SANTA ANA, Calif. – Mater Dei (4-0) showcased its top players, welcomed back an injured star, emptied the bench, and Monarchs head coach inched closer to career coaching win No. 900 after the Monarchs hosted and roasted North Torrance in a 75-29 running clock non-league victory on Tuesday night at the Meruelo Center on the campus of Mater Dei.
Junior star Addie Deal, a 6-1 guard that tied for No. 5 out of 150 players evaluated for the Girls of Summer annual feature on Cal-Hi Sports, was content to feed he teammates early on and didn’t even score in a first quarter that saw Mater Dei bolt out to a 20-7 lead. Deal picked it up at that point and finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Another junior, flashy 5-10 guard Amaya Williams, looked very solid and finished with 16 points and six assists.
Had she not had her minutes limited by head coach Kevin Kiernan, who pretty much emptied the bench midway through the third quarter, budding 6-2 sophomore forward Kaeli Wynn probably would easily have had a double-double.
Wynn still finished with eight points and nine rebounds, and along with Deal and Williams, plus the coach’s daughter, junior guard Devin Kiernan (eight points), will form a solid base for the Monarchs, not only this season but next year as well.
A player that returned from an early season injury and looked a little rusty when she was inserted as a non starter but warmed up and will definitely be a factor this season is 6-3 senior power forward Jenessa Cotton. She had six points and six rebounds.
North Torrance (1-3) was led by junior guard Sage Misumi with 12 points.
Two things of note involving the Monarchs coaching staff are first off Kiernan has added a valuable assistant to the staff, former D1 college head coach Jody Wynn, the mother of Kaeli Wynn. She had stints at Long Beach State from 2009 to 2017 and from 2017 to 2021 at Washington.
The other coaching item is Kiernan, who according to the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book is the all-time leading head coach in wins in California, is closing in on career win No. 900. With Mater Dei now 4-0 he sits at 878 career wins and with a solid season 900 is not out of the question.
The first four games for the Monarchs haven’t really tested them but now comes tournament time and that means things will change.
Mater Dei will be at the Troy Tournament beginning next Tuesday with Brea-Olinda and Long Beach Poly on tap as opponents. The following week they will have a non-league game at home versus Oakland Tech. From there the Monarchs will be traveling to Arizona to play in the Nike Tournament of Champions.
