ANGELUS LEAGUE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Mater Dei Has Problems, but Not With Bishop Amat

After a week full of frustrations, Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight couldn’t help but think his basketball team would have problems against Bishop Amat Wednesday night.

After all, the Monarchs, ranked No. 1 in Orange County, had six players miss practice this week with illnesses ranging from chicken pox to mononucleosis. And if that wasn’t enough, McKnight has had to prepare for a nationally televised showdown Friday night against Artesia, the top-ranked team in Los Angeles County.

So how much trouble did the Monarchs have against Bishop Amat?

None.

David Boyle scored 16 of his game-high 23 points in the first half and Mater Dei cruised to a 63-50 victory over the Lancers at Chapman College.

Boyle, a 6-foot-5 senior, made nine of 10 shots, including two three-pointers, to help the Monarchs improve to 15-1 overall and 2-0 in the Angelus League.

“Boyle’s been on a roll,” McKnight said. “What I like about him is that he’s doing a lot of things now that he wasn’t doing two weeks ago. He’s not only scoring but playing defense and rebounding. He understands that even if he doesn’t shoot, he can still be a valuable player to us.”

Boyle picked apart Bishop Amat’s zone defense, making six of seven shots in the first half as Mater Dei grabbed a 36-23 lead. Bishop Amat (14-5, 0-2) came no closer in the second half and Mater Dei led by as many as 20. Jeremy Green had 20 points to lead the Lancers.

“We didn’t have the manpower to go man-to-man (defense) on them,” Bishop Amat Coach Alex Acosta said. “Boyle can shoot. They have a great team.”

So how did McKnight celebrate the Monarchs’ victory?

He worried some more. Key reserves Glen Malone (chicken pox) and J.J. Ballesteros (mononucleosis) missed practice and the flu struck four other players, and McKnight’s concerned about his team’s health for the Artesia game.

“I hope we show up with enough kids to play them,” McKnight said. “I’m kidding, of course.”

Bishop Montgomery 47, Servite 46 (OT)--Kirk Jones made a three-point shot with 33 seconds remaining to play for visiting Bishop Montgomery (11-3, 1-0). Adam Anderson had given Servite (7-7, 0-1) a 46-44 lead with two free throws. Darel Daniel scored 31 for Bishop Montgomery.