Buena Rally Puts Away Mater Dei

The moment was rife with symbolism.

As Mater Dei walked through the postgame receiving line, congratulating Ventura Buena, Melody Peterson held a towel to her nose.

With 11 seconds left, she had fouled Nicole Greathouse on a desperate rebound attempt, and took an elbow to the face that left her bloody, beaten and humbled.

A lot like her teammates.

Second-seeded Buena came back from a 13-point deficit, took advantage of a Mater Dei cold spell in the second half and beat the top-seeded Monarchs, 56-51, in the Southern Section Division I-A girls’ basketball title game Friday at the Pyramid.

It was Buena’s fourth section title in its 11th trip to a final and avenged last year’s loss to Mater Dei.

Buena (28-1) also beat Mater Dei for the title in 1994.

It was a game in which Peterson, who had a 17.9-point scoring average, finished with only seven. Rhonda Gondringer, averaging 17, finished with 10.

But the stage was set for a Mater Dei victory. The Monarchs (25-3) got key moments of brilliance from B.J. Day, Charlene Mendoza and Allison Luckey in the second quarter that gave them an opportunity to blow out the Bulldogs.

Sparked by Day’s two three-pointers, Mater Dei stretched a 15-12 lead to 27-14 with 2 minutes 47 seconds left in the half.

But then Gondringer and Peterson missed on drives to the basket, and the game was Buena’s from then on.

A 7-2 run cut Mater Dei’s lead to eight, 29-21.

“We let them hang around,” Monarch Coach Mary Hauser said. “The bottom line is we didn’t execute. We let them hang around, they played smart and Greathouse became a factor.

And when the 6-foot-2 Greathouse became a factor, it was all over.

“Even though it sounds crazy,” Buena Coach Joe Vaughan said, “when we were down by eight at halftime after being down by 13 earlier, I felt we were back in it.”

They were, because Greathouse was in the process of making nine of 11 field goals after missing four easy shots in the first quarter. Greathouse finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds.

“I told them at halftime that the first three minutes of the third quarter were going to be crucial,” Hauser said. “And we missed four or five easy shots.”

Mater Dei shot 38.7% from the field in the first half, 25% in the second.

Buena took its first lead, 38-37, on Greathouse’s fifth consecutive point, which capped a 15-3 run, with 2:05 left in the third quarter.

Mater Dei answered with Lori Hurlbut’s three-pointer and two steals off its press, leading to points by Allison Luckey (nine points) and Gondringer, giving the Monarchs a 44-40 lead going into the fourth.

Mater Dei made only three of 16 shots in the final quarter. The score was tied, 48-48, on Margaret Hollis’ 16-footer with 4:35 left. It was Mater Dei’s last basket until Luckey’s three-pointer with 2.7 seconds remaining.

“Our two leading scorers had 16 points [actually 17] combined,” Hauser said. “In my three years here, when we score under 50 points, we lose.”

Gondringer, who had 10 rebounds in the first half, none in the second, said anxiety on offense was the Monarchs’ downfall.

“I think we were too anxious,” she said. “We wanted to score but we didn’t look for a good shot.”

Hauser put it another way.

“We panicked and played tight,” she said. “After we were up, 44-40, we didn’t play to win, we played not to lose.”

It didn’t work.