SANTA ANA, Calif. - The championship game of the inaugural Mater Dei Holiday Classic between the host Monarchs and upstart Oak Park was set after each team won its first three games of the four-day, eight-team event that began on Tuesday. The event continued on Wednesday with a day off on Thursday for Thanksgiving, and resumed on Friday for game three with the teams then playing on Saturday for seventh, fifth and third place before the 6 pm title-game tip-off.
To some girls basketball analysts, this matchup was looking like it could be a very tough one for shorthanded Mater Dei, and while it was close for a half with the hosts holding just a 31-26 lead after two quarters, the superior depth of the Monarchs took control after halftime and Mater Dei coasted to a 73-61 victory. The final score got a little closer after second-year head coach Jody Wynn began to substitute liberally with the Monarchs up 65-46.
We say Mater Dei is short handed since they are playing without their best player, 6-foot-2 South Carolina-committed Kaeli Wynn. Wynn, the daughter of Coach Wynn, injured her kneecap last season and missed the final few games. It was thought she might be able to play this season, but according to Coach Wynn, she will be having surgery this week and likely will miss the entire season.
With Wynn cheering her teammates on from the bench, the load has had to shift to others, and so far in a 5-0 start for Mater Dei it has worked for well, and the win over Oak Park was a perfect example. The leading scorer so far this season is Harmony Golightly, a junior combo guard that according to Mater Dei coaches already has several offers including Auburn.
Against Oak Park she made five three-pointers in the first half, and finished with six en route to a game-high 28 points plus nine rebounds and four assists. Stella Hoss, a 6-foot-2 junior forward who has shown marked improvement from last season, added 14 points and four rebounds. Noelle Mulvanny, a 6-foot senior forward, controlled the paint and finished with 10 points (one three-pointer), 10 rebounds plus two assists. Freshman Legend Tyler, a 5-foot-11 guard who showed over the summer and fall that she is a budding star, also added 10 points plus eight rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Mater Dei won its first games, 72-33 over Bishop Montgomery of Torrance, 66-52 over Sierra Pacific of Hanford, and 81-53 versus Moreno Valley. Against Sierra Pacific, Golightly had 17 points with two three-pointers, and against Moreno Valley she went for 24 points with four three-pointers. When the tournament MVP was announced there was little doubt it was going to be Golightly, and it was.
Coming into the season, Oak Park, a three-time defending CIF Southern Section champion, had extremely high hopes. Not only did the Eagles have a new head coach with WNBA experience, April Shilling, who added former Windward (Los Angeles) head coach Rachel Schrote to her staff, they also added transfers to four returning starters. Most notable among the transfers is former Ventura star and UC Santa Barbara-committed 5-foot-10 senior guard Karisma Lewis, who already was regarded as the top team player in Ventura County and solidified the Eagles as the the top team in the county. The initial result was for the Cal-Hi Sports preseason rankings Oak Park came in at No. 16 after not being ranked in last season's Final Expanded Rankings.
Oak Park looked very good in winning its first three games, 65-47 over Canyon of Canyon Country, 65-46 over up-and-coming Priory of Portola Valley and 63-51 against Windward of Los Angeles,. However, not having all its transfer eligible, including Diana Sorrondo, a 6-foot-4 Southern Utah-committed center, who transferred from Arroyo Grande where she was the San Luis Obispo County Defensive Player of the Year last season, meant the Eagles, while still very formidable, could not match the depth of Mater Dei.
Only five players scored for Oak Park but the bulk of the production came from Lewis and last year's leading scorer Maya Deshautelle. Lewis finished with 25 points (three three-pointers), eight rebounds and four steals, and Deshautelle added 19 points (one three-pointers) and five rebounds. Sophomore guard Ava Rogerson chipped in with 10 points (two three-pointers), but the other two players that scored only tallied six points. Once Shilling has all the transfers cleared and she has time to put the pieces together as the season progresses, look for Oak Park to be a contender.
One of the surprises in the Mater Dei Holiday Classic, and despite taking a loss to Oak Park, was Priory. Head coach Buck Matthews and his Panthers were only one of a handful of teams that ventured to Southern California for preseason tournaments, and as the only NorCal at the Santa Ana event they did very well and opened the season at 3-1. Priory made its presence known early after knocking off Cal-Hi Sports Preseason No. 14 Windward 60-58 in the opening round. The Panthers ran into Oak Park in their second game and lost by 19 points. However, after Thanksgiving they came back on Friday to overwhelm Canyon, 63-41, and that set up a third-place showdown with preseason No. 12 Moreno Valley that produced a solid 55-48 victory.
The matchup with Moreno Valley was close throughout the first quarter, with Priory taking a 17-16 lead into the second quarter. It was 19-19 in the early second but from there Priory went on a 16-2 run to take a 35-21 lead at halftime that went 21-2 to make it 40-21 in the early third and Moreno Valley was never able to recover.
Moreno Valley clawed its way back to 52-47, but they were not able to get over the hump. Sasha Johnson, a 5-foot-10 junior guard led the way for Priory with 18 points (three three-pointers), including 10 points and two three-pointers in the big second quarter run. Senior 5-foot-11 guard Ugreat Daniels added 13 points (one three-pointer) and junior guard Gabby Wickham finished with 11 points.
Alysha Mills, a 6-foot power forward, led Moreno Valley with a game-high 21 points with one three-pointer, and senior guard Bella Medina added 13 points with two three-pointers.
Seventh Place: Canyon 57 Bishop Montgomery 31
Fifth Place: Windward 53 Sierra Pacific 48
Battle at the Beach at Redondo Union
Another major tournament contested over the Thanksgiving Holiday was the annual Battle at the Beach at Redondo Union High.
The final came down to Cal-Hi Sports Preseason No. 3 Etiwanda and No. 8 Sage Hill of Newport Beach, and it was all Etiwanda (5-0) in a 81-57 victory. Junior guard Chasity Rice led the way with 28 points (four rebounds, three assists), Florida-committed 5-foot-10 senior wing Arynn Finley was chosen as tournament MVP after finishing with 24 points, three rebounds and four assists, and junior forward Aliyah Phillips added 21 points and five rebounds.
After losing 88-81 in double overtime in the semifinals to Sage Hill (5-1), defending state CIF Division I state champions Carondelet of Concord (4-1), which beat Sage Hill in the D1 state title game, rebounded to win the third-place game, 54-49 victory over host Redondo Union.
Troy Hoop Classic
The Troy Hoops Classic beginning on December 1 will have the same host school but a new head coach as all-time California wins leader Kevin Kiernan is back at Troy where he won three CIF state championships before moving on to Mater Dei.
The field includes Cal-Hi Sports Preseason No. 1 Ontario Christian in one bracket with No. 2 Sierra Canyon in the other bracket with the two scheduled to meet to decide who is the early season favorite for the state's top spot as barring a major upset the two teams will meet in the title game.
La Country Day Sweet 16
Down in San Diego the annual La Jolla Country Day Sweet 16 Invitational begins on Wednesday and will feature Northern California's top team and Cal-Hi Sports Preseason No. 4 ranked Archbishop Mitty of San Jose.
