PHOTOS: Fast start lifts No. 2 Mater Dei past Crean Lutheran in Division 1 playoffs

Mater Dei’s Zack Davidson and Crean Lutheran’s Patrick Miranda battle for the ball. No. 14 for Mater Dei is Luke Barnett. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs, John Luciano).

Mater Dei High School’s boys basketball team took its game to another level Friday night defeating Crean Lutheran 88-61 in the second round of the CIF Division 1 playoffs at Mater Dei.

“It’s been a season where the young kids are getting better, we still have a long ways to go,” said Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight. “You’re in a situation where you got a lead and you got to keep going. Sometimes we fade back and forth but I think that’s youth. But I think every night, we have somebody else step up. Owen Verna went off tonight and a couple of the other guys were consistent.”

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Verna, a sophomore, led the way with 31 points, 17 coming in the first quarter to help the No. 2-seeded Monarchs jump to a 27-6 lead after one quarter. Verna, who did not play much in the second quarter, sank nine 3-pointers (tying a school record) making 11 of 15 field goals and 9 of 11 from 3-point range and said it “was fun to get in a zone, you feel like you can’t miss and you shoot everything.

“We’ve been playing really well, passing the ball well, getting it into the post and kicking out for three’s and rotating well on defense and talking. I think we’re coming together well at the right time. We would like to be in open (division) but you have to make the best of the opportunity we were given and I think we can get a ring.

“We came out with a lot of intensity and I think that really helped us.”

Mater Dei (24-6) moves on to the quarterfinals Tuesday night at Heritage Christian.

Crean Lutheran (22-8) battled until the end but couldn’t slow down Verna and his teammates. Zack Davidson added 15 points, Brannon Martinsen 12 points and Luke Barnett 10 points. Guard Brady Karich dished out 14 assists.

Mater Dei made 59 percent of its field goals, Crean Lutheran 37 percent. The Monarchs also had the rebound edge, 39-18.

Mater Dei is trying to bring home the 24th CIF title in school history.

Crean Lutheran was led by Patrick Miranda, who scored 19 points and made three, 3-pointers. Kenneth Bailey had 18 points and Kaiden Bailey 16 points.

Mater Dei led 41-20 at halftime and 65-38 going into the final stanza.

“It was a very highly-emotional game,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Nate Klitzing, who led the Saints to their third straight Empire League title. “Both of us have a lot of history, some of our players, the Baileys and Braeden (Davidson) played with a lot of their players growing up. This one meant a lot and it’s the senior year. Those emotions ran high.

“They got off to a great start. They were unconscious. Number three (Verna) couldn’t miss and they were doing a great job finding him. I’m proud of our guys for not ever backing down and they kept fighting all the way until the end.

“As a coach, you can live with those things with effort. We’ve had an amazing season and surpassed a lot of our expectations as a team so I’m just really proud of our guys and our effort, especially our seniors.”

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com

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