HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS / SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES : Mater Dei Girls Seek Own Place in Spotlight

After years of mediocrity, the Santa Ana Mater Dei High girls’ basketball team makes its second consecutive Southern Section Division I-A title-game appearance against Ventura Buena tonight.

The game, scheduled for 6:15 at Long Beach State’s Pyramid, is a rematch. Buena won last season, 50-41.

“Everybody kept coming up to me today and patting me on the back and congratulating me for getting to the final again,” said Geri Gainey, who shares coaching duties with her sister, Mary Gainey Hauser. “We’ll never pass the boys in popularity, but we’ve made some serious strides.”

At a school noted for its powerful boys’ basketball teams--Mater Dei has won nine section titles in the last 13 years--the girls’ team has quickly earned respect. Ranked No. 1 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports for several weeks during January, the Lady Monarchs have played before capacity crowds on numerous occasions.

Dean Crowley, Southern Section commissioner, waited to set days and times for the section’s 10 girls’ championship games this weekend until it became clear whether Mater Dei would be playing. He wanted to make sure the team was given an ideal slot for its many fans.

The Mater Dei boys play La Puente Nogales in the I-A title game Saturday at 8:30 p.m. at The Pond of Anaheim, avoiding a conflict with the girls’ team.

The Lady Monarchs qualified for the I-A playoffs in 1993 but were eliminated in the first round by Chino. Gainey and her sister, alumnae of the school, took over the program last season and guided the team to a South Coast League championship and a berth in the I-A title game. The team finished 24-5.

This season, Mater Dei has played even better. It won its first 17 games before losing a nonleague game to Buena, 55-48, in January. It since has won seven games in a row and entered the playoffs seeded second behind Buena.

Part of the turnaround can be attributed to the arrival of junior Melody Peterson. She transferred to Mater Dei last season after starting her freshman year at Monrovia. The 5-foot-9 guard averaged 15 points as a sophomore and is averaging 26 this season.

“Certainly we’ve had some players move in who have helped us,” Gainey said. “But our girls saw the success of the boys and started setting goals. It gave them something to emulate.”

Tournament Notes

The Southern Section has moved the majority of its girls’ championship games from Cal Poly Pomona to the Pyramid, which seats 5,000. It will hold four games there today beginning at 3 p.m. and three Saturday beginning at 11:30 a.m. . . . Defending girls’ champions Mission Hills Alemany and Irvine Woodbridge will not both retain their titles because they play each other in the II-AA title game today at 4:30 p.m. at the Pyramid. Woodbridge defeated Hemet in last year’s II-AA final; Alemany defeated San Bernardino for the II-A title. . . . Verbum Dei hopes to retain its boys’ IV-A title when it plays Gardena Serra tonight at 6 at UC Irvine. The game will be followed by the IV-AA final between Playa del Rey St. Bernard and Corona del Mar at 8.