SANTA FE SPRINGS—Reminiscent of their big-time league matchups from the 1980s, the Mater Dei boys basketball team trailed with under a minute to go in the fourth quarter as they were on the road at St. Paul (19-11) in a Division 1 second-round game.
The Monarchs used a 5-0 run in the final 55 seconds to comeback and beat the Swordsmen 71-67 in their second round game of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs to advance to the quarterfinals.
Mater Dei (22-9) will be on the road to take on Santa Barbara in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Santa Barbara defeated Canyon of Anaheim 84-70 on Friday night.
After knocking off Etiwanda 53-43 in their first round playoff game on Wednesday, the Swordsmen were less than a minute away from pulling off their second upset in the week.
Mater Dei head coach Gary McKnight knew the Monarchs didn’t play the cleanest game, but commended their effort to help drive them to the win.
“We had way too many turnovers and that hurt us,”McKnight said. “We have to get away from it. The kids are busting their tails off, and they’re playing hard and I’m very proud of them because it’s been a tough year.”
The longtime Mater Dei head coach was nostalgic returning back to a school he used to face year in and year out back in the ‘80s.
“I haven’t been back in this gym since the ‘80s when they were in our league,” McKnight commented. “They have a new wood floor and it looks a lot nicer.”
Mater Dei guard Luke Barnett had a game-high 26 points on 7-14 shooting from the field. Barnett’s first half effort was pivotal in the win as he had 20 of his 26 points in the opening half.
“I’m happy to get out with a win and [I’m] excited to go play our next game. Just another step closer to winning a championship, so I’m excited,” Barnett said.
St. Paul head coach Patrick Roy was honest about his team’s performance down the stretch in the final minutes of the game.
“I thought we had the basketball game. We gave it away. It was one of those giveaway games,” Roy said. “When you’re missing layups and are making only one of two free throws at the line, it was a giveaway game.”
The Swordsmen got into foul trouble early and saw guard Osami Maciel and forward Tong Mawein pick up two fouls early in the first half.
With the Swordsmen in foul trouble early, they turned to Dillon Chelsea to lead the way on the offensive front.
Chelsea had 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, picking up Maciel and Mawein, who are among the team’s leaders in scoring.
“Dillon had a really good game. He was aggressive offensively and did a good job defensively,” Roy said.
Despite playing a majority of the first half with two of their top scorers on the bench, St. Paul kept it competitive and only trailed 37-32 at the half.
St. Paul took their first lead of the game with 4:03 left in the third quarter after a William Bryson 3-pointer gave the Swordsmen a 45-42 lead.
The lead was short lived for St. Paul as Mater Dei would tie the game and retake the lead heading into the final quarter. Both teams exchanged the lead six times in the fourth quarter.
With 21 seconds left in the game, St. Paul’s last possession was stuffed as the Monarchs held on to win.
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