Mater Dei Goes Overtime to Beat Artesia

There were several things visibly missing from Mater Dei’s 68-55 upset victory in overtime against Lakewood Artesia in the Southern California Division I boys’ basketball final Saturday night at San Diego State and Monarchs’ Coach Gary McKnight didn’t mind addressing them when pressed.

Foremost was Jason Kapono, Artesia’s McDonald’s All-American, who severely injured an ankle in Thursday’s semifinal win over Glendora.

Kapono tried to play, but was obviously hobbled. He scored only four points, 20 below his average, on one-of-10 shooting and had to be benched for most of the second half.

Mater Dei’s defense, without worrying about Kapono, was able to collapse into the low post. Artesia made 19 of 51 field-goal attempts overall.

Both sides agreed that the injured Kapono was a factor, but McKnight didn’t want it to tarnish the win, and he said so rather pointedly.

“I’ve got [Cedric Bozeman] sitting on the bench with an injury,” he said of the former starting swingman. “I’ve had my share of injuries and illnesses and guess what? You still got to play.”

And the Monarchs did that, outscoring the top-seeded Pioneers, 15-2, in the extra period, with 12 free throws.

Mater Dei advances to play Oakland Fremont Saturday, which defeated Concord De La Salle, 55-50, in the Northern California final. It’s the third state final appearance of the decade for the Monarchs.

“It’s a shame he had to go out that way,” Artesia Coach Wayne Merino said of Kapono. “He tried to play, but it was obvious he couldn’t go.”

Steve Scoggin led Mater Dei with 18 points. Jack Martinez had 21 for Artesia, including the basket that sent the game into overtime.

Scoggin said Mater Dei would have attacked the Pioneers the same way had Kapono played.

“If he played, we were still going to go at them the same way, good old-fashioned Mater Dei defense,” Scoggin said. “He’s an unbelievable player.”

The lead went back and forth throughout the first half, with Artesia taking an 18-14 lead to open the second quarter when guard Franklin Matos grabbed a loose ball that went through the fingers of Mater Dei center Erik Soderberg and drove the length of the court for a basket.

Baskets by Jamal Sampson and Scoggin got the Monarchs even two minutes into the quarter. Later, a dunk by Sampson and a turnaround jumper in the key by freshman Mike Strawberry got the Monarchs even again.

When Matos was called for traveling with 36 seconds left, the Monarchs went for the last shot and attacked the limping Kapono with Imran Sufi driving at him into the key, passing off to Derrick Mansell, who then fed Soderberg for a layup to beat the buzzer.

Mater Dei steadily increased its lead to 10 points in the third quarter.

Mike Bayer’s rebound and layup followed Scoggin’s driving basket for a 33-25 lead. Mansell answered two free throws by Kapono with two of his own, then Sufi added two more and Strawberry did the same to take a 37-27 lead.

Meanwhile, Artesia struggled from the field. The Pioneers made only one of their first eight shots in the quarter, three of those missed by Kapono, including a six-foot airball after which he winced when he landed on his ankle.

But in the fourth quarter, the Pioneers, with some help by the careless Monarchs, rallied to take a 47-45 lead on a basket by Martinez, capping a 10-2 run.

Martinez sent the game into overtime with his turnaround six-foot jumper with 6.4 seconds remaining after Bayer was called for stepping over the end line as he inbounded the ball.