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Boys’ basketball: McKnight could tie record on Friday

Los Angeles Times staff writer Ben Bolch
By Ben Bolch
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Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight could tie former Oakland Bishop O’Dowd Coach Mike Phelps as the winningest boys’ basketball coach in California history next Friday after an 82-48 victory over Orange Lutheran on Friday stretched the Monarchs’ winning streak to six games.

Keala King had 22 points on eight-for-18 shooting and 11 rebounds for Mater Dei (13-1), ranked No. 2 in the Southland by The Times. Guard Tyler Lamb added 19 points and Gary Franklin had 15 for the Monarchs. Sophomore guard Gabe York had 10 points and was the only player to score in double figures for No. 23 Orange Lutheran (10-5).

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McKnight has 841 victories, two short of Phelps’ 843, and could tie the mark if Mater Dei defeats Servite on Wednesday and JSerra on Friday. That would put the venerable coach in position to break the mark against national power Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha on Jan. 18 in Springfield, Mass., at the Hoophall Classic.

If that doesn’t work out, McKnight could always break the record against Santa Margarita and longtime Eagles counterpart Jerry DeBusk on Jan. 22.

--Ben Bolch

Varsity Times Insider
Ben Bolch

Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.

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