First Half Carries Mater Dei : Basketball: Monarchs jump to sizable early lead, then hold on to beat No. 2 Capistrano Valley.

Mater Dei High School’s No. 1 ranking in Orange County is safe for the time being. But judging from Coach Gary McKnight’s postgame remarks, the Monarchs still need some fine-tuning.

McKnight watched his team hang on for a 68-59 victory over second-ranked Capistrano Valley Friday night in front of 2,000 fans in UC Irvine’s Bren Center, and then criticized his team for its inability to sustain a strong first-half effort.

Mater Dei (15-1) held a 35-14 lead with 2 minutes 30 seconds left in the first half after forward Marmet Williams scored on a short baseline jumper. But the rest of the game belonged to Capistrano Valley.

Capistrano Valley (11-3) got as close as six points on three occasions in the fourth quarter, but a Williams layup and a three-point play by David Drakeford spoiled the Cougars’ comeback bid.

“We played well the last two quarters, but unfortunately, it takes four good quarters to beat a team like Mater Dei,” Capistrano Valley Coach Mark Thornton said.

It was the second time this season that Mater Dei has beaten Capistrano Valley. The Monarchs won, 69-55, in the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions at Ocean View.

The first time the teams met, Capistrano Valley was missing three starters because of the flu. Thornton hoped his team at full strength would test Mater Dei. But he chose to open with a matchup zone in the first quarter and the strategy backfired.

Mater Dei took an 8-0 lead and extended it to 19-7 when reserve Jerry Jones grabbed an airball and scored at the buzzer. The Monarchs continued to pour it on in the second quarter, making seven of 11 shots to take 39-21 lead at halftime.

But it was at this point, according to Mater Dei’s Reggie Geary, that the Monarchs began to self-destruct. Williams, who led all scorers with 18 points, missed two easy layups to open the third quarter and the Monarchs never reached the level of play they displayed in the first half.

“We should have buried them,” Geary said. “With our depth, we should be able to keep it going. I was disappointed.”

McKnight went a step further, saying his team never got into its offense and credited Capistrano Valley’s aggressive style.

“Give Capistrano Valley credit, they didn’t give up,” McKnight said. “We’re young, and maybe we don’t have the killer instinct. We had a good effort in the first half, but maybe we were too wound up coming off a loss and playing for No. 1 in the county.”

Capistrano Valley seemed to gain momentum when Mater Dei’s Ray Jackson missed two free throws after Cougar guard David Sedgwick was cited for an intentional foul with 7:04 remaining.

Aaron Rhoades made a three-point shot with 6:11 left to play to trim Mater Dei’s lead to 54-45. Corey Kost’s three-pointer with 1:10 left moved Capistrano Valley closer, 60-54, but Tom Airey’s three-point play with 44 seconds remaining was the closest the Cougars would get, 62-57.

Mater Dei was coming off a humbling, 69-50, loss to Oak Hill Academy of Mouth of Wilson, Va. in the championship game of the Del Mar Torrey Pines tournament.

That game left several Mater Dei players wondering just how good they were. Three days later, Mater Dei proved it is the county’s best team, even when it only plays one good half.