PREP BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Drakeford Is Nice Surprise in Mater Dei Victory Over Inglewood

While the dominating play of the Mater Dei boys’ basketball team in the opening two weeks of the season has hardly been surprising, the play of reserve guard David Drakeford certainly has been unexpected.

Drakeford, a member of Mater Dei’s junior varsity team last year, scored 19 points Wednesday night to lead the Monarchs to an 81-41 victory over Inglewood in the second round of the Tournament of Champions at Ocean View High.

Drakeford has become Mater Dei’s most consistent outside shooting threat and showed he has no problem hitting the three-point shot against Inglewood, making four three-pointers.

Sophomore Miles Simon, a member of the freshman team last year, added a pair of three-pointers and finished with 10 points as Mater Dei improved to 6-0.

“Those are two tremendous guards coming off the bench and they play defense equally well,” said Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight. “Our depth is creating some confusion now, but come February, our depth is going to help us.”

Another one-sided victory moves Mater Dei into the semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday against the winner of tonight’s Lakewood-Capistrano Valley game. Friday’s game time was changed to accommodate Mater Dei’s football fans.

McKnight is anticipating a showdown with Capistrano Valley, the preseason pick as the No. 2-ranked team in Orange County.

“These are the two best teams in the county, and right now, I’m not sure who is the best team,” he said. “Any time we play, it’s a good game.”

In other Tournament of Champions games:

Pasadena 43, Los Alamitos 40--Guard Steve Carbone made a three-point shot with 1:33 remaining to push Los Alamitos (2-4) to within a point, but Pasadena responded with five consecutive points down the stretch.

Ocean View 73, Long Beach Poly 45--Guard Jimmy Harris made five of eight three-point shot attempts and finished with 20 points to lead Ocean View (3-2).