TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS : Geary Gets the Best of Former Mates in Mater Dei’s Victory

Mater Dei High School guard Reggie Geary celebrated a homecoming Saturday night in the third-place game of the Tournament of Champions at Ocean View High.

Three years ago, Geary was the leading scorer for Ocean View’s junior varsity basketball team as a freshman before transferring to Mater Dei.

Saturday night, he scored 30 points against his former teammates and the Monarchs rolled to a 79-58 victory over Ocean View.

San Bernardino won the tournament title with a 65-52 victory over Long Beach Poly. Roy Owes, a senior center, led San Bernardino (9-0) with 37 points. He had 26 of his team’s 37 points in the second half. Long Beach Poly is 5-2.

Mater Dei (5-3) opened an 18-4 lead in the first quarter as Ocean View failed to make a field goal in 10 attempts. Geary made 11 of 20 shots and eight of 11 free throws.

“That was easily my best game,” Geary said. “I’ve worked hard on my shooting ability. I played with a lot of the guys at Ocean View, so yeah, I was psyched up tonight.”

Mater Dei pounded Ocean View (5-3) inside with its power game and for the second straight night showed glimpses of past Mater Dei teams. Afterward, Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight said he was encouraged with his team’s progress.

“We’ve come a long ways from last Saturday when we lost to Los Alamitos,” McKnight said. “I’m happy to come here and get three wins. I hope this is the start of something big.”

Mater Dei struggled last week in the Trabuco Hills tournament, losing to J.W. North and Los Alamitos. Geary gave three reasons for the Monarchs’ poor start.

“Inexperience, no drive and not knowing what it takes to win,” he said. “We’re starting to come around. I think everyone now knows what it takes to win.”

Ocean View, which plays Mater Dei again Wednesday at Chapman College, is heading in the opposite direction. The Seahawks have averaged only 47.5 points in losses to San Bernardino and Mater Dei.

“We’ve played extremely poorly,” Ocean View Coach Jim Harris said. “I don’t plan any personnel changes, but we’ve got to make some changes in the way we’re playing. We’re not reacting well or shooting well.”

Tustin 60, Long Beach Millikan 50--Guard Gentry Moore stole a pass and scored on a layup with 3:24 remaining to break open a close game and Tustin (7-1) went on to win the fifth-place game.

Center Brian Reider made a jump shot and two free throws in the final 1:32. The Tillers outscored Millikan, 21-12, in the last quarter. Guard David Beilstein, who missed two games because of the flu, led all scorers with 26 points. Millikan fell to 7-2.

Servite 49, San Marcos 47--Forward Ryan Dodd made a jump shot with one second remaining to give Servite (7-1) the consolation championship. San Marcos (5-2) had tied the score, 47-47, when center Rob Ramaker made a 15-foot shot with 23 seconds left.

Loyola 85, Loara 83--Tes Whitlock scored 38 points and finished with 117 in three games. With one second remaining and the score tied, 83-83, Whitlock had an opportunity to put Loara ahead, but the senior guard was called for a technical at the foul line.