Big Second-Half Rally Lifts Clovis West Over Mater Dei

Santa Ana Mater Dei’s hopes of a return trip to the state championship game were ended Saturday night by a young Fresno Clovis West team that held on for a 71-64 victory in the Southern California Division I regional final before 5,000 at the Great Western Forum.

Clovis West (39-2) overcame a 10-point third-quarter deficit to earn its first trip to the state final. The Golden Eagles will play Concord De La Salle on Saturday night at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

Mater Dei, which lost to Oakland Fremont in last year’s state final, finished 34-2.

Clovis West trailed, 34-32, at halftime and, 49-39, with 3:17 left in the third quarter but came back behind the play of junior guard Chris Hernandez, sophomore center Charlie Rodriguez and junior guard Tyrone Jackson.

Jackson scored on a driving layup with 3:30 left for a three-point lead and made another shot with 1:39 remaining to give Clovis West a 67-62 lead.

Ricky Porter pulled Mater Dei to within 67-64 on a reverse lay-up with 1:27 left, but Bozeman missed a shot with 47 seconds left, Steve Scoggin missed with 30 seconds remaining and the Monarchs lost another possession when Porter’s pass to Christian McGuigan went out of bounds with 14.9 seconds left.

Hernandez led Clovis West with 23 points and Rodriguez had 17. Bozeman had 14 points for Mater Dei and Scoggin, Porter and Mike Strawberry each had 12.

In other regional finals:

DIVISION II

Compton Dominguez 75, Bakersfield Foothill 50--Dominguez center Tyson Chandler scored 25 points, had 16 rebounds and tied a state record for a playoff game with 14 blocked shots to lead the defending state-champion Dons at the Forum.

Dominguez (34-2) will make its fifth championship-game appearance in six years Friday against Newark Memorial at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

Chandler, a 7-foot junior, tied the record set by Darnell Robinson of Emeryville Emery against Colusa in 1988, according to the Cal-Hi Sports state record book.

Foothill (21-13) upset second-seeded Lakewood Artesia Thursday to advance to the regional final.

Forward Keith Brooks scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds for Dominguez, which outrebounded Foothill, 48-23, and blocked 21 shots.

DIVISION III

Torrance Bishop Montgomery 72, Inglewood Morningside 59--The Craven twins led the way at the Forum as the Knights won the regional title for the first time.

Bishop Montgomery (27-5) will play Pleasanton Foothill for the state championship on Saturday.

Derrick Craven scored 20 points and had six rebounds five assists and five steals against Morningside. Errick Craven had 18 points and nine steals.

Tracy Cathey scored 22 points and Dwayne Trotter had 17 for Morningside.

DIVISION IV

Playa del Rey St. Bernard 61, Santa Monica Crossroads 42--The Vikings took control with a 13-0 first-quarter run and led by at least six throughout the second half in the regional final at the Pyramid.

Brandon Williams had five of his 14 points during the run and Bernard McCrumby four of his 16. St. Bernard’s 15-5 first-quarter lead was cut to 19-17 late in the second. However, Geoffrey Hooker had back-to-back baskets as the Vikings responded with six consecutive points and led, 25-19, at halftime.

The Roadrunners (25-10) remained within six midway through the third quarter until St. Bernard put the game away with an 11-4 run.

St. Bernard (26-7) will play Tamalpais (32-2) in the state final Friday.

DIVISION V

Price 72, El Cajon Christian 69--The Knights led by 17 midway through the third quarter withstood Chris Carter’s five three-point baskets in the fourth quarter at the Pyramid.

Chris Alexander scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half while Othell Johnson had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Andrew Howard added 15 off the bench as top-seeded Price (33-1) advanced to its first state final.

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Correspondent Steven Herbert contributed to this story.