Mater Dei Plays Like No. 1 Team : Basketball: Monarchs, top-ranked in the county, roll over third-ranked Santa Margarita, 87-69.

Not long after Mater Dei blew away Santa Margarita, 87-69, Friday night, Coach Gary McKnight posed the obvious question.

“How do you go against us?” he asked. “Who do you stop?”

He wasn’t trying to be smug, although with the talent this team has, it’s probably difficult not to be.

A crowd of 4,000 in UC Irvine’s Bren Center watched Mater Dei, top-ranked in Orange County and the Southern Section Division I, turn Santa Margarita, No. 3 in the county and No. 1 in Division III, into mush by the fourth quarter.

Five players, led by Marmet Williams’ 18 points, scored in double figures for Mater Dei (20-1, 4-0 in Angelus League play).

This despite, a lineup shake-up by McKnight, who benched Williams, Terence Wilborn and Ray Jackson because he said he was disappointed in their efforts during practice.

“We had a drop in concentration this week in practice and I made some changes in the lineup,” McKnight said.

So, he started Mike LaBriola, Jerry Jones and David Drakeford instead. After a while, it really didn’t seem to matter who was on the floor for Mater Dei. All of the Monarchs played well.

“We wear you down,” McKnight said.

Especially in the second half, Mater Dei seemed to come at Santa Margarita (16-3, 3-1) in waves.

For a while, the Eagles were able to turn back each Mater Dei rush, but by the fourth quarter the Monarchs’ depth was overwhelming.

Leading, 59-46, by the end of the third quarter, Mater Dei started the fourth quarter with a furious 14-0 run that proved to be a haymaker.

Reggie Geary made two free throws, Williams and Wilborn scored on fast breaks, Miles Simon hit a bank shot, Williams made two free throws, Wilborn sank a follow shot and Williams scored on another fast break.

And it was 73-46 with 5:23 left.

Early on, the game had the feel of a Southern Section championship game, what with a near-capacity crowd in the 5,000-seat Bren Center. But noisy fans weren’t the only reason that was so.

Both teams played with the intensity you’d expect in a postseason game. Players dived headlong for loose balls and bodies flew in all directions under the basket in fierce battles for rebounding position.

Santa Margarita played the role of the scrappy underdog to the hilt, throwing Mater Dei off balance with its aggressive play and a transition game that caught the Monarchs flat-footed.

“I didn’t think we showed them enough respect in their transition game,” McKnight said. “They were beating us back on made baskets.”

But when McKnight put his regulars into the game starting with Williams and Wilborn at the 2:46 mark of the first quarter, the tone began to change. Williams was particularly effective in a second-quarter surge, scoring 10 points and taking seven rebounds.

Mater Dei trailed, 14-8, when Wilborn and Williams entered, but soon took the lead for good. The Monarchs led, 21-18, by the end of the first quarter and extended their lead to 44-32 at the half.

Late in the game, Mater Dei led by as many as 29 points--the last time at 77-48 with 3:55 left.

Dan Bathey had a game-high 26 points for Santa Margarita.