Mater Dei Basketball Tournament Will Feature Top-Seeded Artesia

Artesia High School, the defending state Division II champion, is the top-seeded team in the Mater Dei summer basketball tournament that begins June 21 in the Monarchs’ gym.

Artesia returns starting junior forward Jae Park and sophomore forward Charles O’Bannon from its championship team and will have 6-10 center Avondre Jones on its roster.

Mater Dei, which graduated all five starters from its state Division I championship team, is second-seeded. Mater Dei features 6-11 center Mark Moneypenny and point guard Reggie Geary.

Other top players scheduled to compete are forward Rob Johnson (El Toro), forward Adam Anderson (Servite), guard Ryan Martin (Ocean View), center Marcel TenBerge (Ocean View), guard Tom Barraza (Western), forward Jason Cunningham (Los Alamitos) and guard David Beilstein (Tustin).

The championship game is set for 7:30 p.m. June 24 at Mater Dei. The first-round pairings:

June 21: 3:30 p.m.--Ocean View vs. St. Monica; 5--Servite vs. Foothill; 6:30--Los Amigos vs. St. Paul; 8--Mater Dei vs. Bosco Tech.

June 22: 9 a.m.--Mater Dei JV vs. Los Alamitos; 10:30--Lakewood vs. El Toro; noon--Tustin vs. Santa Clara; 1:30 p.m.--Artesia vs. Western.