PLACENTIA — The Mater Dei boys basketball team built a 22-point lead in the second half and held off a fourth-quarter surge by El Dorado to beat the Golden Hawks 82-72 in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs on Tuesday night.
The Monarchs will travel to Hesperia for their game in the semifinals on Friday.
Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight kept it lighthearted when asked about the Monarchs’ next game.
“It’s a long ride, I tell you that,” McKnight said. “I usually go to Vegas when I do that.”
The Monarchs’ duo of Luke Barnett and Zain Majeed combined for 51 points. Barnett, a Kansas commit, scored a game-high 26 points with five 3-pointers and Majeed added 25 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Richie Ramirez finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Mater Dei (20-14) used its size advantage on the glass and defensively and then displayed its athleticism on the offensive end with six dunks.
McKnight made it clear he wasn’t happy with his team’s play in the final eight minutes.
“I was not pleased that we gave up 30 points in the fourth quarter when we gave up 25 in the first half.” he said. “We need to be a lot better defensively. And I thought we took some poor shots instead of work the ball and get better shots. And we’re gonna have to do better than that to beat Hesperia.”
El Dorado (27-4) was led by junior guard Noah Querubin, who scored 17 points off the bench. Eli Rodarte and Evan Nam each scored 15 points and Noah Barker added 12 points before fouling out with 1:43 left.
The Golden Hawks played with heart for the entire game but were unable to get closer than nine points.
“Yeah, just proud of my guys’ resilience,” El Dorado coach Ryan Mounce said. “You get down 16 at halftime, you miss some shots, give up some transition plays. Most teams can get overwhelmed and lose it and get blown out by 40. And we chipped away, we cut it to nine I think twice in the second half, and gave up a couple big, big turnaround buckets.
“But like I said, at the end of the day, my guys are from Imperial Highway and Yorba Linda Boulevard, and it’s tough to play guys who are not.”
Mounce also reflected on setting a program-record with 27 wins this season. He hopes it’s enough to possible earn a spot in the state playoffs.
“They usually combine 2A and 2AA in the past. Well now it’s just (Division) 2. We’re hoping that possibly CIF looks at that and says, well, we may allow a couple quarterfinalists to get into state because of ranking,” Mounce said, “and we’re ranked pretty high. So, again, just try to sit there and figure out where things are, reflect on a great season. Twenty-seven wins, school record. I think it’s the third most wins in Orange County behind Santa Margarita, and we’re tied with Corona del Mar.”
“So lots to be accomplished, incredible environment tonight,” he added. “Had a bunch of alumni come back. What a win for El Dorado and what a win for our community, that’s what it’s about,” Mounce said.
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