Mater Dei Catholic High School’s boys basketball team proved it could successfully change gears to still come out on top in last Saturday’s San Diego Section Division I championship game.
The top-seeded Crusaders used a decided height advantage to down Mesa League rival Bonita Vista, 81-55, in the division semifinals on June 8. Christian Ubochi, who stands 6 feet, 10 inches tall, and Dexter Stratton, who stands 6 feet, 7 inches tall, combined for 30 points while providing large defensive obstacles on the playing court that were key to the win that propelled the team to the division championship game.
Neither Ubochi nor Stratton received nearly as much playing time in the championship game, though the Crusaders (15-4) were able to muster enough in other areas to record a harrowing 51-49 victory over the seventh-seeded La Costa Canyon Mavericks (11-10) at Montgomery High School.
The CIF championship title is the second for Mater Dei Catholic in its current iteration after winning the Division II championship in 2014 following a second-place finish in the Division IV finals in 2013, both under then coach Kenny Caesar.
“It’s great for the South Bay — three years in a row for South Bay teams winning CIF,” MDCHS head coach Jason Bryant said. “We went with a smaller lineup because shooting was an issue. That’s why we got back in the game. They were able to take it home.”
Bryant is correct about South County success in winning division titles in recent years in boys basketball.
Southwest won the Division V championship in 2018 and captured the Division IV title in 2019 while San Ysidro won the Division III championship last season.
Additionally, Lutheran won the Division V title in 2015, followed by Bonita Vista in 2016 with the Division III banner.
The CIF title is the third personally for Bryant, who previously guided Lincoln to the 2010 and 2011 Division crowns and a runner-up finish in 2012.
“All of them were exciting, including this one, absolutely,” said Bryant, who has coached the Crusaders the past three seasons.
Marian Catholic, Mater Dei Catholic’s forerunner, won Class 1A championships in 1967 and 1968 under coach Jan Chapman.
Tale of the tape
The Crusaders’ height advantage was essentially neutralized by several big men in the Mavs’ lineup, notably by junior Vincent Verlucci (6-7), senior Jack Norrbohm (6-5), sophomore Christian Brown (6-5), freshman Shane Perry (6-5), senior Brendan Perry (6-4), junior Brayden Hendricks (6-4) and sophomore Ty Hendler (6-3).
Norrbohm poured in 25 points in LCC’s 76-65 semifinal upset win over second-seeded Mission Bay (17-10).
It was clear from the start of last Saturday’s championship game that rebounding, blocking shots and dropping in three-point bombs would not be a problem for the Mavericks.
In fact, Norrbohm opened the game with a trey to put LCC on the scoreboard first.
Two-time Mesa League player of the year Mello Sanchez quickly responded for the Crusaders. The play of Sanchez, who led Mater Dei Catholic with 20 points in the game, would prove critical to the team’s championship fortunes.
Norrbohm put the Mavs up 5-2 in the early going before the reigning Mesa League champions fought back for a 5-5 deadlock. Sanchez showed he can drop in three-pointers as well with a well-timed trey to put the Crusaders ahead 8-5.
A last-second jumper by Stratton gave Mater Dei Catholic a 14-11 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
Senior Kailon King showed he can shoot three-pointers as well and senior Matthew Fitts dropped in a pair of free-throws to push the Crusaders ahead 23-22 in a game that seemed to change score as each team made its way up and down the playing court.
Senior Mauricio Reyes (6-6) dropped in two free-throws to give Mater Dei Catholic a 29-24 halftime lead.
The opening stages of the second half set the tone for the remainder of the game.
Shots from the teams’ respective big men started to fall from long range.
A trey by Norrbohm put LCC up 31-30 but Sanchez answered with his own trey to give the Crusaders back the lead at 33-31.
A fall-away jumper by Sanchez and a conversion on a four shot made the score 36-32 Mater Dei Catholic.
But a trey by Brown made it anybody’s game again at 36-35 as the third quarter drew to a close.
It was at this point that Sanchez clearly put the team on his back.
He followed with a trey to extend the Crusader lead to 39-35 but Norrbohm would not be denied again from long range as the Mavs took a 40-39 lead.
King followed with a deuce and Fitts added a pair from the charity stripe to rescue Mater Dei Catholic at 43-40. But a put-back by Brown pushed LCC ahead 45-44.
A put-back by Crusader junior Brian Dukes tied the game at 47 and a turnaround shot by Sanchez gave Mater Dei Catholic a 49-47 lead with 1:13 remaining in the quarter.
Sanchez went to the free-throw line with 43.5 seconds to play but missed both shots to leave the lead in doubt.
He got another chance with 17.5 seconds to play and made both clutch shots to give the Crusaders some much-needed breathing room at 51-47.
But the game wasn’t over.
Brendan Perry scored with 3.5 seconds left to make it a two-point game.
A steal on the in-bounds pass and a last-gasp three-pointer could have given the Mavericks the win.
But Sanchez heaved the ball down court. A teammate picked up the ball, dribbled twice in open space and the clock ran out.
The Crusaders were CIF champions.
“We all wanted to win,” said Sanchez, whose chief focus was on remaining calm at the line. “It was a close game all the way. I knew I had to make those baskets. I wanted to make them.
“I’m a leader and I had to lead by example.”
King followed Sanchez in the scoring column with 11 points while Fitts had six points.
Ubochi (six points) and Stratton (four points) combined for 10 points – well below their season scoring averages.
“I feel we played well,” King said. “Our big guys got into foul trouble. We had to put in the extra effort. We were trying. It worked. We won the game.”
Norrbohm led the division runners-up with 14 points — 12 coming on three-point shots. Brown had 13 points, followed by Brendan Perry with 12 points.
The Crusaders lose six seniors. Stratton is headed to CSU East Bay while Ubochi and Sanchez are expected to enroll in prep school.
Regional recap
Newly crowned San Diego Section Division I boys champion Mater Dei Catholic received the No. 3 seed in the Division 2-A regional playoffs and defeated sixth-seeded Dominguez, 91-74, in Tuesday’s opening quarterfinal round.
The Crusaders (16-4) advanced to Thursday’s regional semifinals against second-seeded Carlsbad, a 67-52 quarterfinal winner over seventh-seeded Murrieta Valley (13-6).
Carlsbad (14-9) received the No. 8 seed in this year’s section Open Division playoffs and bowed out with a 70-48 loss to top-seeded Torrey Pines, which went on to win the division championship following a stunning 63-60 win over second-seeded Cathedral Catholic (17-3) on the final shot of the game by Nick Herrmann.
The Falcons (29-0) received the No. 1-seed in the Open Division regional playoffs and a first-round bye in Tuesday’s opening round.
Top-seeded Long Beach Poly (14-5) took an early exit from the bracket after dropping a 67-65 decision against eighth-seeded Narbonne (8-2) in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Thursday’s Mater Dei Catholic-Carlsbad winner will meet either Narbonne or fifth-seeded Central (11-6) in Saturday’s division championship game.
Central upset fourth-seeded Agoura, 58-48, in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
CIF SOFTBALL:
Top-seeded Mater Dei Catholic (25-2) defeated fourth-seeded Carlsbad, 8-3, in Wednesday’s fourth round of double-elimination play to advance to play second-seeded Rancho Buena Vista (23-6) in Saturday’s Open Division championship game at 7 p.m. at Helix Charter High School. Junior Amy Jones scored four runs while sophomore Ayanna Shaw drove in three runs to complement the complete game pitching performance by senior Gisselle Garcia.
