Mater Dei Catholic High School girls basketball head coach David Monroe has been to the big stage before, won a San Diego Section championship and even a state championship.
But he’s rarely had this much success with a team so young.
This season’s Mater Dei Catholic squad does not feature any seniors in the lineup.
But the Lady Crusaders are headed to Friday’s San Diego Section Division I championship game at San Diego State’s Viejas Arena after putting on a showcase performance in Wednesday’s semifinal game at Eastlake High School.
Third-seeded Mater Dei Catholic defeated second-seeded Eastlake, 71-63, to capture the all-Mesa League semifinal tilt and advance to an all-Mesa League championship game against regular season league champion Bonita Vista.
The top-seeded Lady Barons, who dunked fourth-seeded Scripps Ranch by a 66-41 score on Wednesday, enter Friday’s division title game with a 26-6 record. The Lady Crusaders are 19-12.
Monroe is obviously proud of his talented young group of high achievers.
“Last year, we were supposed to be the one to win it and the girls got down to business and won it,” the MDCHS coach said following Wednesday’s semifinal contest in front of a gathering of fans with an obvious passion for their respective teams.
“By how strong we have been playing the last two weeks of the season, I would have been disappointed if we didn’t win this game tonight.”
The Lady Crusaders used a strong finish to nail down Wednesday’s semifinal victory.
Eastlake led 60-59 with 4:29 left in the fourth quarter. But the visitors went on a 12-3 scoring tear to silence the Lady Titans’ boisterous fans and end Eastlake’s season.
The Lady Crusaders excelled under the basket, winning nearly every rebound. Once in possession of the ball, a quick outlet pass would spring junior Chloe Webb down court.
Webb racing with the ball behind the defense spelled disaster for the Lady Titans.
Webb scored nine of her team-high 29 points in the final quarter to help spearhead the Mater Dei Catholic comeback win.
She drove the length of the court on two occasions and also sank two free throws in the final 30 seconds to account for six points in a 10-0 scoring run.
The game was tied 56-56 at the end of three quarters. The teams combined for 22 points in fourth quarter — 15 points by the Lady Crusaders.
“Everyone was tired — it was just who wanted it the most,” said Webb, who also led the team with 12 rebounds.
There was a swirl of emotions surrounding the game. Mater Dei Catholic had defeated Eastlake twice in league play. But beating the same team a third time in one season was a worry every coach has to deal with.
Monroe said it weighed on his mind entering Wednesday’s game.
“That was my biggest worry,” he said. “That and the game was in their house. The fans had Eastlake fired up. But the girls kept the season going. The key was that we had to play composed because we’re so young.”
Sophomore Marissa Sanchez added 19 points and six rebounds for Mater Dei Catholic on Wednesday while junior Hailey Dominguez had 11 points.
Battle of the boards: junior LaTianna Drummond had nine rebounds while junior Talejah Baxter had seven rebounds. Freshman Niala Mitchell also collected five rebounds for the Lady Crusaders.
Sanchez had 20 points while Webb had 19 points and 16 rebounds in last Saturday’s 62-45 quarterfinal win over 11th-seeded Mira Mesa. Mater Dei Catholic tipped off the playoffs with a 59-24 win over 14th-seeded West Hills on Feb. 21.
Webb leads her team in season scoring with 19.4 points per game; Sanchez ranks second on the team with 13.4 points per game.
Senior Haylee Owen paced Eastlake with 29 points on Wednesday. She kept the Lady Titans in contention in a game that went back-and-forth by sinking five three-point shots.
Junior Auren Issacson dropped in 16 points for Eastlake, which trailed 42-40 at halftime.
Isaacson had 17 points in last Saturday’s 57-43 quarterfinal win over seventh-seeded Poway while Owen and Avia Batemen each contributed 14 points. Haley Felberg had 15 rebounds to help spur the winners.
The Lady Titans opened the playoffs with a 63-36 win over 15th-seeded Mt. Carmel on Feb. 21. Owen poured in 28 points in that game while Felberg had 15 boards.
The shoe will be on the other foot in Friday’s championship game, which is slated for a 1 p.m. tip-off. Bonita Vista defeated Mater Dei Catholic twice in league play.
The Lady Barons received 29 points from senior scoring standout Shyla LaTone in Wednesday’s semifinal win over the Lady Falcons. She scored 34 points in last Saturday’s inspired come-from-behind 59-47 quarterfinal win over visiting Rancho Bernardo, the No. 9 seed in the division.
Junior Anneth Grijalba contributed 12 points in the quarterfinal win over the Lady Broncos (21-8).
Bonita Vista tipped off the playoffs with an 87-20 win over 16th-seeded Calexico on Feb. 21 as LaTone dropped in 24 points.
LaTone leads her team in scoring with an average of 38.1 points per game.
Free throws
This will mark the third consecutive year that a Mesa League team has advanced to the Division I championship game. Eastlake won the title in 2016; the Lady Crusaders won it last year.
Mater Dei Catholic takes a five-game winning streak into Friday’s title contest; Bonita Vista has won its last eight games.
This is the third trip to the section finals for Monroe and the Lady Crusaders. Besides winning the 2017 Division I title, the team finished second in Division IV in 2009 and runner-up in the Open Division in 2014.
Bonita Vista last advanced to the Division I championship game in 2008, placing runner-up to Poway. The Lady Barons finished runner-up to Imperial in the 2016 Division II championship game.
