SOUTHERN SECTION GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : DIVISION I-A ROUNDUP : Marina Gets 14th in Row by Beating Mater Dei

Although the Mater Dei girls’ basketball season ended on a losing note in the second round of the Division I-A playoffs Wednesday night, the Lady Monarchs might find some consolation knowing they won’t have to face Marina again for a while.

The third time proved to be just another loss for Mater Dei; the Monarchs became Marina’s 14th consecutive victim, falling, 57-54, at Santa Ana. The Monarchs had two nonleague losses, 51-43 and 50-48, to the Vikings this season.

Marina (23-4) will meet Cerritos, a 57-43 winner over Hart, in Saturday night’s quarterfinal.

“They threw everything they could at us--full-court press, half-court traps--to make things difficult,” Marina Coach Pete Bonny said. “Our bench did a great job. We made a good run at the end of the second half with four starters on the bench.”

Mater Dei (13-11) led, 24-22, on Dawn Gawronski’s basket with 3:36 left in the second quarter. But Paula Meyers came off the bench to lead a 10-3 Marina run with strong inside play for 10 of her career-high 13 points and a 32-27 Viking halftime lead.

Colleen Hatch scored eight third-quarter points to help Marina to a 43-36 lead with 4:03 remaining, before picking up her fourth foul.

Melissa McDonald paced a Monarch rally that closed the gap to 46-45 with 7:33 left in the game. Mater Dei still trailed, 50-48, on Rosemarie Imbriano’s basket with 6:15 remaining, but two straight baskets by Marina point guard Leslie Ono and another basket by Hatch with 3:19 left gave the Vikings a 56-48 lead.

Marina’s one-for-six fourth-quarter free-throw shooting allowed Mater Dei to chip away at the lead, but Meyer’s free throw with 29 seconds left gave the Vikings a 57-52 lead. McDonald added a basket came with three seconds left.

Ono led all scorers with 17 points while Hatch added 14 for Marina. McDonald and Imbriano scored 16 and 14 points, respectively, for Mater Dei.