Mater Dei Rebounds, Beats Canyon

Young teams tend to have short memories when it comes to losses--even historical ones.

So if last week’s loss to Dana Hills, which ended Mater Dei’s 71-game league winning streak, was still on the minds of Monarch players, it was way in the back.

Instead, Mater Dei (11-5) concentrated on the task at hand Monday and came away with a 64-56 victory over Canyon in the fourth Martin Luther King Holiday Challenge at Pauley Pavilion.

A solid outing by junior guard Derrick Mansell (20 points and seven rebounds) and a big fourth quarter by Mater Dei, during which the Monarchs outscored Canyon, 23-14, removed any sting from Friday’s loss.

Forward Mike Bayer scored 14 points and 6-7 freshman center Eric Soderberg added eight. They helped offset an off game by Monarch guard Steve Scoggin, who was one for nine in the first half, three for 14 on the day, and finished with six points.

“We did some things today we didn’t do the other night,” Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight said. “We played better defense, especially by [guard] Imran Sufi [four steals, five rebounds]. Eric Soderberg gave us some offense. We still have a long way to go, but the kids are playing hard, and that’s all I can ask.”

Playing in front of about 1,500 spectators, including Arizona Coach Lute Olson and television commentator George Raveling, Canyon was hopeful of joining the elite club of county teams--Santa Margarita and Dana Hills--that have knocked off the Monarchs this season.

And for much of the game, the Comanches ran stride for stride with the Monarchs. Canyon had a 29-27 rebounding edge.

Mater Dei led, 17-10, early in the second quarter, but Canyon scored seven consecutive points to even the score, which also was tied at halftime, 28-28.

When Canyon forward Drew Gaulden (16 points, 14 rebounds) picked up his fourth foul at the 5:16 mark of the third quarter, the Monarchs--leading, 34-30--appeared ready to take control. Canyon hung tough, however, getting solid inside play from Ali Goodman (12 points) and forcing five of the 11 turnovers Mater Dei had for the game to take a 42-41 lead going into the fourth quarter.

But Mater Dei went on a 13-4 run to lead, 54-46, with 3:53 to play and then made its free throws down the stretch.

It was the fourth consecutive loss for Canyon (13-6), whose coach, Rob Alexander, had to watch Monday’s game from the stands. He was serving a one-game suspension after being ejected during Friday’s 71-65 loss to Foothill.

Alexander and his staff will now have to work to make sure what appeared to be a promising season--the unranked Comanches were No. 9 in the preseason rankings--doesn’t slip away.

“This loss doesn’t mean anything since it’s not in league,” Alexander said. “What I liked was we played better than we did in the previous three losses. I could see improvement, which was important.

“We had a tough loss to our rival, Villa Park [to start the losing streak], and it seemed we hadn’t bounced back from it. But today, even though we gave up some easy transition baskets, I saw us beginning to play like the team that won 13 games.”