Mater Dei Is a Champion in Overtime : State basketball: Fremont rallies to tie it on a desperation shot, but McKnight, Cotton lead Monarchs to Division I title.

On a day when Southland teams took a beating in the state high school basketball tournament, Santa Ana Mater Dei came to the rescue.

Barely.

The Monarchs capped a six-game Saturday at the Coliseum Arena with a dramatic 71-67 overtime victory over Oakland Fremont in the boys’ Division I final before a rowdy 14,173.

It took two free throws from senior guard Clay McKnight with 17 seconds to play in overtime to seal the victory.

The game was sent into overtime when Fremont’s Frank Knight capped a rally with a 25-foot shot at the buzzer to tie the score, 65-65.

Mater Dei (36-1) took a 69-65 lead in overtime and held on.

“There was a time when winning the Southern Regional meant that we just came up here and picked up our championship ring,” said Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight. “But things have changed. These teams up here have really come a long way and know how to play basketball.”

Before the Monarchs’ victory, only one team from the Southern Regionals--the Verbum Dei boys in Division IV--had defeated its Northern Regional counterpart Saturday.

The title is the third for Mater Dei in four state tournament appearances and its first since 1990, when it defeated San Francisco Riordan, 62-60.

The victory was much tougher than expected, however. The Monarchs had a 24-game winning streak, and their only loss came by two points to national power Oak Hill Academy of Virginia in December.

Fremont, making its first title game appearance, struggled early in the season, losing four tournament games in December. Although the Tigers had won 17 of their last 18 games, they didn’t figure to match up well against the more physical Monarchs.

Mater Dei performed as expected in the first half, utilizing the inside game of forward Schea Cotton to take a 31-20 halftime lead. Cotton, who is 6 feet 5, made eight of 10 field goals in the first half--including two three-pointers--and scored 17 points. He led all scorers at game’s end with 29.

But the talented sophomore picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter and sat on the bench until midway through the fourth.

Cotton was not alone on the bench. Teammate Shaun Jackson, the team’s starting center, who averages 17 points and 10 rebounds a game, also picked up his fourth early in the third quarter.

“I don’t like playing without my two horses for eight minutes,” McKnight said. “But we had a lot of kids step up tonight.”

Fremont, which hit only four of 30 shots in the first half, took advantage. The Tigers slowly chipped away at Mater Dei’s lead, pulling within seven points at the end of the third quarter. By the final minute of regulation, they were within 63-62.

McKnight, who finished with 13 points, made two free throws with four seconds to play to give his team a three-point lead, but Fremont quickly moved the ball upcourt and Knight’s desperation shot tied the game.