Girls basketball: Mater Dei victory provides credibility outside Trinity League

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For the better part of the season, the knock on Mater Dei’s list of opponents was that they were just average -- especially apart from those it plays from the Sea View League.

But on Friday, Mater Dei -- ranked No. 17 in the Southland by The Times -- definitely took a step outside its comfort zone and scored a 51-47 victory over No. 7 Mira Costa, a team with two Division I players in Mikah Maly-Karros (Loyola Marymount) and Megan Richardson (Fullerton).

The fact that Mater Dei (22-3) relied so heavily on freshmen to beat Mira Costa (19-5) was even more impressive.

‘I don’t know how good we are,’ said first-year Coach Kevin Kiernan, who won three state titles while at Troy. ‘Tonight was a really big step for us because Mira Costa’s a great team. We’ve played a pretty average schedule. Our league is so tough, you kind of have to worry about that. But this is a real nice win for us in a big setting to prepare for the playoffs.’

Mater Dei dominated the first 12 minutes and held a 25-17 lead when Mira Costa pulled to within 25-24 at halftime, then took the lead in the opening moments of the third quarter. Mira Costa led, 32-29, when Mater Dei pressed the Mustangs and changed the outcome of the game. It led to 11 consecutive points, six by freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and five by Alexyz Vaioletama. The freshmen finished with 20 and nine points, respectively.

Kaitlyn Soto, a senior guard, scored 10 for the Monarchs.

-- Martin Henderson