ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Boys’ Roundup : St. Bernard Can’t Hold Off Mater Dei, 44-38

Before Friday night’s Angelus League showdown between Mater Dei and St. Bernard high schools, Monarch Coach Gary McKnight said, “You know, my very first loss at Mater Dei was to these guys.”

The Vikings almost did it again to McKnight, but a 10-point second-half rally sparked the Monarchs to a 44-38 victory at St. Bernard.

Led by center LeRon Ellis’ 17 points, Mater Dei (3-0, 16-1) turned a 34-27 third-quarter deficit into a 37-34 lead with 2:40 remaining.

St. Bernard (2-1, 11-7) slowed the pace for most of the game, but three straight turnovers in the fourth quarter gave Mater Dei crucial points.

“Every possession counts so much in a game like this,” McKnight said. “It put a lot of pressure on every shot taken.”

The pressure seemed to bother the Monarchs’ outside shooting as Eric Quigly and Mike Hopkins combined for only nine points. Ellis and Kevin Rembert (16 points) picked up the slack.

Defensively, Mater Dei held St. Bernard to 11 points during the second half, four in the final quarter.

“Rembert did a great job on both ends of the floor,” McKnight said. “We had to put pressure on (David) Whitmore. Kevin really came through.”

Whitmore scored 16 points for the Vikings.

In the Academy League:

St. Michael’s 44, Newport Christian 43--Kevin Flint made a 20-foot jump shot with eight seconds left to give St. Michael’s (2-3, 3-3) the victory. Flint and Nico Melendez led St. Michael’s with 13 points each, and Wayne Everett paced Newport Christian with 13.

In the Century League:

El Modena 59, Villa Park 55--Adam Coghill scored 12 points, Ramsey Rycraw 11 and Jeff Steingraber 10 to lead a balanced El Modena attack. The Vanguards led by as much as 11 in the third quarter but Villa Park rallied in the fourth to trail by only three points. Villa Park’s Chris Storck, who had a game-high 24 points, scored 10 points in the fourth to lead the Spartans.

Santa Ana 66, Canyon 50--Bobby Joyce scored 28 points and had 15 rebounds to lead the Saints (2-0, 13-5) at Santa Ana. Jeff Steward added 16 points for Santa Ana, and David Jones scored 20 to lead the Comanches (1-1, 6-7).

Foothill 47, Santa Ana Valley 40--Greg Reiber scored 22 points to lead the Knights at Foothill.

In the Empire League:

Kennedy 55, Loara 36--Mike Williams scored 12 points to lead the Fighting Irish (4-2, 10-5). Todd Eaton scored 12 for the Saxons (0-6).

Cypress 69, El Dorado 65--Senior forward Frantz Reyes scored 28 points and had 13 rebounds and teammate Matt Pekrul scored 13 points and had 12 rebounds for the Centurions (3-3, 6-9).

Chris Facione scored 14 for the Golden Hawks (2-4, 6-8).

Katella 47, Esperanza 33--Center Richard Lucas scored 19 points and had 16 rebounds and guard Tom Villanueva scored 14 points to lead the Knights (6-0, 15-2) at Katella.

Los Alamitos 91, Pacifica 71--Ryan Blossey had 20 of his 22 points and Mark Parkinson had 10 of his 11 assists in the first half as Los Alamitos jumped out to a 53-30 halftime lead and coasted to an easy victory. Los Alamitos went to 6-0 in the league, 13-3 overall as Pacifica dropped to 1-5 and 7-7 overall.

Mo Warner led Los Alamitos with 10 rebounds.

In the Garden Grove League:

Bolsa Grande 100, Rancho Alamitos 79--Joe Small scored 28 points, Tom Cao 25, and Chris Constant 21 as the Matadors scored 63 in the second half. Bolsa Geande (3-0, 9-5) shot 35 of 63 from the field.

Randy Morales scored 30 and Craig Paquette scored 27 for Rancho Alamitos (1-2, 7-8).

La Quinta 75, Santiago 45--Scott Campbell scored 20 for the Aztecs who limited Santiago to 4 points in the first quarter.

Pete Velasquez scored 13 for Santiago (0-3, 3-8).

Los Amigos 57, Garden Grove 44--Jim McGee and J. J. Jenkins scored 16 points each to lead the Lobos at Garden Grove. Octavio Contreras led the Argonauts with 16.

In the Orange League:

Brea-Olinda 70, Savanna 55--Senior forward Ron Thomas scored a career-high 31 and teammate Gary Chiotti 16 for the Wildcats (2-0, 11-6). Senior guard Dexter Murmar had 21 assists for Brea-Olinda but didn’t score.

Magnolia 71, Anaheim 30--Mike Goff had a game-high 24 points and Victor Banuelos added 16 to lead Magnolia. The Sentinels led at halftime, 43-15. Keith Liufau led Anaheim with 11 points.

Valencia 57, Western 49--The Tigers (2-0, 12-3) took a 7-0 lead and never trailed at Valencia. Center Dennis Burbank scored 21 points and had 8 rebounds for Valencia, and guard Bernie Jones had 14 points.

In the Pacific Coast League:

Laguna Beach 47, Orange 45 (2 OT)--Rob Appel made a five-foot jump shot with four seconds remaining in the second overtime to give Laguna Beach the win. Scott Herdman led Laguna Beach with 15 points. Dan Adams scored 14 points to lead Orange.

Trabuco Hills 52, Laguna Hills 50--John Barnes made two free throws with one second left to give Trabuco Hills this win at home. Trabuco Hills was led by Gordon McNeill and Rick Swanwick who each scored 12 points. Mike Smedes led Laguna Hills with 12 points.

In the Olympic League:

Valley Christian 74, Orange Lutheran 57--Ryan Rienstra scored 19 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to lead the Eagles (3-0, 6-5) at Orange Lutheran (0-4, 4-9). Glenn Struiksma added 16 points and Steve Kortenhoeven 10 for Valley Christian. Jason Neben led the Lancers with 18 points. Geoff McArthur added 11.