Girls’ basketball: Thrown tables opened eyes at Mater Dei

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Apparently, the spirit of Bobby Knight, pictured, lives inside Kevin Kiernan.

Mater Dei, ranked No. 17 by The Times, scored a 51-47 victory Friday over No. 7 Mira Costa, one night after avenging a Trinity League loss to Orange Lutheran.

It was the Monarchs’ second consecutive loss in the first round of league play, Kiernan said, that provided a pivotal moment in his team’s development. After winning three state titles at Troy, this is his first season coaching at Mater Dei, a program that won only 13 games last season but is 22-3 this season.

‘There were a couple of thrown tables,’ Kiernan said of that post-game aftermath. ‘I think they realized ‘Hey, these guys are pretty intense, it’s important to them,’ and it’s becoming important to them (the players). It’s kind of a fun bunch of girls, and we’re a competitive coaching staff and we’re trying to get them to come a little bit more our way.

‘After that Lutheran game, where they just showed up and said, ‘We’re just going to play, it’s no big deal.’ They found out it was a big deal. These other teams in the Trinity League are competitive, let’s get after it.

‘Since we lost to Lutheran in the first round, and really didn’t show up ... we’ve beaten [No. 25] JSerra on the road, [No. 18] Santa Margarita on the road, St. Paul last Saturday, beat Lutheran in the rematch.... We’ve played really well. Young teams, you don’t know where they’ll go, if they’ll go in the tank or fight back.

‘That particular game was pivotal in us growing up so fast. Obviously these freshmen are talented but they’re 14 years old. These are babies. At some point in the season, we knew they were going to grow, we just didn’t know when.’

The exact date was Jan. 15, the night they were beaten by Lutheran, 40-34.

While there’s no known video of Kiernan upsetting the table, there’s plenty of Knights’ antics with the chair. Enjoy via YouTube:

-- Martin Henderson