Mater Dei No. 1 in First Basketball Poll of Season

Mater Dei High School, coming off an impressive victory over Ocean View in the title game of the Tournament of Champions, is the top-ranked team in the season’s first Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. prep basketball poll.

Mater Dei (9-1) received four of the five first-place votes. The Monarchs lost to Saddleback in the Newport-Mesa tournament final. Saddleback (8-1) got the other first-place vote, but is ranked fifth.

Irvine (7-0) is ranked fourth, marking the first time the school has been ranked in the top 10. Fountain Valley (8-0), which has won the Fountain Valley and Arroyo Grande tournament titles, is ranked second.

Five of the top 10 teams--Mater Dei, Fountain Valley, Saddleback, Capistrano Valley and Kennedy--are entered in the Orange Holiday Classic, which begins Dec. 27 at Chapman College’s Hutton Sports Center.

The writers’ poll:

Pos. School (League) Record

1. Mater Dei (Angelus) 9-1

2. Fountain Valley (Sunset) 8-0

3. Ocean View (Sunset) 6-1

4. Irvine (South Coast) 7-0

5. Saddleback (Sea View) 8-1

6. Estancia (Sea View) 7-0

7. Capistrano Valley (South Coast) 4-3

8. Savanna (Orange) 9-1

9. Kennedy (Empire) 6-3

10. Santa Ana (Century) 6-3

Others Receiving Votes: Marina (6-4) and Trabuco Hills (4-2).