Mater Dei Marches On, Beats Loyola : 5-A boys’ final: David Boyle scores a season-high 32 points as the Monarchs capture another Southern Section title.

The class of 1990 took its place among the standout basketball teams at Mater Dei High School by sweeping past Loyola, 83-57, in the Southern Section’s 5-A championship game Saturday night at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

The memory of a disappointing loss to St. Monica in the quarterfinals last year was erased when Mater Dei won its sixth title in the past eight years under Coach Gary McKnight.

Mater Dei (30-1) made it look easy by containing one of the section’s highest-scoring teams with its superior height and depth. Loyola (23-4) had averaged 90 points in four previous playoff games.

Guard David Boyle scored a season-high 32 points for Mater Dei, including a three-point shot with 1:44 remaining in the first half that gave the Monarchs a 40-24 lead.

Ryan Jamison, Loyola’s 6-foot-11 center who averaged 18.8 points and 10.6 rebounds a game, was never a factor after fighting the flu all week. Jamison finished the game on the bench with six points and six rebounds.

Afterward, McKnight, who improved his eight-year career record to 223-19, reflected upon this year’s team.

“I felt for them last year because I felt they deserved a place with the other great teams,” McKnight said. “I would have hated to see them go without a championship. We’re 30-1, and this team has a chance next week to become the winningest team our school has ever had.”

While Mater Dei has routinely qualified for title games under McKnight, Loyola was making its first championship appearance since 1953. Some believed the “Mater Dei mystique” and title-game jitters would plague Loyola. The critics weren’t far off.

Mater Dei sliced through Loyola’s trapping defense and pounded the boards en route to 25 first-quarter points. After that, it was obvious Loyola would have difficulty containing the Monarchs. And things only got worse.

Boyle started hitting three-point shots, Jamison got his third foul with 4:44 remaining in the first half and Mater Dei raced to a 17-point halftime lead.

“The way Loyola plays, I wasn’t sure if the early lead was going to hurt or help us,” McKnight said. “In the end, I thought we both looked like two fighters who had gone 15 rounds. I think our championship experience might have helped.”

Forward Charlie Andres, who finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds, felt the Mater Dei mystique had an impact on the game.

“Everyone knows we have one of the best teams in the state, and I feel we have an advantage going into any game,” he said. “There is something to the Mater Dei mystique.”

But Bill Thomason, Loyola’s coach, wasn’t buying any Mater Dei mystique theory. “If my team was playing the Lakers, we’d have a shot, (but) this is all new to me, Thomason said.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Mater Dei. They’re a great team. But we’re better than we showed. Ryan Jamison was in bed all week and you didn’t see the real Ryan Jamison. I’m not saying we would have won with him healthy, but we would have made a better showing. It’s going to take an awfully good team to beat Mater Dei.”

Loyola did make a run at the Monarchs in the fourth quarter, narrowing a 20-point deficit to 64-53 with five minutes remaining when Joe Burghardt made a three-point play. But Mater Dei regained control.