Southern Section Boys’ Prep Basketball Playoffs : Mater Dei, Serra Advance to Semifinals

The top two high school teams in the Southern Section 5-A playoffs, Santa Ana Mater Dei and Gardena Serra, continued to head toward a title game showdown with quarterfinal wins Friday, but in starkly contrasting fashion.

Defending champion Santa Ana Mater Dei ran its streak to 57 games with a physical 72-63 win over Long Beach St. Anthony. The teams combined for 51 fouls, 29 for St. Anthony, which saw its center, 6-8 Jaime Cardriche, spend most of the game in foul trouble.

Forward Stuart Thomas scored 18 for Mater Dei, while center LeRon Ellis added 15. The physical play did little to help St. Anthony, as the Saints could never get closer than nine points in the second half. Mater Dei will play Playa del Rey St. Bernard Wednesday in the semifinals. St. Bernard defeated Encino Crespi, 60-57.

The No. 2-ranked team, Gardena Serra, used its fast-break offense to run away with an 86-70 win over Downey Pius X at El Camino College.

As they have done all season, Serra’s forward combination of Keith Malone (34 points and 18 rebounds) and James Moses (18 points and 9 rebounds) keyed the win. The Cavaliers led from the opening minute but saw their lead cut to four points twice in the second half. Each time, Serra kicked its running game into high gear.

Malone led a 10-0 run that returned the lead to 14 at the beginning of the second half, and a series of fast breaks prevented Pius X from getting closer after they had pulled within four. Serra will play Huntington Beach Edison, a 54-53 winner over Long Beach Poly, in the semifinals.

In the 4-A, No. 2 ranked Santa Monica lost for the third straight year in the quarterfinals, this time falling to Compton Dominguez, 59-51. No. 1 ranked Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley scored an easy 76-56 win over Oxnard Rio Mesa and will meet Simi Valley, a 67-59 winner over Rolling Hills, Tuesday in the semifinals.

Battles between big men highlighted the 3-A division’s quarterfinal round. Defending 3-A champion Inglewood Morningside, led by 6-9 shot-blocking specialist Elden Campbell, was blown out by 6-10 Kevin Walker and Brea-Olinda, 78-55, at La Habra Sonora High.

Walker won the battle, scoring 34 to Campbell’s 27, and more importantly, leading his team into the semifinals against top-ranked Pomona Ganesha, an 82-68 winner over Pomona.

The other battle of big men in the 3-A featured 6-10 Scott Williams of Hacienda Heights Wilson against 6-8 Dan McGwire of Claremont. McGwire, known more for his football exploits, scored only 10 points while Williams had 22 points and 10 rebounds in Wilson’s 69-60 win at Edgewood High.

Emory Lewis had 34 points to lead San Bernardino to an 82-70 win over Calabasas in a 2-A quarterfinal game at Agoura High, overcoming 38 points by Steve Ward of Calabasas. San Bernardino will play Murphy, which scored an upset 66-61 win over South Pasadena. Andre Gougis, a 5-4 guard, had 21 points to lead the win.

In the 1-A, defending champion Palos Verdes Chadwick was defeated by Pasadena Marshall Fundamental, 63-50, at Pasadena High, as David Whitmore scored 26 points and Corey Dantzler had 15 points and 10 rebounds. James Johnson had 19 points and 15 rebounds for Chadwick.

Chadwick’s opponent in last year’s 1-A final, Santa Monica Crossroads, narrowly averted defeat as center Dave Wolfe’s basket with 10 seconds left in the game gave the Road Runners a 65-63 victory at Twentynine Palms. Wolfe finished with 21 points.