Mater Dei Cruises Past Foothill to Reach Final

Even in a 22-point victory over Orange County’s fourth-ranked team, Mater Dei guard Maile Shimoda was able to find shortcomings in the Monarchs’ performance Wednesday.

Picky, picky.

Second-ranked Mater Dei showcased its exceptional defense and a superb shooting touch in dominating fourth-ranked Foothill, 61-39, to advance to tonight’s title game of the Orange County Championship at Edison High.

Mater Dei will play at 8 p.m. against sixth-ranked Troy, which defeated Edison, 57-52.

Mater Dei (12-1) and Foothill (8-4) were undefeated in the first two games of pool play, but Wednesday’s game was decided early. Shimoda made her first six shots, three of them three-pointers, and Mater Dei took a 34-21 halftime lead.

Mater Dei eventually stretched the lead to 25 points before Coach Ollie Martin cleared the bench in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.

“In the second quarter, we went scoreless a little while,” Shimoda said, alluding to one of the Monarchs’ few low points. “And we were supposed to make a run at the beginning of the third quarter to put them away.”

Mater Dei held a 10-point lead when it went more than three minutes without scoring in the second quarter, but the closest Foothill got was six points. In the third quarter, Mater Dei went 1 1/2 minutes without scoring, but reeled off 17 of the next 20 points.

In such a physical game, Foothill missed 6-foot-1 post Chavaughn Brown, who was on the bench with an injured left foot. Lacking someone to complement her inside, 6-1 Kristen Mann managed only 13 points and 10 rebounds.

In other pool-play games:

No. 5 San Clemente 64, No. 10 Rosary 57--Whitney Jones had 15 points and Kristin Jenkins 14 as the Tritons (10-2) held off Rosary (10-4). The Royals, playing without leading scorer Maggie Barnett--out with an ankle injury--made only four of 13 free throws.

No. 3 El Toro 62, Laguna Hills 60 (2 OT)--Giuliana Mendiola (26 points) converted two free throws with 4.1 seconds remaining for the Chargers (8-3). Megan Aaker (22 points) forced overtime at 54-54 with a 10-footer with one second remaining, and the Hawks’ Christianne Bengard forced the second overtime, at 56-56, with a putback with 22 seconds remaining.

No. 6 Troy 57, No. 9 Edison 52--The Warriors (10-3) took a 26-9 first-quarter lead and stretched the margin to 20 points before Edison (7-7) closed to 53-50 with 2:11 remaining. But Veronica Johns-Richardson (26 points, 11 rebounds) converted a three-point play and Katie Hardeman (13 points) added a free-throw.

In the semifinals of the Cerritos Gahr tournament:

No. 9 Irvine 87, Inglewood 54--Staci Morita made three three-pointers in the second quarter to help Irvine to a 17-point halftime lead. Morita scored 22 points for the Vaqueros (14-0).

In the semifinals of the Marina tournament:

Capistrano Valley 60, Oakland Castro Valley 49--Nicki Howard made six three-pointers and scored 29 points for Capistrano Valley (9-3), which advanced to play Redmond (Wash.), a 67-52 winner over Santa Margarita.

In the semifinals of the Costa Mesa tournament:

Villa Park 56, University of San Diego High 31--Lauren Yadon had 21 points, making nine of nine free throws, and 16 rebounds for Villa Park (7-7).

In the semifinals of the Garden Grove tournament:

Anaheim 54, Sunny Hills 35--Alicia Gallardo had 12 points and 10 assists for Anaheim (7-6), which will play Paramount, a 53-44 winner over Kennedy, in the final.

In pool play at the Laguna Beach tournament:

Santa Ana Valley 53, Brethren Christian 30--Crystal Davis had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Santa Ana Valley, which advanced to today’s final to play Orange Lutheran, a 45-26 winner over Capistrano Valley Christian.

In the semifinals of the Savanna tournament:

Valencia 73, Compton 26--Michelle Pietka scored 27 points and Monika Jackley had 22 for the Tigers (12-1).