BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Cotton Helps Mater Dei Charge Past Los Alamitos

Schea Cotton was the difference in Mater Dei’s 56-39 nonleague victory over Los Alamitos Wednesday night at UC Irvine.

Cotton, who missed the Monarchs’ season-opener Monday because of a rash, returned to the starting lineup a week earlier than expected and scored a team-high 20 points.

“I felt I needed to get him in shape as soon as possible,” Coach Gary McKnight said. “He practiced yesterday. He’s got to wear a T-shirt under his uniform because (the rash) is irritating.”

The sophomore shot six of 11 from the field, and turned the ball over five times, including three times in the first quarter. Cotton grabbed four rebounds and was eight of nine from the free-throw line.

“Twenty points, that’s not bad for a kid that sat out 12 days,” McKnight said. “It’s a slow process getting back into the flow.”

Los Alamitos took advantage of the Monarchs’ slow start, jumping out to a 9-7 lead after the first quarter. Guard Cory Johnson’s three points led four Griffin scorers in the opening quarter.

The Griffins (4-1) led, 11-7, before Mater Dei (2-0) got going. Guard Clay McKnight scored five consecutive points on a three-pointer and layup off a steal to give the Monarchs their first lead, 12-11.

Cotton scored six of Mater Dei’s next 10 points to increase the edge to 22-16 at halftime. Los Alamitos went cold in the second quarter, hitting only three of 10 from the field.

Center Shaun Jackson carried the Monarchs through the third quarter, scoring six points, grabbing three rebounds and two steals. Mater Dei built a 34-19 lead with 3 minutes 23 seconds left before the Griffins went on a 10-2 run.

Johnson scored four points in the final three minutes to cut the deficit to seven points after three quarters.

Cotton took over in the final quarter, scoring eight straight points, including six on free throws. The Griffins hit three of 10 shots down the stretch, but couldn’t hold off the Monarchs.

In his first career start, Mater Dei senior forward Mark Pozsgai held Los Alamitos center Jeremy Vandervoet to eight points. The Griffins hit only four of 18 from three-point range, and had nine turnovers.

Mater Dei shot 43% from the field and hit 14 of 19 from the free-throw line. The Monarchs also had 14 turnovers.

“We are struggling,” McKnight said. “We have a lot of young kids blending with a lot of veterans. We are going to be a good team at the end of the year, but we are going to have our struggles.”

Jackson finished with 15 points and six rebounds and sophomore guard Kevin Augustine added 11 points for Mater Dei.

Johnson scored 12 points to lead Los Alamitos.