Mater Dei Eases Past Buena, 68-49

It might have been a night short on aesthetics but Mater Dei High had enough moments of beauty to defeat Buena, 68-49, Tuesday in a Southern Section Division I-A boys’ basketball game in front of about 3,000 at UC Irvine’s Bren Center.

Although the Monarchs (30-1) missed a bundle of short shots and fumbled away plenty of passes, they blitzed Buena (22-6) in the third quarter to move into their eighth championship game in 10 seasons.

In the first half, the Monarchs, who have won six Southern Section titles in Coach Gary McKnight’s 11 seasons, didn’t look anything like the top-ranked team in the state, a position they have held much of this season.

They flubbed many inside opportunities and committed 10 turnovers. Meanwhile Buena, which appeared overmatched, was scrapping away.

The Bulldogs averaged 84.7 points in their first three playoff victories but were having more trouble scoring on Mater Dei.

Lance Fay, the Southern Section’s leading scorer in the regular season (30.3), seemed to be taken out of his rhythm by the Monarchs’ man-to-man defensive pressure. He still managed 12 points in the first half.

Just before halftime, Buena used the press to force a Mater Dei turnover and Nick Houchin made a reverse layup at the buzzer to bring the Bulldogs within one point, 32-31.

It was their last gasp.

Mater Dei responded by picking up the tempo in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the third quarter and blew the game open with a 17-4 run.

“I do believe they looked a little down in the third quarter,” McKnight said.

McKnight had plenty of fresh help from his bench--he used nine players in the first half--and that advantage proved insurmountable for Buena.

Fay finished with 24 points, making only eight of 22 shots from the field.

Marmet Williams scored 18 points for Mater Dei, many after offensive rebounds.

Reggie Geary, who will play at Arizona next season, had 15, including a couple of powerful dunks.