Mater Dei Wins at the Line : Prep basketball: Monarchs hit key free throws to defeat Manual Arts, 72-64. They advance to Division I Regional final tonight.

Mater Dei High School basketball Coach Gary McKnight figured his team needed a near-perfect fourth quarter to beat Manual Arts.

And the Monarchs didn’t disappoint him.

Mater Dei made six of seven shots and 14 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter Thursday night to defeat Manual Arts, 72-64, in the semifinals of the Southern California Division I Regional playoffs at Chapman College.

The Monarchs (32-1) won their 24th consecutive game and advanced to the Division I championship game at 8:30 tonight against Long Beach Poly at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Poly handed Mater Dei its only loss this season, a 64-57 defeat in the final of the Tournament of Champions in December.

“Poly has the advantage because (it) beat us earlier,” McKnight said. “We’re going to show up, though.”

The Monarchs, who broke the school record of 31 victories, reached the regional final for the third time.

And they did it by hitting free throws.

Mater Dei, the Southern Section 5-A champions, made 10 of 10 free throws in the final 1 minute 28 seconds, turning a four-point lead into an eight-point victory.

“We practice and play a lot in this gym,” Mater Dei guard David Boyle said. “I like to shoot free throws here.”

Boyle had some big ones with 31 seconds left and Mater Dei leading, 66-61.

Boyle was fouled going for a layup by Manual Arts’ Dwight Bradberry. Bradberry, who scored 20 points, was whistled for a technical while protesting the referee’s call.

Boyle, who finished with a game-high 24 points, made the next four free throws to give Mater Dei a 70-61 lead.

“If it wasn’t for that technical you don’t know what could have happened,” Manual Arts Coach Randolph Simpson said. “That was the game. There were 31 seconds left and we have some good three-point shooters. All of our emotion went down after that technical.”

Reserve guard Dan O’Neil scored 22 points, including six in the fourth quarter, for the Monarchs. O’Neil had only two points in the Monarchs’ quarterfinal victory over North Hollywood.

“Here’s a guy who’s a bad game the other night but stepped up and did a good job tonight,” McKnight said. “But that’s the trouble with playing us. You never know who’s going to step up for us.”

Simpson said Mater Dei’s three-point shooting (six of nine) caused the Toilers trouble. Boyle was four of five and O’Neil was two of two from three-point range.

“I don’t think we have faced as many good three-point shooters at one time,” Simpson said. “They had two or three guys who could hit it in there all the time.”

The Monarchs ended a 16-game winning streak by Manual Arts (27-4).

Mater Dei held Manual Arts’ William Celestine to only eight points, 10 below his average. Celestine had only two points in the final three quarters.

Celestine had six points in the first 2:48, including two dunks, as Manual Arts grabbed a 10-2 lead.

But the Monarchs, behind two three-pointers and two free throws by Boyle, tied the score, 14-14, at the end of the first quarter.

Mater Dei guard Jason Quinn said dunks by Celestine and Kevin Beal in the first quarter inspired the Monarchs.

“We got embarrassed by them dunking on us,” he said. “We hadn’t been dunked on much all year.”

The Monarchs’ Charlie Andres covered Celestine most of the game. Andres still found time to score 16 points and pull down eight rebounds.

“We did a pretty good job of team defense on them,” McKnight said.

The Monarchs will need even better defense tonight. Long Beach Poly Coach Ron Palmer is one of only two Southern California coaches with a winning record (3-1) against McKnight, who is 224-19 in eight seasons.