Mater Dei Girls Win Championship

After a short bus trip to The Pyramid at Long Beach, Santa Ana Mater Dei High on Friday made short work of Ventura Buena, 57-53, to win the Southern Section girls’ Division I-A title.

The victory exacted a measure of revenge for Mater Dei (25-1), which has lost its last two games against the Bulldogs (23-3) in Ventura--in last year’s I-A final at Ventura College and in a nonleague game this season.

Mater Dei guard Melody Peterson led the Monarchs with 24 points and four assists.

Mater Dei jumped out to a quick lead after Buena star Eboni Conley picked up two fouls in the first two minutes of the game. Peterson capitalized for the Monarchs, scoring 14 points in the first half to help give Mater Dei a 34-22 halftime lead.

“I think we dug ourselves into a hole in that first half and couldn’t get out of it,” said Buena Coach Joe Vaughan.