McKnight Can’t Rein In Mater Dei

Gary McKnight, Santa Ana Mater Dei’s boys’ basketball coach, claims his team is not running up the score.

The Monarchs, top ranked by The Times, have won their last seven games by an average of 43 points, including a 100-28 victory over Ontario on Friday in a first-round Southern Section Division I-A playoff game.

Mater Dei (27-1) led Ontario, 26-4, after the first quarter and, 51-15, at halftime. It did not let up in the second half, scoring more points in the fourth quarter than any other. Josh Porter hit a three-point shot at the buzzer to give the Monarchs 100 points.

Ontario coaches did not return phone calls Monday, but McKnight said they thanked him after the game for not running up the score.

“If we would have run up the score, we would have scored 150 points,” he said. “You can’t tell kids not to go out and play hard.”

McKnight, whose team lost to Alameda St. Joseph in the State Division I championship game last season, used 10 players in the first half and 15 in the second half. He said all of his second- and third-string players saw action, and that no starter played more than 20 of the game’s 32 minutes.

“Our second string could’ve beat Ontario by 25 or 30 points,” he said. “We’re just very deep this season and play very tough defense.”

The Mater Dei coach said he is frustrated by the lack of competition and worries that his starters won’t be ready when they have to play the entire game.

The Monarchs play at Quartz Hill tonight in a second-round game.

The City basketball playoffs begin Wednesday and conclude March 5 at the Sports Arena.

Most of the attention will be concentrated on boys’ Division 4-A, which has its best field in years. It was strengthened when several top 3-A teams, including North Hollywood, Fremont and South Gate, were moved up after last season.

The four seeded teams, in order, are Crenshaw, North Hollywood, South Gate and Westchester. Traditional power Manual Arts received the toughest draw, opening with defending 3-A champion Fremont. The winner of that game will play the Crenshaw-Van Nuys winner in the quarterfinals Friday.

Other top-seeded teams are North Hills Monroe in the boys’ 3-A, Crenshaw in girls’ 4-A and Jefferson in girls’ 3-A.

The 4-A champion receives an automatic berth in the state tournament, but unlike in years past, the 3-A winner will not advance because of the schools that moved up. Lee Joseph, City athletic adviser, said the 4-A runner-up will probably be nominated for a state berth.

Lou Cvijanovich, boys’ basketball coach at Santa Clara, picked up his 700th victory Friday night when the Saints defeated Panorama City St. Genevieve, 70-52, in the first-round of the Southern Section Division IV-A playoffs.

Cvijanovich, 66, who has been at the school since 1959, is the third winningest coach in state history with a 700-226 record. His 13 section titles are a state record.

The winningest coach is Bill Armstrong, who coached at six schools from 1943-86. When he retired from Palm Springs High, his record was 858-273.

Rain has played havoc with the Southern Section boys’ and girls’ soccer playoffs, which began last week. Although many game times were switched, section officials hope to keep the tournaments on schedule.

The Cathedral City boys’ team had to move its Division V first-round game against Murrieta Valley from Friday to Monday because Murrieta Valley’s bus company refused to make the trip.

Cathedral City won, 3-0, and plays Pasadena La Salle today.

“It’s not easy to play back-to-back games,” said Rick Sherwood, Cathedral City’s coach. “But our kids do it in tournaments, so they should be in shape. The real problem is that we won’t know until Tuesday (today) where the game will be played. If it’s on the road, we’ll have to hurry to get transportation.”

The finals are March 5-6, barring further weather delays.

Prep Notes

A city girls’ basketball game between Sylmar and Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies was stopped in the fourth quarter Friday when Sherman Oaks CES left the floor. With Sylmar ahead, 78-18, Sherman Oaks CES assistant principal John White asked the officials to go with a running clock to speed things up. The officials refused, and White told the coach to gather her players and leave. . . . Mimi McKinney, an All-American junior guard at Palos Verdes Peninsula, scored 19 points in the team’s 67-45 victory over Alhambra Saturday in the Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs. McKinney, who sprained her ankle Feb. 13, did not practice last week and was doubtful until game time.

Times’ Top 20 Basketball Polls

The Times’ top 20 high school basketball polls, with teams from the City and Southern Sections.

BOYS

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Mater Dei SS I-A 27-1 1 2. Crenshaw City 4-A 20-2 2 3. JW North SS II-AA 26-0 3 4. Dominguez SS II-AA 22-2 4 5. Artesia SS II-A 22-3 5 6. Hunt. Beach SS I-A 25-3 6 7. N. Hollywood City 4-A 24-1 7 8. Thousand Oaks SS I-A 24-1 8 9. Morningside SS III-AA 23-5 9 10. St. John Bosco SS II-A 23-2 10 11. Muir SS II-A 23-5 11 12. LB Jordan SS I-AA 18-6 12 13. B. Montgomery SS III-AA 22-2 13 14. Lynwood SS I-AA 20-7 14 15. Manual Arts City 4-A 20-6 17 16. Esperanza SS I-A 21-5 16 17. Westchester City 4-A 20-6 18 18. LP Kennedy SS II-A 24-3 19 19. San Dimas SS III-A 23-3 20 20. South Gate City 4-A 22-3 NR

GIRLS

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Lynwood SS I-AA 23-0 1 2. Thousand Oaks SS I-A 27-0 2 3. Brea-Olinda SS II-AA 25-2 3 4. Morningside SS III-AA 20-2 4 5. Perris SS I-A 26-0 5 6. Buena SS I-A 20-3 6 7. Crenshaw City 4-A 20-2 7 8. St. Bernard SS IV-AA 22-4 8 9. LB Poly SS I-AA 21-3 9 10. Hunt. Beach SS I-A 25-3 10 11. Santa Ynez SS IV-AA 24-1 11 12. Costa Mesa SS III-A 23-4 12 13. Capo Valley SS I-AA 22-3 13 14. Ventura SS II-A 19-4 14 15. Nordhoff SS IV-AA 21-1 15 16. Alemany SS III-AA 23-4 16 17. HH Wilson SS II-A 23-1 17 18. Marina SS I-A 21-4 20 19. Peninsula SS I-AA 17-8 NR 20. Chino SS I-A 18-7 NR