LAS VEGAS HOLIDAY PREP BASKETBALL CLASSIC : Mater Dei Wins Two in One Day

Mater Dei played two games in slightly more than eight hours Monday at the Holiday Prep Classic at Durango High, and struggled through both.

The Monarchs played well enough to win, although that is the only consolation Coach Gary McKnight could find when the long day ended.

Orange County’s top-ranked team opened the tournament with a 70-47 victory over Pittsburgh Baldwin, then employed a full-court press to overcome a six-point, second-half deficit in a 67-62 victory over scrappy Orem (Utah).

The Monarchs (6-1) will play at 3:15 p.m. today against Franklin-Simpson (Ky.), which beat Erie (Pa.) Prep, 65-60.

Mater Dei committed a total of 29 turnovers, was outrebounded by both opponents and continually surrendered baskets off mental mistakes. But the Monarchs made 45 of 86 field-goal attempts in both games (52%), including 11 of 18 (61%) in the second half against Orem (3-1).

“We need some practice time,” McKnight said. “I guess sometimes an ugly win is better than a pretty loss. And that was ugly out there.”

Guard Kevin Augustine, who left the second game because of cramps shortly after slamming home a lob from Tom Lippold for a 57-46 lead with 3 minutes 55 seconds to go, thinks two games in such a short time took its toll.

“We were pretty tired out there in the second game,” he said. “In the first game, we just didn’t play up to our potential.”

The game with Orem was never in the bag, even after the Monarchs made four consecutive three-pointers, including a key shot by Troy Harrell with 8:59 left in the game that eventually led to a 52-42 lead.

“That was a big three for us,” McKnight said. “It opened things up at a time when we started to pull away.”

The Monarchs made eight free throws down the stretch and held on. Augustine had a game-high 19 points and led the Monarchs in rebounds with five.

Spencer Abney and Tyler Webb each scored 17 and Shawn Ford 15 for Orem, which made 10 of its first 18 field goals.

In another tournament game:

Woodbridge 64, Minden (Nev.) Douglas 39--The Warriors raced to a 25-9 lead in the first eight minutes and ran up leads as many as 33 points in the second half with a bunch of substitutes on the floor.

About the only suspense in the game was whether Woodbridge (10-2) could complete a lob pass for a slam dunk by center Chris Burgess. On their first four attempts, the Warriors failed miserably, once leaving Burgess to hang from the rim as the ball sailed over his head.

They got it sort of right, though, with 11:27 left in the game, as Burgess took a soft toss just short of the rim and eased the ball over it. With that, he left the game to rest both knees, which are inflamed because of tendinitis.

Burgess, named the most valuable player of the game, scored 23 points on 11 for 19 shooting in less than 20 minutes. He blocked two shots and came down with six rebounds. Brandon Beeson had 14 points and six rebounds.

Woodbridge shot 54% from the field (29 of 54).

Douglas (2-3) made 16 of 56 shots (28.6%) and turned the ball over 15 times. First-year Douglas Coach Aubrey McCreary got so frustrated, he brought in a junior varsity player who was not entered in the official book, and therefore not eligible to play, just because the player was sitting on the bench. The officials decided the boy could play without penalizing Douglas.

“You don’t expect too many games like that in this tournament,” Warrior Coach John Halagan said. “If we don’t take care of business Tuesday, we could be on the other end of a 30-point game.”