SANTA ANA – The Mater Dei boys basketball team went 0-3 in the CIF Southern Section Open Division pool-play playoffs.
Three-game losing streaks just don’t happen in the Monarchs program.
Mater Dei showed that it might be ready to make a run in the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs. The Monarchs looked great Tuesday in their 72-56 win over St. Anthony in a SoCal Regional Division I first-round game.
“We needed this,” said Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight, in his 42nd season in charge of the team. “We’ve been in a bit of a slump lately.”
Mater Dei (27-5), seeded third in the SoCal Regional Division I group, will play at home in the second round Thursday against Centennial of Corona.
Centennial beat San Diego County’s Mission Hills 77-58 in the first round. Centennial’s Carter Bryant, who played at Fountain Valley and Sage Hill, scored 22 points for Centennial.
St. Anthony, the CIF-SS Division 2AA champion, finished 25-8. The Saints were seeded 14th.
Monarchs sophomore guard Luke Barnett scored a game-high 23 points. He made five 3-pointers, including three in the fourth quarter as Mater Dei added to a big lead it began to build in the third quarter.
Senior point guard Brady Karich had 12 assists for Mater Dei. Junior guard Owen Verna scored 14 points with two 3s. Senior guard Scotty Belnap came off of the bench to score 12 points including a massive dunk in the fourth quarter.
Mater Dei junior forward Brandon Benjamin scored 10 points with eight rebounds. Junior forward Blake Davidson added nine points and 12 rebounds.
Postgame with Mater Dei sophomore guard Luke Barnett who scored 23 points with 5 3-pointers in a 72-56 win over St Anthony…. pic.twitter.com/c1PIPFBdo9
— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) February 28, 2024
McKnight for decades has emphasized to his players that success comes from sharing the basketball.
“I think that’s one reason guys like Luke get open so much,” McKnight said. “And Owen and everybody else take their turn and Scotty came in and gave us good minutes.
“Four players in double figures and one with nine points. That’s good.”
St. Anthony senior guard Quincy Phillips scored 17 points. He scored 12 in the first half, five on five free throws in the third quarter and was shut out in the fourth quarter.
Mater Dei had a 12-2 lead in the first quarter. St. Anthony got hot and outscored the Monarchs 14-0 at one point to take an 18-16 lead into the second quarter.
In the second quarter Verna scored seven points, Belnap scored five and Benjamin added four as the Monarchs outscored the Saints 22-9 for a 38-27 halftime lead.
“They went on their run,” said Barnett of the Saints, “and we regrouped, moved the ball pretty well and found a way to get good shots and in the second half we started to hit.”
Mater Dei shot 46 percent on all shots, 30 percent on 3-pointers. St. Anthony shot 32 percent on all shots, 17 percent (3 for 18) on 3-pointers.