Miami Christian Gives Mater Dei Just What it Needs

Mater Dei’s 87-55 victory over Miami (Fla.) Christian Saturday night in the Nike Extravaganza at the Pyramid in Long Beach was just what the Monarchs needed after a week of off-the-court distractions.

Mater Dei players took final exams and had a full week without a game for the first time since the season started, but that was nothing compared to the turmoil surrounding Coach Gary McKnight.

McKnight was at the center of a controversy involving one of his sons, Geoff, who was admitted to UCLA as a walk-on basketball player despite having been a seldom-used reserve for the Monarchs last season.

Newspaper reports noted that Geoff McKnight’s admission as a walk-on coincided with the Bruins’ recruitment of Mater Dei guard Cedric Bozeman, who signed with UCLA, and center Jamal Sampson, who signed with California.

But McKnight maintained Saturday that there was no wrongdoing.

“There’s no controversy,” McKnight said. “There was never a story.”

Sampson, who finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds, said the story never became an issue with the team.

“It’s been a long week for [McKnight] with all the incidents in the papers,” Sampson said, “but no one brought it up.”

As far as basketball is concerned, all is well for the Monarchs.

Mater Dei caught a break this week when one of Miami Christian’s top players, guard Carlos Rivera, suffered a serious knee injury that kept him out of the game. The already-thin Victors failed to mount much of a challenge without Rivera, at least in the second half.

Christian led for much of the first half behind the strong play of Kelly Ortiz and Carlos Morban, who combined for 27 points by halftime.

The Monarchs (20-2), the top-ranked team in Orange County, trailed until Bozeman’s three-point play 3 minutes 51 seconds before halftime put Mater Dei up for good. Bozeman finished with 24 points and six assists.

Mater Dei padded its lead throughout the second half as it played a more up-tempo style. Bozeman was aggressive in taking the ball to the basket and guard Wesley Washington had two fourth-quarter dunks.

Morban led the Victors (21-5) with 24 points. But Christian went cold in the second half, making only 27.3% of its field-goal attempts.

Harrison Schaen scored eight points for Mater Dei, which shot 52.9% from the field for the game. Washington, Trevante Nelson, Ricky Porter and Travis Gabler added seven points apiece.

Mater Dei had expected a much tougher challenge from the Victors, but there was little doubt the game would be lopsided once the Monarchs found their rhythm in the third quarter.

“We’re OK with that win right there,” Sampson said.