Even Top-Ranked Teams Make Mistakes

The top two boys’ basketball teams in Orange County learned a timely lesson Saturday at the Pyramid:

Snooze and you (might) lose.

Top-ranked Mater Dei and second-ranked Ocean View both suffered lapses that allowed their opponents to jump all over them for extended stretches.

The Seahawks held on for a 69-61 victory over Servite after nearly blowing a 27-point lead, but the Monarchs couldn’t recover from their slide and lost to Concord De La Salle, 55-51.

“I’m hoping this is a warning [heading into the playoffs],” Ocean View Coach Jim Harris said. “We’ve got to correct this. This is a problem.”

The Seahawks (24-2) played well for the most part, turning a 22-9 lead after the first quarter into a 57-31 bulge by the end of the third.

But almost as soon as the fourth quarter began, Seahawk defenders acted as if their feet were stuck in cement. Servite made a bushel of uncontested baskets as Martin Iti (21 points) finally played like the big man he is.

“We backed off the gas pedal,” Harris explained. “It’s fairly common for this team to look up at the scoreboard [and take a break]. We’ll put on such runs that most teams can’t recover, but there’s going to be teams in this division [in the playoffs] that can weather this kind of explosion and come after us.”

Mater Dei (25-2) had the opposite problem against De La Salle, the top team in Northern California. The Monarchs got off to a sluggish start and were forced to play catch-up the rest of the game.

“They got a lot of loose balls and that kept us back,” said Mater Dei guard Cedric Bozeman, who finished with a team-high 17 points. “I would like to see them again in the state championship with a healthy team.”

Bozeman was referring to center Jamal Sampson, who has missed nine of the Monarchs’ last 10 games while recovering from the flu. He is expected back next week.

EARTH-SHATTERING AFFAIR

The rims at the Pyramid are still reverberating from Saturday’s dunkfest--otherwise disguised as the high school national championship showdown--between Compton Dominguez and Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.).

The Dons’ Tyson Chandler, a 7-foot terror, was responsible for most of the earth-shaking as Dominguez, ranked No. 2 in the country by USA Today, toppled top-ranked Oak Hill, 60-47. Chandler scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, many on can-you-top-this dunks.

Santa Margarita, Brea Olinda and Newport Harbor are among county teams that face the terrifying possibility of playing the Dons in the Southern Section Division II-AA playoffs.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

La Quinta Coach Jason Carey is expecting a berth and a birth this week.

Carey’s Aztecs (8-16) are fighting for a playoff berth, while his wife, Julie, is expecting to give birth to the couple’s first child between today and Saturday.

Jason Carey will wear a pager--ready to bolt for the hospital at a moment’s notice--if his wife begins delivery during tonight’s game at Los Amigos. The pager might not be put to use, though, if Julie feels up to attending the game as she has all season.

“I’ll take my look at her and I’m sure it’ll be a quick little glance or a ‘Let’s go,’ and it’s out the door,” Jason Carey said. “We’re pretty much hoping things work out for the best and it happens when we’re both at home.

“But as we learned in Lamaze class, you can’t plan it. It’s going to happen when it’s time and when it’s ready.”

LIKE FINE CHYNA

Among recent fantastic girls’ finishes was this gem from the Orange League. Chyna Brown, who had 18 points and 16 rebounds, scored four points in the final three seconds to lift Western (10-12, 3-5) to a 39-36 girls’ basketball victory over Savanna on Thursday.

Two days earlier, fate also smiled kindly on Huntington Beach. From the perimeter, Amy Sanders’ shot trickled off the rim with two seconds left and Michelle Ito put it back at the buzzer for a 50-49 upset of Esperanza, which was ranked sixth at the time.

END OF A STAT

Over the last six seasons, Century was the only team that had defeated El Dorado in an Empire League girls’ basketball game, but that streak ended Thursday when Katella beat the Golden Hawks, 54-44, behind Cortney Stafford’s nine points and 11 rebounds, and Jae Jefferson’s 12 points.

It was the second consecutive loss for El Dorado, which was beaten by Century two days earlier. With Katella’s victory, Century won the title outright, its third in four seasons.

SOONER OR LATER

Edison scored only 25 points in its 41-25 loss to Esperanza, a miserable total for a team ranked No. 3 in Orange County that was playing as well as any in the county. The Chargers, who had nine points at halftime, went into the fourth quarter with only 15 points and trailing by 16.

As for the 25 points?

“That’s the lowest [point total] I’ve had in my life,” said Edison Coach Dave White, who is in his 13th and final season. “They played really good on [defense], and we didn’t shoot well or execute our offense.

Staff writer Martin Henderson contributed to this report.

If you have an item or idea for the prep basketball report, you can fax us at (714)966-5663 or e-mail us at martin.henderson@latimes.com or paul.mcleod@latimes.com or ben.bolch@latimes.com