Four Metro Conference basketball teams entered Saturday’s Southern California regional quarterfinal playoff round.
Two teams are still standing heading into Tuesday’s regional semifinals.
- Ninth-seeded Mater Dei Catholic broke away in the fourth quarter to eliminate top-seeded Bonita Vista, 75-67, in a Division III girls quarterfinal game in a rematch of the preceding weekend’s San Diego Section Division I championship game.
- Southwest, seeded 11th in the Division V boys regional field, edged third-seeded La Puente Nogales, 63-62, in another quarterfinal matchup.
Mater Dei Catholic (21-13) will next play at fifth-seeded Mission Oak (25-7) while Southwest (19-12) will play at seventh-seeded Van Nuys (23-12). Tip-off for both games is 7 p.m.
One more win for each team will advance them to the regional championship game on Saturday, March 17. State championship games in both divisions are scheduled March 23.
On the road again
Mater Dei Catholic appears to be taking a familiar route in the state playoffs. The Crusaders won the state title in 2009 without winning the San Diego Section championship.
“That was something we talked about with the team,” Mater Dei Catholic coach David Monroe said after Saturday’s stunner on the Barons’ home court. “We didn’t win the CIF game but we won the state title. We told them that it’s possible.”
Saturday’s win was the first for the Crusaders in four meetings with Mesa League rival Bonita Vista. Mater Dei Catholic lost twice to the Barons in league play and again in the division championship game on March 2 at SDSU’s Viejas Arena.
“Beating a team three times in one season is tough, but four times is even tougher,” Monroe noted. “The girls wanted it. They were focused.”
Monroe said his team elected to give the regular season Mesa League champions something new to deal with. The change in strategy seemed to work – the fourth time proved to be the charm, in this case.
“The girls wanted to change things up a bit, give them something new to look at,” Monroe said.
Junior guard Chloe Webb presented a handful for the Barons to contain. Webb finished with 27 points. Sophomore Marissa Sanchez proved just as lethal on the scoreboard by dropping in 25 points.
It was hard to defend the Crusaders’ one-two punch.
Both teams excelled at rebounding, creating an offset there.
Webb said her team had a point to prove after losing the CIF championship game.
“We knew what we had to do,” she said.
Bonita Vista (28-7) bounded out to a 20-16 first quarter lead in search of its fourth consecutive win over the Crusaders this season. However, senior scoring leader Shyla Latone came down hard on her knees and had to leave the game during a stretch during the second quarter.
The Barons scored just eight points in the quarter as Mater Dei Catholic caught up for a 28-all halftime tie.
The third quarter proved to be a 19-19 standoff between the teams, with the score tied 47-all entering the final quarter.
Neither team could generate more than a three-point lead in the middle two quarters. The game was tied seven times during the third quarter.
Mater Dei Catholic led, 38-36, after Webb dropped in a pair of free throws with 3:40 to play in the quarter. A three-point bomb by freshman Julia Cosalan put the Barons up by one point, 41-40, before a trey by Sanchez gave the Crusaders back the lead at 43-41.
A lay-in by Latone with three seconds left in the quarter tied the game at 47.
The opening 45 seconds of the fourth quarter changed the game’s momentum completely. Mater Dei Catholic out-scored the hosts 7-0 to take a quick 54-47 lead, and didn’t look back.
Sanchez blasted a three-pointer from long range and freshman Niala Mitchell scored on a put-back to account for five of those points. The Crusaders then scored on an inbounds steal to put the Crusader fans into a fever pitch.
The Barons countered with a three-pointer of their own but junior JaTianna Drummond sank a key field goal to prevent the hosts from generating any long-term momentum.
Mater Dei Catholic put together an 8-0 run to build a 64-52 lead with 5:07 left in regulation play. Webb had four points during the run and so did Sanchez.
The Crusaders extended their lead to 14 points, 75-61, with 1:05 left before Bonita Vista scored the final six points of the game.
Mater Dei Catholic fans were ecstatic as the buzzer sounded, chanting “This is our house!” in unison.
Meanwhile, as reality set in, Baron fans applauded their team on an otherwise fantastic season.
In capturing the win, the Crusaders snapped Bonita Vista’s 10-game winning streak.
Monroe said the key to his team’s fourth quarter turnaround was applying pressure.
“The more the game wore on, the more we wore them down,” Monroe said. “We kept up the pressure.”
Latone led the Barons with 27 points while Cosalan and junior Anneth Grijalba each scored 14 points. Freshmen Sterling Edwards and Isabel Rector each contributed six points.
It was a shame that one of the local teams had to lose.
“We had beaten them three times this season and they had a lot of looks at us,” BVHS coach Tristan Lamb said after the game. “They finally figured it out.”
Raider Nation
Southwest extended its winning streak to six games by winning a back-and-forth contest in which they trailed early but fought back to capture in the end.
“We were behind the entire first half, but closed to within 36-32 at the half,” Raiders head coach Steve Selland explained. “We tried to make some defensive adjustments in the second half to slow them down and it seemed to work.
“However, our best player, Diego Edwards quickly picked up his third and fourth fouls in the third quarter, and we eventually fell behind by 12.”
At this point, Selland said he put the game in the hands of guard Issac Gonzalez — and he responded, “playing lights out at both ends of the floor,” according to the Southwest coach.
Edwards returned in the fourth quarter and was able to play effectively without fouling out.
On the other hand, Nogales’ best player, Matthew Frazier, did foul out and the Raiders seized the momentum, eventually going ahead by four points, 63-59.
The last seconds of the contest were frantic, with both teams enjoying equal opportunities to either seize the win or let victory slip from their grasp.
“With less than a minute to go, they ran a good play for their shooter who hit a three-pointer to cut it to 63-62,” Selland recounted. “Edwards got fouled with 20 seconds left and missed the free throw.
“They came down and we were called for a shooting foul. Their excellent guard, Dale Batac, who had hit all his free throws up to that point, missed them both.”
The tension level rose when the Raiders’ Gonzalez was fouled with seven seconds left but missed the free throw.
“They got the rebound, came down, set a good screen for Batac, who was able to get a good shot off from about 20 feet,” Selland continued. “It was just a little short, hitting the front of the rim, the back of the rim, the board, and finally falling off while everybody held their breath.
“It was a great high school basketball game where both teams deserved to win, but unfortunately only one could win,” Selland said.
The game was a challenge for the visitors throughout.
Nogales (26-8) took a 30-21 lead on a free throw by Frazier in the second quarter.
The Raiders cut the deficit to 30-24 on a two-point field goal by Edwards and a shot by Edwards from the charity stripe.
Nogales went ahead, 36-27, with one minute to play in the first half on a pair of field goals by Frazier.
Southwest rallied with five unanswered points, including a deuce by Edwards in the dying seconds, to make the score 36-32 at halftime.
Xavier Finley opened the second half with a two-pointer to trim the Nobles lead to 36-34 but Bershoun Levi sank a two-pointer of his own to extend the Nogales lead back to four points at 38-34.
The Nobles led 49-42 at the end of three quarters.
The Raiders turned it on in the final quarter by out-scoring the hosts 21-13 to steal the victory.
Gonzalez dropped in a three-point bomb to put the visitors ahead 56-54. The Raiders later sank another trey to take a 59-56 lead.
The game was tied, 59-59, with 1:55 to play after Frazier dropped in a three-point shot.
The Raiders went ahead 63-59 on a two-pointer by Edwards with about one minute to play.
Brandon Nguyen brought the home crowd to its feet when he dropped in a three-pointer to bring the Nobles to within one point on the scoreboard. The hosts could not get any closer, and the game ended with that score.
Almost famous
Eastlake ended its season following an 81-48 setback to visiting Rolling Hills Prep in a Division IV regional quarterfinal game on Saturday. The third-seeded Titans ended the season 22-8 after tying Mater Dei Catholic for the runner-up position in the Mesa League standings.
Sixth-seeded Rolling Hills Prep (28-2) advances to play at second-seeded Foothill Tech (25-6) in Tuesday’s regional semifinals.
Southern California Regional Playoffs
BOYS BASKETBALL
Division I
Wednesday, March 7
(6) Chino Hills 69, (11) Mater Dei Catholic 54
Division V
Wednesday, March 7
(11) Southwest 59, (6) La Puente 53
Saturday, March 10
(11) Southwest 63, (3) Nogales (La Puente) 62
Tuesday, March 13
(7) Van Nuys 72, (11) Southwest 52
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Division III
Wednesday, March 7
(1) Bonita Vista 72, (16) Hamilton (Los Angeles) 54
(9) Mater Dei Catholic 78, (8) Flintridge Prep 55
Saturday, March 10
(9) Mater Dei Catholic 75, (1) Bonita Vista 67
Tuesday, March 13
(9) Mater Dei Catholic 71, (5) Mission Oak (Tulare) 50
Saturday, March 17
(9) Mater Dei Catholic (22-13) at (6) Fullerton Sunny Hills (23-10), 6 p.m.
Division IV
Wednesday, March 7
(3) Eastlake 75, (14) Providence (Burbank) 36
Saturday, March 10
(6) Rolling Hills Prep 81, (3) Eastlake 48
GIRLS SOCCER
Division I
Tuesday, March 6
(5) Santa Margarita 2, (4) Eastlake 0
Division IV
Tuesday, March 6
(1) Paloma Valley 10, (8) Mater Dei Catholic 0
