BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Mater Dei’s Scare Doesn’t Last Long

It wasn’t the heart-stopping variety, but the Mater Dei boys’ basketball team got a scare Saturday night.

For almost the entire first quarter, Mater Dei wasn’t much more than a spectator as Huntington Beach took control of the Daily Pilot Tipoff tournament championship game. But Mater Dei, Orange County’s top-ranked team, quickly recovered and went on to a 67-52 victory at Corona del Mar High School.

“We needed a big challenge. We got it,” said Mater Dei center Terence Wilborn, the tournament’s most valuable player. “I wasn’t nervous, but I knew we needed to pick it up.”

Mater Dei (4-0) turned on its jets with just less than two minutes left in the first quarter with Huntington Beach (3-1) leading by 10. The charged-up Monarchs went on a 16-2 run and never trailed again.

Depth proved to be a problem for Huntington Beach, which suffered when both of its big men, Matt Ambrose and Tony Gonzalez, got into early foul trouble.

“I think we could have beat them if we didn’t have foul problems,” Huntington Beach Coach Roy Miller said.

Miles Simon led Mater Dei in scoring with 18 points. Gonzalez led Huntington Beach with 13.

In the third-place game:

Irvine 63, Santa Ana Valley 34--Eric Ambrozich had 17 points for Irvine (2-2).

In the consolation final:

Sonora 62, Estancia 48--Chris Campbell scored 25 points and Chris St. Clair added 22 for Sonora (3-1). Jim Faulkner had 19 for Estancia (2-2).