Prep Review : Mater Dei Regains That Championship Feeling

Clearing out the notebook from the Southern Section’s weekend of March championship madness.

First stop, the Sports Arena, where Mater Dei High School defeated Bishop Amat, 74-65, in the Southern Section 5-A basketball championship game in front of nearly 11,000.

It was the Monarchs’ fourth straight 5-A title, but winning has not gotten mundane for the school or its fans.

“A lot of people early in the season thought we couldn’t do it and I was one of them,” Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight said.

At the end of the game, McKnight was hoisted upon his players’ shoulders to the cheers of the Mater Dei fans. That might have not been possible last season, but McKnight has lost 50 pounds since last season’s 5-A title.

“We lost the Angelus League title this season (to Bishop Amat), but this is better,” McKnight said.

Bishop Amat had defeated Mater Dei twice during the season. Said Char Ruppel, Mater Dei’s center who had 9 points and 13 rebounds: “We weren’t scared. We had nothing to lose.”

While all the Monarchs celebrated their unlikely title with zeal, Kevin Rembert and Mark Ramstack stayed out on the court long after their teammates had gone to the dressing room.

Rembert, a senior forward who had 14 points, sat on the Mater Dei bench talking to a gathering of children while showing off his championship medal and patch.

“At the beginning of the season we weren’t playing that well,” Rembert would say later. “A lot of people counted us out. (But) we proved that we could do it tonight. We’ve got the state playoffs coming up but tonight we’re just going to celebrate.”

Meanwhile, across the floor, Mark Ramstack, senior point guard, was being interviewed by Brad Holland, a former UCLA star, on the Prime Ticket cable network.

Ramstack, who led the Monarchs for the second-straight game in scoring, had 19 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

He also was the emotional leader. On occasions when he wasn’t playing, he could be seen whipping a towel overhead to excite the crowd and the team. He spent as much time shooting and passing as he did congratulating teammates for good plays.

“When you’ve got a big-name player a lot of people say, ‘Yeah, you’re good, but you’ve only got one player on your team,” Ramstack said. “We’ve got two division I players, Kevin (who will attend San Diego State next fall) and Mike (Hopkins, who will be at Syracuse).

“It’s hard living up to the teams of the past. Maybe we’re not as talented as teams of the past, but maybe we are better together as a team.”

Kennedy players were disappointed that they could not cut down the nets on the Sports Arena baskets after they had won the 3-A title over Tustin in overtime, 58-54.

But John Mayberry, Kennedy coach, had promised the players they could cut down all the nets in the Kennedy gym once they got back to La Palma Saturday.

However, when the team and a group of supporters got back to school, there was a recreation league game being played on the main court.

Undeterred, the players cut down all the nets on the side courts. Then sat and waited for the game to finish before cutting the final two nets off.

Now it’s on to our second stop: Gahr High School and the boys’ and girls’ soccer championships.

The Mission Viejo girls’ 1-0 victory in Friday’s 4-A title game against West Torrance extended its unbeaten streak to 69 consecutive games, a Southern Section record.

The Diablos’ last lost in 1986 in a South Coast League game to Laguna Hills, 1-0.

Mission Viejo’s victory was its third straight 4-A championship. The Diablos beat Torrance, 2-1, last season and were co-champions with Edison in 1986.

Though it lost the 3-A girls’ final, 2-0, to Buena Saturday, Esperanza had some notable accomplishments. The Aztecs tied Torrance for second on the Southern Section list for least goals allowed in a season--seven.

Esperanza’s seven goals-allowed ranks just behind the record of five set by Laguna Hills last season.

The team’s 22 shutouts this season is just one behind Laguna Hills’ record of 23 also set last season.

Last Stop: Stockton and the University of the Pacific for the State Wrestling Tournament.

A weekend in Stockton did not prove very kind to the brothers Schultz--Bryon and Brett, of Canyon High School.

Friday, during a quarterfinal match, Bryon--wrestling at 119-pounds--was defeated by Overfelt’s Javier Gonzales, 10-9, on a takedown by Gonzales in the last five seconds.

Gary Bowden, Canyon coach, later found out that the match clock had been stopped for 43 seconds during the match.

“There was a guy videotaping Bryon’s match and he saw that the clock wasn’t running for a long time,” Bowden said. “He tried to tell me about it, but I couldn’t hear him.”

So the match went an extra 43 seconds, time enough for Gonzales to win in the last 5.

Bowden said he did notice the clock had stopped, but had no idea it was that long. Any thought of trying to protest the match was dashed when Bowden left the mat almost immediately to coach Brett in his match, which was about to begin on another mat.

“I looked at the videotape Friday night,” Bowden said. “I couldn’t believe the clock had been stopped that long. But once I left the mat, that was that. But what could I do? Brett’s match was just starting. I had to get over there.”

Brett, wrestling at 126-pounds, advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, but he lost his semifinal match against Overfelt’s Rich Gutierrez by a criteria decision in overtime.

Criteria judgments are used when a match is still tied after overtime and are based on things such as which wrestler is first to score a takedown, or first to be called for stalling.

Schultz, who wrestled Gutierrez to a 1-1 tie in overtime, lost because he had received a stall warning in overtime.

“Brett had the kid (Gutierrez) standing up and he kept trying to sweep his leg and take the guy down,” Bowden said.

Bowden said that Schultz was trying to initiate action with the leg sweep, he just couldn’t pull it off.

“You don’t penalize a kid because a particular move isn’t working,” Bowden said. “I think what happened was the official just got bored of seeing Brett try the move over and over again. But I don’t think you penalize Brett because you’re bored.”

During regulation, leading by a point, Schultz had been penalized a point for stalling, a penalty that tied the score and, eventually, cost Schultz the match.

Brett finished fifth in the state.

Capistrano Valley heavyweight Rex Vollmer placed third in the state. It was an exhausting couple days for Vollmer, who looked lethargic in a semifinal loss and a consolation round victory.

Vollmer rebounded with a strong performance in the third-place match defeating Marc Pease of Poway.

Vollmer, who weighs a hearty 230-pounds and has been known to munch on a full loaf of French bread as his teammates try to cut weight, was congratulated by friends and coaches and then made a shoveling motion toward his mouth.

“Let’s eat,” he said.

Asked what food he would celebrate with he said: “Buffet. Definitely buffet.”

Valencia’s Fred Jenkins, who came into the state wrestling tournament ranked No. 1 at 178-pounds, injured ligaments in his left ankle during a second round match and was forced out of the competition Saturday.

What is impressive about Jenkins is that he defeated one opponent while wrestling with the injured ankle and came close to defeating another, which would have put him into the semifinals--wrestling, for all intents and purposes, on one leg.