New Basketball Capital

Orange County has had some fine basketball teams in its time, but there has been absolutely nothing in its hoop history like last weekend, when high school basketball teams from the county captured not one but two state championships.

The Mater Dei Monarchs (31-1) from Santa Ana won six post-season playoff games to qualify for the championship showdown in Oakland last Saturday. And the Woodbridge Warriors (28-5) from Irvine won seven playoff games on their trip to the state finals. By Saturday night Mater Dei had won the California Division I championship and Woodbridge had captured the state’s Division II title.

Basketball fans have been speaking in superlatives about the teams and their performances ever since. And understandably so. The championship games weren’t really close. The Monarchs and the Warriors dominated. That was apparent. So were the talent and team play of both squads, and the quality of their coaching staffs.

Winning the dual state championships does more, however, than just spark school pride at Mater Dei and Woodbridge. It also establishes Orange County as the high school basketball capital of California, and it gives the entire county community something to cheer about.

Former Chief Justice Earl Warren (who was once California’s governor) admitted one time that in reading his daily newspaper he always turned to the sports page first. Warren said that “the sports page records people’s accomplishments; the front page, nothing but man’s failure.” We think that he would have been pleased to see that the accomplishments of the players and coaches from Mater Dei and Woodbridge who brought the unprecedented two state basketball championships to Orange County made the front page, too.