Mater Dei’s easy victory makes a believer out of Hilliard

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As they filed out of Harvard-Westlake‘s packed gymnasium Tuesday night I heard at least half a dozen fans say they’d just witnessed the best team in the state. And no, they weren’t talking about their Wolverines. They meant Mater Dei, which routed Harvard-Westlake, 84-59, in the second round of the Division I-AA boys’ basketball playoffs.

Add Harvard-Westlake Coach Greg Hilliard to the list of believers that Mater Dei is every bit as good as its No. 2 seeding suggests. Maybe even better.

‘Santa Margarita beat us pretty bad, too, and they did it in a different way,’ Hilliard said after seeing his team’s string of 24 consecutive home victories snapped in shockingly decisive fashion. ‘But Mater Dei beat Santa Margarita twice so you have to make them the favorite.’

What makes the Monarchs so formidable?

‘It’s really a choice of poisons with them,’ Hilliard said. ‘If you deny penetration they’ve got guys who can knock ‘em down from the outside and if you contest the outside shots they’ve got great players in the post. Defensively, their half-court defense was very good. They made it real difficult for us to run our offense.’

The victory ran Mater Dei’s record to 29-0. So is there a team in Southern California capable of derailing this juggernaut? ‘It’s going to take a team that’s clicking on all cylinders,’ Hilliard said.

Perhaps Tennessee-bound Renaldo Woolridge, the Wolverines’ top scorer, said it best after being limited to 12 points on three-of-14 shooting: ‘Definitely, they’re the best team we’ve played by far.’

-- Steve Galluzzo