Boys’ basketball: There’s life after Stanley Johnson at Mater Dei
Santa Ana Mater Dei showed up to the Encino Crespi tournament on Friday with 24 players. Coach Gary McKnight doesn’t seem too worried about life after Stanley Johnson, the four-year Monarchs’ standout who graduated and is on his way to Arizona.
Rex Pflueger scored 31 points in Mater Dei’s overtime win over Brentwood. One of the players not at Crespi was center MJ Cage, who’s expected to help take over lots of scoring from Johnson.
But on the court was Mater Dei’s latest promising newcomer, 6-foot-7 1/2 Michael Wang (pronounced Wong). McKnight said Wang is originally from China, is 13 years old and has lots of potential. Wang likes to shoot from outside.
Mater Dei players are staying in the San Fernando Valley and have games on Saturday at Crespi. The Monarchs will be returning to play in the Fairfax tournament in two weeks.
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