SANTA ANA, Calif. – State and National powers Ontario Christian-Ontario and host Mater Dei were in action at the Play 4 Kay Mater Dei Matt Denning Classic on Saturday in Santa Ana, and each showed just why they are both deserving of all the state and national accolades.
Ontario Christian flexes muscles in win over St. Joseph
Ontario Christian-Ontario (21-1), ranked No. 1 by Cal-Hi Sports and No. 1 in the nation by Maxpreps, barely broke a sweat on Saturday afternoon at the Play 4 Kay Mater Dei Matt Denning Classic and the result was a running clock 72-34 victory over a solid Monache-Porterville.
St. Joseph-Lakewood came out seemingly playing on adrenalin and held Ontario Christian scoreless until the 5:30 mark of the first quarter but they couldn’t score either. Even after Ontario Christian scored the game’s first eight points, St. Joseph hung tough and only trailed 12-6 midway through the first quarter, however from there the nation’s top team took charge. The Knights girls extended the lead to 20-9 after one quarter and by halftime the game was all but over with Ontario holding a 37-14 lead.
The super freshmen duo of 6-foot-7 Sydney “Bean” Douglas and 5-foot-11 Taitiana “Tati” Griffin had their way inside, and even shot the three ball. Both Douglas and Griffin had a game high 23 points with Bean getting a double-double after snagging 13 rebounds. She also converted on two three-pointers. Griffin added nine rebounds and drained three from outside the arc.
Sophomore Kaleena Smith, the 2024 Cal-Hi Sports State Freshman of the Year and one of the leading candidates for this year’s Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year, was a little under her season’s averages but still finished with 13 points (one three-pointer), six rebounds, six assists and two steals.
St. Joseph (16-2) got 10 points from junior Alana White, eight points from sophomore Ava Washington (two three-pointers) and eight points from junior Bella Harmon.
Mater Dei easily tops stand-in Lynwood
With the Southern California fires forcing two teams to pull out of the Play 4 Kay Mater Dei Matt Denning Classic the night before the event, event organizer and Mater Dei assistant coach Jesse Vargas was scrambling to try and find replacements, however he was not successful.
The Chaminade-West Hills team that was supposed to face the hosts in the nightcap had to cancel as did the Louisville-Woodland Hills that was supposed to match up with Fairmont Prep-Anaheim.
The end result was the 3:00 game was cancelled, and Fairmont Prep ended up facing a Monace-Porterville team that was scheduled to play Lynwood.
Lynwood head coach Ellis Barfield, who currently ranks as the No. 12 all-time winningest coach according to the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book, and who also has won four CIF state championships, agreed to face Cal-Hi Sports No. 4 and Maxpreps national No. 6 Mater Dei (17-2) in the nightcap.
Barfield and his Knights girls might have had a good chance against Monace, but against Mater Dei they were overmatched, and the Monarchs prevailed in a 70-30 victory. The game went to a running clock, but Mater Dei head coach Jody Wynn had already began emptying the bench in the late third quarter with the Monarchs holding a 56-18 lead.
Iowa-bound 6-foot senior Addison Deal hardly played in the third quarter but still finished with a game-high 19 points (three three-pointers) with five rebounds, five steals and five assists.
Grand Canyon-committed senior guard Amaya Williams added 13 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists, and standout 6-foot junior Kaeli Wynn finished with 10 points (one three-pointer), four rebounds and two blocs, and senior Devyn Kiernan also chipped in with 10 points (one three-pointer, three steals and two assists.
Lynwood (8-11) got 15 points from junior Shanilah Ewing.
Fairmont Prep holds off Monace
Instead of facing off with Louisville as originally scheduled, Cal-Hi Sports No. 11 Fairmont Prep (14-5) took on Monace in what turned out to be an entertaining matchup.
The teams traded baskets for much of the first half and the score was 20-20 midway through the second quarter. At that point Fairmont took charge and closed the quarter on an 11-0 run to get the 31-20, and they led by as many as 17 at 53-36 in the early fourth quarter before Monace made a final run in what ended up as a 62-54 Fairmont Prep victory.
Junior sharpshooter Adyra Rajan, who led Orange County with 113 made three-pointers last season, connected on seven from outside the arc and finished with a team-high 23 points. Junior forward Saraj Aldeguer added 17 points with two three-pointers and junior guard Lesina Afu finished with 15 points with two three-pointers.
Monace (11-6) was led by junior wing Milly Rojas with a game-high 25 points including two three-pointers. Junior guard Shelley Andrade added 10 points.
Rosary-Fullerton 53, Cerritos 39
In the opener of the Play 4 Kay Mater Dei Matt Denning Classic it was Rosary (11-7) taking charge after the teams were tied 9-9 near the end of the first. Cerritos still hung tough but with the score 14-12 early in the second quarter Rosary went on an 8-0 run to get it to 24-13 just before halftime.
Cerritos still did not fold and despite trailing by double digits most of the third quarter they cut the lead to 40-36 in the early fourth quarter before Rosary finally closed things out with a 13-3 run from that point up until the final buzzer.
Rosary (11-7) was led by sophomore Riyanna Meaders with 15 points, junior Kate Duarte added 11 points and sophomore Maddie White finished with 10 points.
Cerritos (5-14) got a team-high 12 points from sophomore Kalana Nguyen.
