Pebblebrook goes wire-to-wire to beat Mater Dei in MaxPreps Holiday Classic semifinals

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Pebblebrook (Mableton, Ga.) coach George Washington was trying to find the words. His team had just knocked off defending national champion Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 82-79 in the semifinals of the MaxPreps Holiday Classic Monday night at Rancho Mirage.

Washington, never at a shortage for a quip, phrase or analysis, seriously couldn’t speak for 10 seconds. He would have been whistled for a half-court violation.

“I’m speechless,” he said. “I mean, we want our program to look like their program. So to beat a program like that is huge for our school, for our team. It’s huge. It’s huge. It’s huge.”

There was little repetitive in their convincing win. The Falcons hit and attacked from many different angles by different talented players. Don’t be fooled by the 3-point margin. The gap was double figures for most of the middle of the second quarter forward.

Mater Dei (10-3), behind 27 points from Notre Dame-bound guard Rex Pflueger, 18 by KJ Smith and a 33-point fourth quarter explosion, made a gallant effort.

But clearly, Pebblebrook, a rising Georgia 6A power, was the better team.

The Falcons (11-1) got big contributions from three players at different times — post Derek Ogbeide (19 points, eight rebounds, four steals), forward Thrae Mitchell (15 points, five assists) and guard Jared Harper (15 points, eight assists) — and one monumental game throughout from Clemson-bound point guard Ty Hudson (26 points, five assists, seven rebounds).

The victory vaulted Pebblebrook into Tuesday’s championship game against Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.), a decisive winner over Etiwanda. See story

“I think (Mater Dei) doubted us,” said Ogebeide, a dominating 6-9 senior who is headed to Georgia. “They didn’t know what we were about. They do now.”

Mater Dei legendary coach Gary McKnight said he knew exactly what the Falcons were about. They just ran into a buzz saw and could never get out of a hole.

Pebblebrook scored three buckets in the first 1:30 on one driving layup by Hudson and two by Ogebeide. A few minutes later it was 13-4, by the middle of the second quarter it was 30-19 and an 8-0 run late in the second on 3-pointers by Christopher Nelson and Mitchell and an emphatic slam dunk by Ogebeide made it 43-27.

The Monarchs, playing without third-leading scorer and top 3-point shooter La'vette Parker (broke right thumb), clawed and scratched but could never catch up despite shooting 61 percent from the field including 12 of 28 on 3-pointers. MJ Cage added 13 points and a game-high 12 points for the Monarchs.

“That’s a good team,” McKnight said. “Their guards are very good. The big man is very active. We scouted them twice and knew what they were capable of.”

The absence of Parker, who had a combined 40 points in the first three games of the tournament, was significant but “we still should be good enough to win without him,” McKnight said.

The absence of graduated Stanley Johnson, the 2013-14 MaxPreps National Player of the Year, is still looming, McKnight said. The three losses thus far almost matches the number of defeats Mater Dei sustained in the previous three years combined (four). And it’s not even January.

“We’re still young,” McKnight said. “We play three freshmen and a sophomore. But Stanley graduated. We’re finding guys who can replace what he did. We have a lot of young guys and I’m playing them.”

But there’s no shame in losing to Pebblebrook, especially with the back court of Hudson and Harper. The tandem have been playing together since they were 8-years-old. 

Hudson, a thick 6-2, 190-pound senior, is the team’s leader. He’s as strong off the court as on it. He drives strong to the hole, can score from the perimeter and fills a stat sheet.

“I love the kid to death,” Washington said. “It’s a privilege to coach him. We lost in the semifinals at state last year and the next day he had the team in the gym working out. He’s a true leader and he led us tonight.”

Said Hudson: “We felt like we were just as good as those guys and if we just play our ball, no one can beat us.”

Harper, is a 5-10 junior point guard. Slight, quick, clever with the ball, Harper is “a silent assassin,” Washington said. “When he says something everyone listens. He has the highest basketball IQ of anyone I’ve ever coached. Those kids are special.”

They’ll try to show just how special against Sierra Canyon.

If victorious, they’ll be the second straight non-California team to win the tournament after 10 consecutive Golden State teams were crowned champions.

“(Sierra Canyon) has very good players all over the place,” Washington said. “They’re going to keep me up all night. … So far this has been a very enjoyable trip. Now we just have to finish off what we set out to do.”

Consolations at Xavier Prep (Palm Desert)

In a terrific match-up of evenly match, tough-minded and athletic squads, King (Milwaukee, Wis.) outlasted Sacramento (Calif.) 56-52 behind 14 points from Sam Morrow, 12 by Jordan Poole and 10 by Marquis Turner. Christian Terrell, a rising 6-5 junior with great shooter range, led all scorers with 21 and four-star forward Solomon Young added 17, 10 rebounds and four blocks for Sacramento.

"We have to get better at critical thinking at critical points," Sacramento coach Derek Swafford said. "But we're getting better overall. That's the main thing."

Down most the game, Sacramento (7-3) scored eight straight after King's 42 made a 3-pointer to go up 53-44. Terrell made a terrific driving hoop and a slam in the run to cut the deficit to 53-52 with 21.6 seconds left. But Joe Binyoti made three free throws down the stretch and Sacramento didn't get a very good look.

"Our defensive rotations were good all game," said King coach Jim Gosz, whose team improved to 7-1. "It was a good, tough, well-coached team to play so we're only getting better. I think that's a great thing about this tournament. You go to some tournaments where there is a lot of great individual talent, but here there's just a load of great teams."

Other games: Ben Kone, a four-star junior post, scored 13 of his game high 25 points in the fourth quarter as Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) (5-2) defeated Saddleback Valley Christian (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) 69-48. Dakari Monroe added 14 for the winners, who led wire-to-wire. Eric Rwahwire had 18 points for Saddleback (6-6). ... Jordan Ford had 22 points and Colin Russell 14 as Folsom (Calif.) (10-2) won its first game of the tournament, a 58-57 overtime game over Issaquah (Wash.), which got 19 points by Ty Gibson and 15 from Jason Crandall. Issaquah (5-3) missed its final six free throws, four in overtime. ... Oakley College (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) overcame a seven-point second quarter and a two-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter to record a 59-55 win over Alemany (8-4). ... In a tight game throughout, a 13-8 second quarter run led Damien (La Verne, Calif.) (10-2) to a 60-57 win over American Fork (Utah) (6-4), which got 23 points and seven rebounds from Brendan Bailey.