Prep Wednesday : The Dream Matchup of 1985 Was Never Struck : Principals’ Vote Kept Mater Dei, Glendale From Proving Which Was Better

Which was the best boys’ basketball team in the Southern Section in the 1984-85 season? The question will remain unanswered, thanks to an administrative decision.

Mater Dei High School won the 5-A division title with a 29-0 record. Glendale won the 4-A division title with a 28-0 record.

But the teams never met in the state playoffs. Two months earlier, league presidents voted overwhelmingly not to participate in the state playoffs because they wanted to cut costs and were concerned about the length of the basketball season.

Immediately after the playoffs, the question of which team was better was posed to Glendale Coach Steve Keith, now at Irvine High School. Keith didn’t hesitate. “We already beat them. We beat them last summer in the Bosco Tech tournament. They had all their players and we had all our players,” he said.

Few place much emphasis on summer basketball games, but even today, Keith maintains it was the only way to measure two great teams.

“I wasn’t willing to take a step back to Mater Dei after we went 53-0 in summer and regular-season games,” Keith said. “I still won’t.

“We were a public school with a group of best friends who had been playing together since the third grade. Mater Dei was a traveling all-star team.”

Glendale’s top player was point guard Rich Grande, who had the talent, intelligence and experience to control games. Glendale rarely made a mistake with Grande in the lineup.

Center Jan Svoboda was a solid inside player. Keith agreed his three other starters--Fred Bickett, Bob Mulcahey and Greg McDonald--were overachievers.

Mater Dei started four players--Tom Lewis, Mike Mitchell, Stu Thomas and Tom Peabody--who received Division I scholarships. The Monarchs beat four playoff opponents by an average margin of 25 points.

McKnight refused to speculate which team was better, but assistant Phil Bellomo said, “I have nothing but great respect for Steve Keith as a coach. But we had the most skilled players and were on top of our game. I don’t think they could have beaten us.”

McKnight did say, “I would have liked to have had the opportunity to play them. The game would have filled any arena.”

HOW THE TEAMS STACKED UP Mater Dei (29-0) Starting Lineups 5-A Champion Coach: Gary McKnight Forward: Stu Thomas Forward: Mike Mitchell Center: Tom Lewis Guard: Tom Peabody Guard: Mike Kelly Playoff Scores

Mater Dei: 66 Verbum Dei: 42Mater Dei: 75 Compton: 39Mater Dei: 75 Serra: 56Mater Dei: 69 Ocean View: 58 Glendale (28-0) 4-A Champion Coach: Steve Keith Starting Lineups Forward: Fred Bickett Forward: Bob Mulcahey Center: Jan Svoboda Guard: Greg McDonald Guard: Rick Grande Playoff Scores

Glendale: 67 Hawthorne: 46 Glendale: 61 Camarillo: 56 Glendale: 58 Capistrano Valley: 55 Glendale: 49 Lynwood: 44 Glendale: 52 Dominguez: 49