Nike Extravaganza boys: Mater Dei starts, finishes fast

SANTA ANA, Calif. - The good news for Mater Dei (Santa Ana) High School's boys basketball team is that it kept a season-long trend of starting extremely fast.

The Monarchs, No. 16 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings, exploded for 25 points in the first quarter including a combined 21 from 6-foot-7 swingman Xavier Johnson and 6-5 sharpshooting guard Katin Reinhardt.

"We're always ready to play," Johnson said.

The bad news for Mater Dei, is it kept up a season-long trend of coasting, and a very worthy opponent Price (Los Angeles) made the Monarchs pay with a 19-0 second quarter run to actually take the lead before halftime.

"We know it's a problem but it's hard to pinpoint why," Reinhardt said. "I think it's a case of other teams giving us their best shot."

And in the end - more good news for Mater Dei. The Monarchs always seem to find a way to pull through.

They continued that trend with a hard-earned 67-65 victory in the final game of the Monarchs' own 16th Nike Extravaganza before packed house at the bright and lively Meruelo Athletic Center.

Johnson, a highly-touted transfer from Chaparral of Temecula, had 25 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks while an extremely skilled and athletic Reinhardt drilled three 3-pointers and finished with 22 points as the Monarchs improved to 22-2.

Price (16-6), ranked 25th in California, got big games from 6-foot point guard Askia Booker (22 points, five assists, four rebounds) and 6-3 sophomore wing Chance Murray (17 points).

The Knights also got eight points and nine rebounds from Jaquan Green and eight points and three blocks by 6-10 senior Norvel Pelle.

But Price couldn't contain the potent duo of Reinhardt and Johnson, who combined to take 39 shots and score all but 20 of Mater Dei's points. Teammate Stanley Johnson, a 6-6 freshman, was quite active with eight rebounds in 15 minutes.

Asked to grade his team's performance, Xavier Johnson said: "For the first quarter a 'B+,' " he said. "The rest of it was about a 'C.' For some reason we always seem to let up and we don't play as a team. When we do play as a team, we're very good."

Reinhardt agrees.

"I think we've meshed well as a whole (this season)," he said. "But there's always room for improvement."

Mater Dei took charge in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 10 in the final three minutes before Price hit a flurry of 3-pointers including one by Booker at the buzzer.

"They're a tough team and we couldn't quite put them away," Xavier Johnson said. "They kept coming at us, but to our credit we responded to every challenge."

Mater Dei 67, Price 65

PRICE (16-6): Skylar Spencer 4-7 0-2 8, Chase Murray 7-20 0-0 17, Jaquan Green 4-5 0-0 8, Norvel Pelle 3-5 2-4 8, Jamie Trujeque 0-1 0, Askia Booker 9-22 0-1 22, Kenny Green 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 28-63 2-7 65.

MATER DEI (22-2): Eli Stalzer 2-3 1-2 5, Katin Reinhardt 8-17 3-5 22, Xavier Johnson 10-22 4-7 25, David Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Shaqquan Aaron 3-4 0-1 6, Jordan Strawberry 1-2 2-2 4, Stanley Johnson 2-5 0-1 4, Josh Cook 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 26-55 11-20 67.

Price         12  20  15  18  -  65
Mater Dei  25  12  15 15  -  67

3-point goals: Murray 3, Booker 4, Reinhardt 3, X. Johnson. Rebounds: Price 34, Mater Dei 40. Turnovers: Price 12, Mater Dei 12.

Taft (Woodland Hills) 49, De La Salle (Concord) 42 (OT)

Colorado-bound guard Spencer Dinwiddie had exactly one point early in the fourth quarter and his team trailed by four. Needless to say, the talented 6-foot-3 point guard was frustrated, but then that's what De La Salle does.

The Spartans, not blessed with much size (no one in their rotation is taller than 6-3) and Division I talent, won 18 of 21 coming in with stifling defense and long, precise offensive sets. They've allowed 30 points or less nine times.

"I wasn't doing anything, we were trailing so I figured I better start being more aggressive," Dinwiddie said.

He scored a 3-point basket and and three-point play in the last 3:41 of regulation to cause overtime, when he scored six straight for his team, giving him 12 consecutive points. He finished with 15 of his team-high 16 points in the final 7:41 of play, leading the Toreadors to a brutally tough overtime victory.

Teammate C.J. Blackwell, an impressive and powerfully built 6-5 forward, also had 16 points and added 10 rebounds for the winners, who caused 19 turnovers and outrebounded De La Salle 28-19.

Taft, No. 4 in the state, improved to 21-2.

"That was a gut-check win," Blackwell said. "Those guys play some really tough defense. But we play some pretty good defense ourselves."

De La Salle (18-4) milked the clock every possession and got some superb looks throughout the game. Travis Pacos (8 of 13 shooting) led all scorers with 17 points and 6-1 senior shooting guard Duke Da Re added 13 for the Spartans.

"We did a lot of things well," De La Salle coach Frank Allocco said. "We just didn't do enough good things down the stretch. We definitely had a chance to win in regulation. We had a chance to cease the moment. But Dinwiddie took over as great point guards are prone to do."

De La Salle did a superb job bottling up 6-10 post Kevin Johnson, who had just eight points but on 4 of 5 from the floor. He had six rebounds.

"Those guys are no fun to play against," Johnson said. "They talk all the time and position themselves perfectly. Luckily for us (Dinwiddie and Blackwell) got it going late or it would have been a long night."

De La Salle had a chance to win it on the last play of regulation, but Pacos missed a tough fadaway jumper over two defenders from 17 feet at the buzzer. The shot hit the back iron and bounced away.

"I thought it was going in," Pacos said. "This is going to sting for a while. We might have played well, but the goal was to win and we didn't do that. Hopefully this will re-focus us and push us to get better and maybe play in the state finals."

Taft 49, De La Salle 42 (OT)

DE LA SALLE (18-4): Benny Battle 0-4 0-0 0, Amadi Udenyi 1-6 0-0 2, Dan Peera 0-1 0-0 0, Duke De Re 4- 2-3 13, Chris Mullin 0-2 0-0 0, Elliot Pitts 1-2 3-4 6, Kelvin Morgan 1-1 2-2 4, Travis Pacos 8-11 0-1 17. Totals 15-34 7-19 42.

TAFT (21-2): Kris Yanku 0-0 0-2 0, Steve Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Khiry Williams 3-10 0-0 7, Kevin Johnson 4-5 0-3 8, C.J. Blackwell 7-12 1-3 16, Ajon Efferson 0-2 0-0 0, Spencer Dinwiddie 4-10 7-10 16, Stephen Maxwell 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 19-42 8-18 49.

De La Salle    8   7   6  11  10  - 42
Taft                11  5   6  10  17  - 49

3-point goals: Da Re 3, Pitts, Pacos, Williams, Blackwell 1, Dinwiddie. Rebounds: De La Salle 19, Taft 28. Turnovers: De La Salle 19, Taft 15.

Orange Lutheran 66, Westchester 63 (OT)

In perhaps the best game of the day, 6-3 junior Gabe York made a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup with 17 seconds left in overtime to break a 63-63 and give a very talented Lancers team the comeback victory.

York, a Division I high major prospect according to one scout at the game, finished with 25 points and five steals and Northern Arizona-bound guard James Douglas had a game-high 27 points as Lutheran fought back from a 32-20 halftime deficit to knock off the defending CIF State Division I champions (20-6).

York and Douglas make up one of the best backcourts in the state. Orange Lutheran (19-6), much like this game, is an up-and-down squad both in tempo and consistency. The Lancers have a win over nationally-ranked Mater Dei (59-56) but they were also blown out by the Monarchs (84-61).

York said for that reason he needed to step in and make the play.

"I don't normally gamble, but in that case I thought it was my time," York said of his go-ahead bucket. "They were making some lackadaisical passes so I went for it."

Westchester (20-6), which lost all five starters off last year's title team, looked unbeatable in the first half but failed to make plays down the stretch, a trademark of Ed Azzam teams.

Robert Gsellman, a 6-6 wing, led Westchester with 14 points, but he missed 10 of 16 shots. Keywhon Powns and Joshua Wilson combined for 21 points.

Asked what positives he could take away from the loss, Azzam said: "How not to finish a game. We couldn't get a rebound, we didn't get to the loose ball. We played terribly down the stretch."

That said, Azzam, who has won six state titles, admitted that  Orange Lutheran deserved much of the credit. "They're a good team, the have some strong guys underneath and those guards are very, very good."

Lutheran coach Chris Nordstrom said he wasn't that upset at halftime when his team trailed 32-20. "We had good looks, but we just didn't hit anything (the Lancers were 9 of 25 from the floor and 0-for-5 on 3-pointers)," he said. "We normally hit those shots so there was little adjustments we made. It was just a matter of the kids getting the job done and they sure did. That was a very big win for us."

Said Douglas: "It's not often you can say you beat Mater Dei and Westchester in the same year. That's quite a feat. But it will mean even more if we can get to the state (Division III) championship and win."

Orange Lutheran 66, Westchester 63

WESTCHESTER (20-6): Matthew Grant 2-6 1-3 6, Joshua Wilson 5-8 0-0 10, Jiovanni Romano 2-3 0-0 4, marshal Arnwine 0-1 0-0 0, Keywhon Powers 5-10 0-0 1, Bre'lon Levertte 1-1 1-1 3, Robert Tsellman 6-16 2-3 14, Trevone Williams 4-9 0-2 9, Dominique Evans 2-5 2-2 6. Totals 27-59 6-11 63.

ORANGE LUTHERAN (19-6): James Douglas 10-16 5-7 27, Al Holman 0-1 0-0 0, Payton Banks 4-11 2-5 10, Darien Williams 0-6, 1-4 1, Gabe York 11-22 0-0 25, Scogtt Baron 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 26-59 9-18 66.

Westchester        15  17  15  9    7  -  63
Orange Lutheran 10  10  23 13 10 -  66

3-point goals: Grant, Powns, T. Williams, Douglas 2, York 3. Rebounds: Westchester 36, Orange Lutheran 33. Turnovers: Westchester 22, Orange Lutheran 18.

See Bishop Gorman's upset win over No. 4 Long Beach Poly. Other Nike Extravaganza day action later.