bernal 1-5 0-0 2, Emily Vann 4-11 1-2 11, Cody Sims 3-9 0-0 7, Gabby Green 4-9 2-3 10, Shannon Mauldin 5-14 0-0 11, Mikayla Cowling 2-6 0-0 4, Mya'I Thomas 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-56 3-5 47.

Windward 20 10 13 8 – 51
St. Mary's 14 14 10 9 – 47

3-point goals: St. Mary's 4-11 (Vann 2, Sims, Mauldin), Windward 3-9 (Toskovic, Jaco, Canada). Rebounds: St. Mary's 33 (Sims 7), Windward 43 (Stafford 19). Assists: St. Mary's 2 (Vann, Sims), Windward 3 (Jaco 2). Turnovers: St. Mary's 18, Windward 19.

DIVISION III
St. Joseph's 53, Bishop O'Dowd 42
St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.) made just two three-pointers in its 53-42 win over Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) at the CIF Division III state championship Saturday, but they couldn’t have come at a better time.

Clinging to a two-point lead over the Dragons at 30-28 late in the third quarter, St. Joseph’s Kelsi English spotted up for a three-point bucket to give the Knights’ their biggest lead of the game at 33-28 with 37 seconds left.

On their next possession, the Knights got the ball to Brianna Bognuda, who sank a three-pointer of her own with 10 seconds left in the period. After being tied with Bishop O’Dowd (24-8) just one minute earlier, the Knights entered the final quarter with a 36-28 lead and all of the momentum.

"I knew our perimeter players needed to step up and hit some outside shots,” said English. “It really helped our inside game because then they needed to guard us on the outside, too.”

The Knights (29-6) went on to outscore the Dragons 17-14 in the fourth quarter, including a 6-1 run that stretched their lead to double digits. The state championship is the second for the Knights, who also won in 1991.

“This is what this team is all about,” said St. Joseph’s coach Ed Torres. “This is a team victory. We had people come off the bench and contribute and we had Brianna and Kelsi step up and hit the big shots. We knew we had the best post player in the state in our division but we knew it would take a team to win.”

The post player Torres was referring to is his 6-foot-3 standout junior center Alyson Beebe, who led all players with 21 points and also tied a state championship game record with 11 free throws. She kept the Knights in the game in the third quarter, scoring 11 of her team’s 22 points in the period.

“We knew they had a lot of size so I worked hard to get position,” said Beebe, referring to O’Dowd’s lineup that included four six-footers. “I just tried to do the best I could and do what I’ve been doing all season long.”

Neither team shot particularly well in the contest. The Knights shot just .286 for the game and had only one field goal in the second quarter. Bishop O’Dowd wasn’t much better, however, shooting just .295 for the game. The Dragons held a slim 17-14 lead at the half thanks to a three-point play by Alexandria White in the final seconds of the half.

“We saw that it was low scoring so we knew that we needed to come out in the second half and pick up the intensity,” said Beebe. “There was only 16 minutes left in our season. We had to refuse to lose.”

The Knights crept back into the game in the third period behind the play of Beebe and 8-for-10 free throw shooting. Beebe’s two free throws with 1:43 left in the quarter gave St. Joseph’s the lead at 28-26, but Dragon sophomore Oderah Chidom responded with two free throws to tie the game.

After Beebe dropped in a bucket with 1:12 remaining, English and Bognuda put up their clutch shots to spur the Knights to the win.

Chidom topped O’Dowd with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Bognuda had 15 and English had 11 to join Beebe in double figures.


St. Joseph’s 53, Bishop O’Dowd 42
ST. JOSEPH’S (29-6)
Kelsi English 3-11 5-5 11, Heather Madrigal 2-8 0-0 4, Tatiana Dunlap 0-0 0-0 0, Alyson Beebe 5-18 11-14 21, Brianna Bognuda 2-4 10-14 15, Alannah Robb 0-0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Flowers 0-0 0-0 0, Alexa Galloway 0-0 0-0 0,Kim Ritchie 0-1 2-4 2, Caty Drewniak 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-42 28-37 53

BISHOP O’DOWD (24-8)
Ariell Bostick 2-14 3-4 8, Randi Jackson 1-2 0-0 2, Lariel Powell 0-5 1-3 1, Oderah Chidom 6-11 5-8 17, Kendall Waters 2-5 3-6 7, Daniella Delledera 0-0 0-0 0, Jacquelyn May 0-0 0-0 0, Alexandra Kalmbach 0-1 0-0 0, Rebekah Delledera 0-0 0-0 0, Margaret Huntington 0-1 0-0 0, Megan Branscum 0-0 0-0 0, Alexandria White 2-2 1-1 6, Breanna Brown 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 13-44 14-24 42.

St. Josephs 9 5 22 17 – 53
Bishop O’Dowd 9 8 11 14 – 42

3-point goals: St. Joseph’s 2-8 (English, Bognuda), Bishop O’Dowd 2-13 (Bostick, White). Rebounds: St. Joseph’s 35 (Flowers 8), Bishop O’Dowd 39 (Chidom 10). Assists: St. Joseph’s 4 (English 2, Madrigal 2), Bishop O’Dowd 5 (Bostick 2, Powell 2) Turnovers: St. Joseph’s 13, Bishop O’Dowd 21.