Mater Dei Avenges Defeats With a Title Victory, 74-65

Defeat Mater Dei? No way.

The Monarchs won an unprecedented fourth consecutive Southern Section 5-A division boys’ basketball title Saturday night, defeating Bishop Amat, 74-65, in front of 10,944 fans in the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

The Monarchs (21-7) avenged two earlier losses to Bishop Amat (27-3) in Angelus League play by outscoring the Lancers, 11-0, to open the second half and then holding off a late charge.

Mater Dei, now 25-1 in postseason play under Coach Gary McKnight in six seasons, overcame a four-point deficit at halftime behind the play of lightly regarded forward Mike Morris.

Morris scored three straight baskets in the third quarter and made a three-point play with 3:49 remaining to lift the Monarchs to a 47-38 lead. Bishop Amat tried to come back with three-point shots, but the Lancers made only 3 of 12 attempts in the second half.

Bishop Amat had defeated Mater Dei, 70-56 and 72-57, in league play. The first win ended Mater Dei’s 50-game winning streak in the Angelus League and many thought the Monarchs’ reign as the Southern Section’s top team was over.

Bishop Amat went into the playoffs seeded as the No. 1 team while Mater Dei failed to earn a seeding. But the Monarchs’ playoff mystique was definitely alive in the championship game.

Alex Acosta, Bishop Amat coach, predicted the teams would meet for the division title after Mater Dei won its second-round playoff game against Edison. He also discounted his team’s earlier two victories over Mater Dei.

“It’s down to one game, so it doesn’t matter what happened the last two times we’ve played them,” Acosta said.

Before tipoff, McKnight said the Monarchs had to prevent Bishop Amat from going on a scoring spree similar to the quick offensive bursts the Lancers used in the teams’ earlier meetings to beat Mater Dei.

“We can’t let them go on a 13-3 or 12-2 spurt like they did the last two times we played them,” McKnight said. “We’ve also got to shoot better than 34% like we did in those games if we want to win.”

The Monarchs opened Saturday night’s game with their own scoring spurt, jumping out to a 15-6 lead behind the play of guard Mark Ramstack. Ramstack had five points and three assists in the first quarter and his drive through the lane with 3:51 remaining in the period pushed Mater Dei ahead by nine points.

But McKnight’s worse fears were realized at the conclusion of the first half. Ramstack, the Monarchs’ most potent offensive weapon in the first half, was accessed his third foul with 4:29 remaining and he went to the bench with Mater Dei leading, 32-27.

Bishop Amat proceeded to go on an 11-2 blitz and held a 38-34 lead at halftime. The Lancers tied the score at 34 when center Geoff Lear rebounded an errant shot, slammed the ball with authority and was fouled on the play. Lear completed the three-point play with 1:54 left.