Artesia, Mater Dei Battle for Top Spot

The long-awaited matchup between the top high school boys’ basketball teams in the Southern Section will take place Friday night when Artesia faces Santa Ana Mater Dei at Cal State Long Beach.

After playing in holiday tournaments and warm-up games, these two will meet before a national cable-televison audience on SportsChannel America. It will be The Times’ top-rated team, Artesia (11-1), against the No. 2 team, Mater Dei (15-1).

“This is definitely the top game of the year,” Artesia Coach Wayne Merino said. “Everyone is excited . . . from the kids to the community. We had to move the game to (Cal State Long Beach) because too many people were expected for us to have the game at our high school.”

Artesia has won its last six games after losing to Miami Senior High in New York on Dec. 19. The Pioneers have defeated three of the top teams in the area in West Covina (twice), Los Angeles Dorsey and Long Beach Poly, which handed Mater Dei its only defeat, 54-47, in the Ocean View Tournament of Champions.

The marquee player for the relatively young Pioneers, whose starting lineup includes a freshman, a sophomore and a junior, is 6-foot-9 senior center/forward Ed O’Bannon.

A preseason prep All-American, O’Bannon has been on the most-wanted list of college recruiters since his sophomore year. Last summer, he was the most valuable player in the prestigious annual Nike Camp in New Jersey, and this week, ESPN plans to film him in Artesia’s first league game, against Norwalk Glenn Wednesday night, for its “Scholastic America” program.

While O’Bannon continues to star as the Pioneers’ leading scorer and rebounder, it is his new maturity as a leader that has impressed Merino.

“What I like the most about him this year has been his leadership, both physically and vocally,” Merino said. “We have worked hard on him to start taking charge, and he has done that.”

Merino thinks that O’Bannon played his best game of the season as the Pioneers beat Dorsey, 81-68, in the final of Artesia’s own tournament on Dec. 30. O’Bannon was voted the MVP.

“With Ed, the sky’s the limit,” Merino said. “He is very good now but he always can get better. In the game against Dorsey, he dominated the paint area and kept the entire team organized and focused for the entire game. He is a very humble person who deserves all the attention he has been given.”

One of the players O’Bannon kept focused was his younger brother, Charles, a 6-5 freshman who may be the Pioneers’ best-kept secret while averaging in double figures.

“There’s no animosity between (Charles and Ed),” Merino said. “They come from a close-knit family and enjoy playing together.”

The other underclassmen in the lineup are 6-7 sophomore forward Jae Park and 6-4 junior DeAndre Austin.

“We are real pleased with their development and contributions,” Merino said.

“They have done all the intangibles needed for us to win. We figured that the young players would be good but not this early. They have all proved to be unselfish, and that has been a key for our progress as a team.”

The fifth Artesia starter is 6-foot senior point guard Chris Thompson, who directs the offense and helps to get the ball inside to O’Bannon.

“We are not that experienced as a team, but the play of Thompson has really helped,” Merino said.

“He is only in his third season playing basketball after having played soccer throughout most of his youth. But he has become an overnight success this season. He is an exceptional athlete who has worked hard at the point-guard position and he is our most-improved player.”

Meanwhile, Gary McKnight, who has coached Mater Dei to five Southern Section titles and one State championship, has three starters back from last season’s 21-8 team.

Led by 6-8 center Derek Stone, the Monarchs have a balanced and disciplined attack. The other returning starters are 6-5 forward Andy Karich and 5-11 point guard Jason Quinn. They are joined by swingman David Boyle and Dan O’Neil.

The key to the game will be whether Artesia’s high-powered offense, which is averaging nearly 70 points, can be contained by Mater Dei’s defense, which is holding opponents to an average of fewer than 47 points.

“(Mater Dei) makes so few mistakes,” Merino said. “They just do so many things well that it is scary. It will be a game that (will be won by) whoever makes the (fewest) mistakes.”

Prep Notes

The on-again, off-again Los Angeles tournament boys’ final between Manual Arts and Fremont at the Forum is officially off because both teams are beginning conference play. “We were just going to have to play too many games,” Fremont Coach Sam Sullivan said. “We only hope that we can meet them in the State playoffs.” . . . In the high school portion of the Sunkist Invitational track and field meet at the Sports Arena Jan. 19, the field for the football 50-meter dash is expected to include Lompoc’s Napolean Kaufman, Long Beach Poly’s Andre Green, Hawthorne’s Chris Alexander and Lynwood’s Charles Levy.

TIMES’ BASKETBALL POLLS

Through Games of Jan. 7 BOYS

CITY

No., School, League Record 1. Manual Arts, Western-4A 12-3 2. Fairfax, Western-4A 13-2 3. Fremont, Central-3A 15-2 4. Dorsey, Southern-4A 11-4 5. Cleveland, North Valley-4A 11-3 6. Crenshaw, Southern-4A 11-3 7. North Hollywood, Mid Valley-3A 13-1 8. Carson, Pacific-4A 11-6 9. Washington, Southern-4A 7-4 10. Westchester, Western-4A 10-6

SOUTHERN SECTION

No., School, League Record 1. Artesia, Suburban-4A 11-1 2. Mater Dei, Angelus-5A 15-1 3. L.B. Poly, Moore-5AA 12-2 4. Lynwood, San Gabriel Valley-5AA 16-1 5. Loyola, Del Rey-5A 8-3 6. Morningside, Ocean-3AA 11-3 7. San Bernardino, San Andreas-5AA 14-2 8. Santa Clara, Frontier-2AA 11-0 9. St. Monica, Camino Real-5AA 8-5 10. Brea-Olinda, Orange-3AA 12-3 11. Edison, Sunset-4AA 11-4 12. Cajon, San Andreas-5A 13-1 13. Compton, Moore, 4AA 12-3 14. Mission Viejo, South Coast-4AA 11-4 15. Redlands, Citrus Belt-5AA 12-3

GIRLS

CITY

No., School, League Record 1. Washington, Southern-4A 14-3 2. Van Nuys, Mid Valley-4A 10-3 3. Marshall, Northwest Valley-3A 11-2 4. Dorsey, Southern-4A 11-2 5. Carson, Pacific-4A 7-4 6. North Hollywood, Mid Valley-4A 5-5 7. Roosevelt, Eastern-3A 8-2 8. South Gate, Central-4A 6-3 9. San Pedro, Pacific-3A 6-3 10. Crenshaw, Southern-4A 6-6

SOUTHERN SECTION

No., School, League Record 1. Brea-Olinda, Orange-3AA 14-0 2. Morningside, Ocean-5AA 11-3 3. Lynwood, San Gabriel Valley-5AA 14-1 4. Buena, Channel-5A 11-0 5. Chino, Baseline-5AA 11-1 6. Palmdale, Golden-5AA 14-3 7. Ontario, Hacienda-5A 14-0 8. Ocean View, Sunset-5A 15-1 9. Hart, Foothill-5A 11-4 10. Santa Barbara, Channel-5A 12-4 11. Westlake, Marmonte-4AA 12-1 12. Riverside North, Ivy-4-AA 9-0 13. Rubidoux, Citrus Belt-5A 10-1 14. Muir, Pacific-4AA 14-3 15. Palos Verdes, Bay-3AA 12-4