It’s Business As Usual in Mater Dei’s Victory

Santa Ana Mater Dei continued its dominance of Serra League opponents with an impressive 67-59 victory Friday in front of a packed house of 2,250 at Santa Margarita.

Harrison Schaen and Wesley Washington made two baskets each as Mater Dei jumped out to an 8-0 lead two minutes into the game.

Santa Margarita cut the deficit to four with 2:40 to play in the first half, but a late run provided the Monarchs a 33-24 lead at halftime.

Mater Dei (19-4, 4-0), ranked fifth by The Times, has won 12 consecutive games and has beaten sixth-ranked Santa Margarita six times in a row, including a 71-55 victory Jan. 11. The Monarchs have not lost a league game since the 1997-98 season.

Schaen, a 6-foot-9 junior, scored a season-high 22 points on nine-of-13 shooting. He also had 10 rebounds.

Mike Strawberry added 16 points and seven rebounds, and Washington finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

Brandon Rohe made six of eight from the field and finished with a team-high 19 points for Santa Margarita (18-3, 2-2). Travis Smith had 13 points and six rebounds.

“I think we played great from the start,” Schaen said. “We were focused mentally, we concentrated on our game and came to play. It was one of our best games this year.”

Tim Dermody

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Dorsey 86, Crenshaw 78--Spurred on by a noisy crowd, Dorsey withstood a second-half comeback by visiting Crenshaw to remain unbeaten in the Coliseum League.

Eric Flourney led the Dons (14-5, 6-0 in league) with 27 points and Donald Wilson had 23 points and 12 rebounds, including three dunks in the final minute that sealed the victory.

“We knew playing at home we’d have the fans on our side and we fed off that energy,” Flourney said. “[Crenshaw doesn’t] like coming here because they feel suffocated.”

Dorsey, ranked 12th, never trailed and led, 45-30, at halftime, but Crenshaw (15-6, 4-2) used a 10-0 run at the start of the third quarter to get back in the game.

Marcus Williams scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half, including a steal and layup at the third-quarter buzzer that pulled Crenshaw to within 56-55.

“We played hard, we just had too big a deficit to overcome,” said Williams, who made five of seven three-point attempts and also had seven assists and five steals. “We also gave them too many wide open looks in the fourth quarter.”

Derick Clark finished with 21 points and Onyekachi Ibekwe added 14 for Crenshaw, ranked 14th. Flourney hit a three-pointer and Wilson dunked to end a 14-3 run that gave Dorsey a 76-60 lead.

The Dons handed Crenshaw its first league loss on Jan. 9 and have a two-game lead over the Cougars and Fremont.

Steve Galluzzo

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Corona Centennial 79, Corona 56--J.R. Reese scored 29 points for visiting Centennial in the Mountain View League game.

Centennial, ranked eighth, is 18-2, 6-0.