Bishop Montgomery Defeated by Mater Dei

In 15 games, Bishop Montgomery High has gone from “promising” to “resurgent” to “contender” in the Angelus League.

That’s where the Knights will stay, for now, as they were beaten by league-leading Mater Dei, 68-53, at Bishop Montgomery on Saturday night.

It was no easy vctory for the Monarchs (20-1 overall, 4-0 in league), the CIF Southen Section’s No. 1-rated team in the 5-A division.

Bishop Montgomery fell to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the league, good for second place going into the second round.

“Bishop Montgomery is a good team; they are a true contender,” Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight said. “The Angelus league is stronger than people think. It’ll show up in the playoffs.”

The Knights were winless in the league last season.

Mater Dei was trailing, 31-28, at halftime but led off the third quarter with a 19-0 run that spanned the period’s first 4 minutes and 29 seconds.

“We played hard, but we didn’t play intelligent,” Bishop Montgomery Coach Doug Mitchell said. “When they started that run, we panicked; we started burping up bad shots. Hopefully, it was a learning experience.”

Mater Dei is a good team to learn from. The Monarchs committed only three second-half turnovers as they patiently and efficiently wore down Bishop Montgomery.

In the first half, Bishop Montgomery struggled mightily to build a 26-18 lead with 4:22 left in the second quarter. Mater Dei began forcing the Knights into cross-court passes, three of which were intercepted and led to baskets. The Monarchs shaved the lead to three points at the half.

Darrell Daniel scored 15 points in the first two quarters but only three in the second half. He led Bishop Montgomery with 18 points. David Boyle led Mater Dei with 21.