BOYS’ BASKETBALL : Mater Dei Crushes El Modena in Cotton’s Debut

Schea Cotton, a freshman who transferred to Mater Dei this season from St. John Bosco, made his debut Wednesday and scored 17 points to help the Monarchs rout El Modena, 102-43, at the Bren Center.

Cotton was declared eligible by Southern Section commissioner Dean Crowley after Assistant Principal Pat Murphy and Athletic Director/Coach Gary McKnight did a physical check of the Cotton family’s residence in Huntington Beach. Mater Dei and the section office also received two faxes, one confirming a new rental agreement in Orange County and the other confirming that the Cottons had vacated their San Pedro apartment.

Mater Dei’s leading scorer was junior Shaun Jackson with 18 points. Mater Dei opened a 31-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and led, 55-19, at the half. Mater Dei, the top-ranked team in Orange County, is 10-0.

In other nonleague games:

Sonora 72, Magnolia 69 (OT)--Sophomore Nathan Mirth connected on a pair of free throws with 29 seconds remaining to give Sonora the victory.

Sonora’s Sergio Hernandez made a 19-foot jump shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. He had a team-high 24 points.

Frank Henderson scored 31 points and Brandon Hearvey added 22 points for Magnolia.

Los Alamitos 73, Fullerton 47--Los Alamitos, the second-ranked team in Orange County, broke away from a halftime tie with 47 points in the second half. The Griffins are 9-1.

Tim Lin had a game-high 17 points, Brady Doyle added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Ryan Staniec and Jeremy Vandervoet added 14 and 11 points for the Griffins,

El Toro 65, Laguna Hills 50--Jeff Bone had a game-high 21 points, including five three-pointers, Moody Michael had 12 points and Todd Steinert added eight for host El Toro (6-4).

Jason Charles had a team-high 17 points, including four three-pointers, and Jesse McDonald added 14 for Laguna Hills (3-6).

Costa Mesa 88, Southern California Christian 63--Ryan Steck scored 26 points to lead visiting Costa Mesa. He scored 12 points in the third quarter when Costa Mesa outscored Southern California Christian, 30-17, to take a 70-45 lead.

Lance Merrifield had 21 points and 13 rebounds for Costa Mesa.

Josh Camerson had 17 and Bret Lautt added 15 for Southern California Christian (1-8).

La Habra 71, Valencia 60--Ken Cauley had a game-high 21 points, Justin Marshall added 15 points, including four three-pointers, and Dan Ploog added 14 points for La Habra.

Jermaine Gray scored 14 points, Junior Alatorre had 12 and Phil Franklin added 10 for Valencia (5-5).

Troy 61, Western 48--Greg Abbott scored 18 points and Bryant Widdison added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Troy (7-4). Richard Mackie scored 15 points and Pete Lindemeyer added 13 for Western.

Cypress 63, Brea-Olinda 50--Derek Mitchell scored a game-high 21 points and Chad Boberg added 18 points for Cypress (6-4).

Capistrano Valley 76, Savanna 59--Paul Waldrop scored 13 points, Rocky Ghahary added 12 on four three-pointers and Todd Wilson had 12 points for Savanna (5-4).

In the Las Vegas Holiday Prep Classic:

Santa Barbara 66, Woodbridge 52--Randy Drummer scored 15 points and Adam Libby and Rob Witfield added 10 points each for Woodbridge in consolation play of the 36-team tournament.

After leading 66-52 at halftime, the Warriors attempted only two free throws compared to Santa Barbara’s 24 attempts in the second half.

In the Archbishop Riordan tournament:

Orange 68, Oakland McClymonds 46--Jason Krauss had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Pat Harris added 15 points to lead Orange (7-1) in the consolation round.

Orange lost to San Francisco Riordan, 64-60, Tuesday. The Panthers face San Francisco Logan for the consolation championship today.

In the Ayala tournament:

Baldwin Park 65, Liberty Christian 60 (2OT)--Liberty Christian had the ball with a chance to win at the end of regulation and the first overtime, but couldn’t score. Baldwin Park outscored the Minutemen, 14-9, in the second overtime.

Bob McClung had 21 points and seven assists and Dave Vaccaro had 18 points and 15 rebounds for the Minutemen (1-8).