Fremont Says It’s Prepared to Take On Mater Dei : Northern champion: Tigers from Oakland are strong and deep and will pose a tough challenge for Monarchs.

When Mater Dei fans scan the Oakland Fremont roster, they can be relieved about one thing: there won’t be a Jason Kidd to worry about.

Kidd, now with the Dallas Mavericks, terrorized the Monarchs in their last trip to a State final, leading Alameda St. Joseph to a 59-37 victory in 1992.

But one of Kidd’s former teammates has reappeared for this year’s final.

Calvin Criddle was a freshman at St. Joseph in 1992. Now, he is a 6-foot-5, 220-pound senior who transferred to Fremont, which faces Mater Dei in the Division I boys’ basketball championship game Saturday in Oakland.

Criddle and his teammates hope they can accomplish what only one other team has done this season . . . defeat the Monarchs.

Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy is the only team that has beaten Mater Dei (35-1) this season. Oak Hill Academy survived with a 55-53 victory over Mater Dei in the final of the Las Vegas Reebok Prep Classic.

Fremont (27-5) didn’t fare as well in the same tournament, finishing 3-2. But Fremont Coach Clinton Williams is optimistic the Tigers will be up to Saturday’s challenge.

Williams is aware that Mater Dei has two Division I college signees--Shaun Jackson (Wyoming) and Clay McKnight (UC Irvine)--and one of the most highly touted sophomores in the nation, Schea Cotton. He knows the Monarchs are ranked No. 1 in the state and third in the nation by USA Today.

But he likes his chances.

“Both teams are capable of winning,” Williams said. “But it’s what happens on that particular night. I feel if we do the things we’re supposed to and play the way we’re capable of playing, we can walk out of there with a win.”

Williams has good reason for the bright outlook.

Fremont is not huge, but the Tigers are strong, athletic and deep. They have their own share of prime-time players.

Criddle, who averages 19 points and six rebounds, is the strongest post player on a team with a talented front line. Williams said Criddle is being heavily recruited by schools from the Big East to the Pac-10 and everywhere in between.

“Calvin could go anywhere he wants to,” Williams said. “He was the missing piece to the puzzle.”

The Tigers already had a championship caliber base to build upon; namely, seniors Frank Knight, Robert Grissom, James Thompson, Jose Cisneros and Louis Fisher.

Knight, a 6-2 guard, averages 16.5 points. He scored 32 points in the Tigers’ 95-81 victory over Merced in the Northern Regional final last week. Kidd holds the championship single-game scoring record at 34.

“Frank’s a good all-around guard,” Williams said. “He shoots well and takes care of the ball. He’s also getting heavily recruited.”

Universities are also showing interest in Robert Grissom, a 6-5 forward. Grissom was the team’s leading scorer the last two seasons before Criddle arrived, but a knee injury has slowed him this season. He still averaged 17 points and six rebounds.

Zerrick Payton, who is Seattle SuperSonic Gary Payton’s nephew, is a versatile 6-6 junior who averages 14 points. He had 12 assists in the victory over Merced, tying Kidd’s single-game championship record.

Payton was academically ineligible earlier in the season, but gave the Tigers a lift when he returned to the lineup at midseason.

And there’s more.

Thompson is a 6-3 forward who averages 13 points and five rebounds. Thompson and Fisher were the star running back and quarterback for the football team. Cisneros (eight points), Jermaine Wilson, Charles Austin (six points, seven rebounds) and Trevor Carson give Williams more depth.

“I won’t know who’s starting until the final practice before the game,” Williams said. “These guys have played with each other since the third and fourth grade. They’re looking forward to playing Mater Dei.

“I’m not saying we don’t respect Mater Dei. They’re as fine a team that we’ve seen. But we’re confident that we can play to our capabilities and take care of business.”

That would bring the Tigers their first boys’ basketball State championship.