SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BASKETBALL REGIONALS : Monarchs Don’t Give Clovis West Too Many Chances

For 32 nerve-racking minutes, Mater Dei forwards Michelle Meyers and Margaret Hollis did their best imitation of a wall in the Monarchs’ 50-47 victory over Clovis West in the girls’ Southern California Regional Division I basketball final Saturday at The Pond.

It was their task to contain the Golden Eagles’ 6-foot-3 center Adrain Williams, and not let her turn Saturday’s game into a half-court showcase where she could score at will. Not only did Mater Dei want to stop the USC-bound Williams from maintaining her 20.4-points average, they could not let her to get points in bunches to make Clovis West’s third try at a State berth a winner.

And it’s because they did their jobs that Mater Dei is headed to Oakland next weekend.

Williams did get 16 points. But she made only eight of 22 attempts against the persistent defense of Meyers and Hollis, and the collapsing zone defenses the Monarchs used around her. And of her 13 rebounds, only one came on the offensive end.

“She was our biggest concern,” Meyers said. “We knew she was going to get the ball and her points. But we had to keep her to one shot and that was it. Not get those two, three, four attempts.”

“But she was more versatile than we expected,” Hollis said.

Williams--who saw nothing but double teams and zones during the Eagles’ 25-3 season--admitted the Monarchs’ tactics helped to disrupt her rhythm in the first half, when she made only three of 12 shots and missed several easy layups. But she also felt she played into Mater Dei’s hands.

“I got down on myself,” Williams said. “When I missed some shots, I stopped wanting to take them. To start the second half I told myself to get back into the game.”

Williams did hit her first two attempts in the third quarter, but she never really found a flow.

“We were kind of relieved when she went up by the free-throw line,” Meyers said. “One time we could hear her coaches yelling at her to go to the low post. It might have confused her. But she still counteracts most defenses against her.”

Williams also was supposed to provide an intimidating presence on defense, and she did block six shots. But whatever fear Mater Dei had of going right at the Eagles evaporated by halftime. The Monarchs drove down the middle of the lane enough to earn 19 free throws. They made 13.

Clovis West shot only two free throws--both in the first quarter--and missed them both.

Mater Dei Coach Mary Hauser also wanted to credit the full-court press she used to start the second quarter, when the Monarchs were trailing, 14-9. The press got them two quick turnovers, four quick points, and got them right back in the game that Clovis West threatened to control with its deliberate, half-court style.

“For us to win we have to set the tempo and make it fast,” Hauser said. “That creates opportunities for our athleticism to take over. Even if we give up an easy basket it still gets the tempo up.”

As Clovis West and Williams can attest, Mater Dei didn’t give up to many easy baskets--or anything else--on Saturday.