Monarchs Show Their Mettle, Beat Compton

Forget all that madness about the Mater Dei boys’ basketball team being in the doldrums.

Barely a week after the Monarchs were throttled by defending Southern Section Division I-A champion Glendora in the Wooden Classic, Mater Dei defeated Compton Saturday in the final of the 26th Tournament of Champions.

The come-from-behind, 69-63, win at Ocean View High marked the 10th Tournament of Champions title for Mater Dei (6-1). But more importantly, said tournament most valuable player Mike Bayer, it showed that the Monarchs have learned to overcome an assortment of injuries and illnesses.

“I think we are playing more as a team now,” said Bayer, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds. “This was much better. We’re going into the Las Vegas Tournament next week against some national competition and we want to show we belong there.”

The 1:30 start--moved up six hours because of the Mater Dei-Long Beach Poly Southern Section Division I championship football game--left the Monarchs a bit listless in the first half. Their 70-58 semifinal victory over San Diego Horizon Friday night finished about 11 p.m., and their legs weren’t into the defensive effort early in the final, which led to a 34-26 halftime deficit.

“I told the guys at halftime, look, they have 12 offensive boards, you have to step it up to another level and play defense,” Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight said. “That was a no-brainer. We didn’t make a single adjustment. They just had to play harder.”

Mater Dei grabbed its first lead, 51-50, with 5:25 to go in the game on a three-point play by Steve Scoggin, then got a three-pointer from Derrick Mansell with 4:31 left. Compton (4-1), which looked as good as last year’s team that advanced to section and Southern California title game, never got closer than three after that.

“We got comfortable with the lead we had at halftime and we didn’t play defense like we did in the first half,” Compton Coach Rod Palmer said.

The 6-7 Bayer, who had 18 points and 17 rebounds in the Horizon victory, was playing out of position at center because of an ankle injury that sidelined 6-10 sophomore Jamal Sampson. Sampson might play in Las Vegas, McKnight said. Bayer and Scoggin, who made three three-pointers and finished with 14 points, have been battling the flu and played sparingly in the Wooden Classic.

McKnight called Saturday’s win a steppingstone.

“Last year’s Mater Dei team didn’t win a tournament championship and that had never happened to me since I came here,” he said. “This puts us back to our old ways.”