Angelus League : St. Paul Puts Up Struggle but Mater Dei Wins, 76-52

Yes, Mater Dei High School won its 44th straight basketball game Friday night, and yes, it was by a big margin. The Monarchs beat St. Paul, 76-52, in an Angelus League opener for both teams in Bill Cook Gymnasium at Rancho Santiago College.

Just another night for the Monarchs (1-0, 15-0), who seemingly last lost a league game sometime during the Truman administration.

Of course, there were a few things a bit unusual Friday night’s game. Such as St. Paul (0-1, 7-4) being outrebounded, 18-9, in the first half but trailing the Monarchs by only two points midway through the third quarter. And there were the four times the game had to be stopped to tend to wounded St. Paul players. Three other times the game had to be stopped to separate hot-tempered players.

“You almost come to expect this kind of game in this league,” Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight said.

What was expected was for Mater Dei to dominate the game from the inside. It did. The Monarchs outrebounded the Swordsmen, 34-18. Mater Dei has 6-foot 10-inch LeRon Ellis at center and 6-9 Stuart Thomas at forward. It also started 6-5 Jim Dwyer at another forward.

St. Paul? Well, its starting lineup had 6-7 center Matt Willig and 6-4 Joel Willis. And then there was a couple of guys listed at 6-2 who looked 6-0, and one guy listed at 6-0 who looked 5-10. In a word, the Swordsman are small.

Ellis and Thomas reaped the benefits, scoring 22 and 25 points, respectively. Its overall height advantage allowed the Monarchs to convert 11 of their 13 first-half field goals from 5 feet or closer. St. Paul made 9 of its 12 first-half field goals from 12 feet or farther.

So how does a team such as the Swordsmen get within two points in the third quarter, especially after the Monarchs gained a 20-8 first-quarter lead?

They pressed the entire game and played a swarming-type of defense that caused numerous Mater Dei turnovers.

St. Paul shot extremely well from the outside. Led by Scott John, who had 20 points, the Swordsmen got back into the game by outscoring Mater Dei, 20-15, in the second quarter.

St. Paul opened the third quarter by making three straight 15-foot shots, and by the 5:36 mark of the quarter trailed, 37-35. But St Paul also got back into the game by fouling the Mater Dei big men whenever they got the ball inside. At 5:27, Willig got his fourth foul, and fouled out less than a minute later. With one big man gone and another neutralized because of fouls, the Monarchs went back inside and outscored St. Paul, 15-2, the rest of the third quarter. After that, things went pretty much as expected, with Mater Dei adding to its lead every minute of the fourth quarter.

“This game doesn’t surprise me,” McKnight said. “They had three losses coming into this game, two of them by two points. They shoot extremely well. Hey, you don’t take anything for granted. This is the Angelus League.”

ST. PAUL (52)--Scott 20, Willis 16, M. Willig 3, Ayala 2, Tritz 7, G. Willig 4.

MATER DEI (76)--Ellis 22, Thomas 25, Peabody 2, Mounce 14, Patton 4, Rembert 6, Quigley 1, Dwyer 2.

In other Angelus League action:

Servite 68, Pius X 62--Tony Smalley scored 20 points and Shawn Sullivan added 19 points as the Friars won their league opener at Servite. Nick Marusich had 10 rebounds for Servite, which improved its overall record to 6-6.

PIUS X (62)--Gibson 8, Jenkins 24, Ewing 4, Meyer 15, Finau 2, Smith 2, Holinquest 7.

SERVITE (68)--Cody 11, Smalley 20, Sullivan 19, Rollins 8, Marusich 7, Kenney 3.