Mater Dei Makes Mistakes but Wins

Santa Ana Mater Dei committed 25 turnovers, allowed 16 offensive rebounds and missed 17 of 37 free throws in the Southern California Regional Division II boys’ basketball championship game Saturday.

In the end, all that mattered was the final score and the Monarchs took care of that, knocking off top-seeded Compton Dominguez, 68-61, at the Sports Arena. The victory advanced second-seeded Mater Dei to its fourth state final in the last seven years.

Sophomore forward Taylor King had 24 points and 13 rebounds to offset eight turnovers, and senior point guard Mike Gerrity scored 17 points, despite missing nine of 12 free throws.

Mater Dei (31-3) was able to overcome many mistakes because of its role players. Kyle Brown scored 10 of his 14 points and collected five of his 11 rebounds in the fourth quarter to help the Monarchs hold off Dominguez. Alex Jacobson, a 7-1 sophomore, contributed seven rebounds and eight blocked shots and reserves Danny Campbell and Steve Tarin contributed key points in the final quarter.

“It has been a great team as far as role players, and some of those role players are now emerging as very good basketball players,” Coach Gary McKnight said.

Dominguez (26-6) hurt itself with erratic shooting from the field throughout the game and poor free-throw shooting in the fourth quarter. Bryan Harvey, a Louisville-bound shooting guard, missed all nine of his shots and finished with two points. Freshman Brandon Jennings scored 20 points to lead the Dons.

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San Diego St. Augustine 74, Lakewood Artesia 48 -- St. Augustine held the Pioneers scoreless for nearly eight minutes in the second half and pulled away to win the Division III title at the Sports Arena.

Artesia (28-5) stayed close until early in the third quarter. But after Malik Story’s baseline jumper cut St. Augustine’s lead to 37-33 with 6:05 left, the Saints (31-0) went on a 19-0 run.

The fourth-seeded Pioneers made just six of 37 shots in the second half (16.2%) and four of 30 three-pointers in the game. James Harden scored 11 points to lead Artesia.

Dan Arritt

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North Hollywood Campbell Hall 65, Fresno San Joaquin Memorial 42 -- Two nearly perfect quarters of basketball gave the Vikings the Division IV title at Cal State Fullerton and has them within four quarters of completing a perfect season.

The Vikings (31-0), down by as many as nine points in the first half, took a 39-36 lead with 3:17 left in the third quarter on Joe Ford’s dazzling three-point play -- in which he stole the ball and raced for a twisting, finger-roll lay-up despite getting fouled.

The play came in the middle of a decisive 17-0 run that stretched into the third minute of the fourth quarter and gave the Vikings a 51-36 lead that would only get bigger. Ford finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Josh Gajewski

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Los Angeles Price 65, San Luis Obispo Mission Prep 58 -- Price Coach Michael Lynch made a second-half adjustment that helped the Knights, who trailed by as much as 12 points, earn the Division V victory at Cal State Fullerton and their sixth consecutive state finals appearance.

The ninth-year coach sensed that Mission Prep (23-12) couldn’t keep up with the Knights’ nine-man rotation. He asked his team to push the pace and use their height advantage. Price, which out-shot the Royals 48% to 36% in the second half, has three players at least 6 feet 6, while 6-6 Luis Santiago, who led Mission Prep with 20 points but had only three rebounds, was the tallest Royal.

Devin Williams had 15 points, including a three-pointer with 28 seconds left to put Price (28-4) ahead, 62-58, and Brian Currie added 14.

-- Mayar Zokaei