Dominguez is leaving Mater Dei gasping in Division I-AA final

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Mater Dei might need to break out the oxygen masks in the second half.

Dominguez is taking advantage of the Monarchs’ short bench and turning this Southern Section Division I-AA final into a track meet. The top-seeded Dons lead, 31-24, at halftime here at the Honda Center.

The 6-foot-10 twins for the Monarchs, Travis and David Wear, run the floor well, but they can’t do it all game long. Already, they’re grabbing their shorts during timeouts and running around the court with their mouths hanging open like sunfish.

Gary Franklin, the sophomore point guard for the Monarchs, seems to be playing a little stiff. Franklin will be a great player, but this is his first big-time game so it’ll be interesting to see how he holds up.

Dominguez used eight players alone in the first quarter. Mater Dei is still content to play with a six-man rotation. You’d think a program like Mater Dei’s would have more than six guys it could trust on the floor in a big game like this. Shoot, the Monarchs have 20 guys on their bench.

Jordan Hamilton is finding his range for the Dons. He nailed back-to-back three-pointers to give them a 12-point lead before Mater Dei scored the last five points of the half to keep their red-sweatered fans from sulking into their seats.

-- Dan Arritt