Capistrano Valley Can’t Find Way to Contain Mater Dei

As he watched the final moments of the Capistrano Valley girls’ victory over Mater Dei, Brian Mulligan leaned over and whispered, “I hope they didn’t use up all the upsets tonight.”

By the third quarter of the boys’ game, the Cougar coach had watched Monarch guard Kevin Augustine soar over two defenders and lay in two more of his game-high 24 points, prompting Mulligan to mutter to himself “How do you contain him?”

It’s a question Mater Dei opponents have been asking for two years now. On Friday Capistrano Valley didn’t have an answer for Augustine or the Monarchs, losing 97-69 in front of an estimated 2,000 at Capistrano Valley.

The victory gave Mater Dei (18-2, 5-0) sole possession of first place in the South Coast League. Capistrano Valley (14-6, 4-1), which had won eight straight and 12 of its last 14, was shown how far apart the two teams still are--mainly because of Augustine, who came into the game fighting flu and strep throat.

“You don’t contain him and he kills you,” Mulligan said. “They have plenty of people who can hurt you, but Augustine just kills you. Play him close and he drives by you. And now he shoots the outside shot better than adequate.”

Augustine, who made 10 of 19 shots and had seven assists, had plenty of help. All five starters were in double figures, including Tom Lippold with 20 and Mike Vukovich with 15 and eight rebounds.

But the 6-foot senior was the catalyst for the Monarchs’ runaway victory.

When Capistrano Valley, which trailed 43-32 at the half, closed to within 50-43 with 5:37 in the third, Augustine triggered a 27-9 Monarch run that put the game away. When Mater Dei reached its biggest lead, 89-59, with 3:02 to play, both teams started subbing liberally.

In other league games:

Mission Viejo 88, Trabuco Hills 71--Gabe Burt scored 24 and Commander King added 22 to lead Mission Viejo (13-8, 2-3). Orlando Campbell had 14 points and 11 assists for the Diablos. Chris Majors scored 27 for Trabuco Hills (7-11, 0-5).

San Clemente 59, Dana Hills 52--Jan Tatala scored 15 to lead San Clemente (16-4, 3-2), which is currently ranked 10th in the county. Semaj Johnson added 12 points and four steals for San Clemente.