Mater Dei Uses Foul Shots to Beat Ocean View, 76-68

Midway through the first half Saturday night, while the teams were being assessed 25 fouls, Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight turned to the press table and said, “These fouls take all the fun out of the game.”

But McKnight could find little to complain about in the fourth quarter when his team made 11 consecutive free throws to earn a 76-68 nonleague victory over Ocean View in Huntington Beach.

Mater Dei (18-2) didn’t miss a shot at the foul line in the final quarter and was 37 of 46 for the game. Ocean View (11-7) was cited for 28 personal fouls.

It was the second loss for the Seahawks against Mater Dei this season. Mater Dei had won, 58-43, in the Tournament of Champions final.

Guard Dylan Rigdon, who didn’t start because of a nagging back injury, led all scorers with 27 points, and teammate Mike Morris added 17. Center Todd Norman scored 24 points for Ocean View.

Now, for some of the more unusual aspects of the game:

--The first quarter took nearly 40 minutes to play and included some bizarre plays.

--The teams were assessed 20 fouls between them in the 8 minutes of play. Mater Dei shot 20 free throws and made 15 for a 25-14 lead.

--There were four technical fouls called, two on the Ocean View bench, one on the Mater Dei bench and one on an Ocean View player. Mater Dei point guard Jason Quinn was sent sprawling to the floor twice with his in-your-face defensive tactics against Ocean View’s Mike Frohn.

--The teams had to be separated by officials twice, with Ocean View’s Norman and Mater Dei’s Andy Karich exchanging words at midcourt. Tempers flared to the point where officials called a timeout to allow the teams and coaches to cool off.

--Finally, there was an 8-point play. Mater Dei was the beneficiary with 38 seconds remaining in the first quarter when Morris was fouled and official Lee Phelps called two technicals on the Ocean View bench.

Morris made both free throws, Rigdon made 4 more free throws for the bench technicals and then Rigdon scored a layup on the ensuing inbounds play. Presto, 8 points.

But Norman rallied Ocean View in the second quarter, scoring 14 of the Seahawks’ 24 points. Norman’s play helped Ocean View narrow a once-big deficit to 39-38 at halftime.

Ocean View opened the second half by scoring 7 consecutive points to take a 45-39 lead. Guard Greg Evans gave the Seahawks their first lead of the game, 41-39, with a 3-point shot to open the half.

Ocean View was still in control, 55-51, at the conclusion of the third quarter after reserve John Phillips made a 3-point shot at the buzzer. But Mater Dei tied the game, 57-57, when Rigdon hit a 15-foot jump shot with 5:29 remaining in the fourth quarter.