Mater Dei Holds Off Struggling Brea Olinda

It had everything that accompanies a state playoff game in March.

Big crowd. Wracked nerves. Great programs.

The only thing lacking in Saturday’s showdown between top-ranked Mater Dei and fourth-ranked Brea Olinda was the shooting that typically accompanies both teams.

Instead, Mater Dei won an ugly 53-45 nonleague girls’ basketball game in front of about 2,500.

For the Monarchs (16-2), it was a night of coming around--as in, what goes around comes around.

When the series started two years ago, Brea Olinda (now 15-3) had Nicole Erickson and a senior-dominated team that took the Mater Dei team to school. Saturday, the shoe was on the other foot, with Melody Peterson and Rhonda Gondringer sharing the Erickson role.

Peterson scored a game-high 24 points, and Gondringer added 19; she was 11 of 13 from the free-throw line. That was the difference--Mater Dei made 17 of 19 free throws compared to six of 10 for Brea Olinda.

“Two years ago, they were the experienced team,” Mater Dei Coach Mary Hauser said, “and we were the young pups playing in front of a huge crowd.”

Neither team shot well from the field. Brea Olinda shot 31% (18 for 59) and Mater Dei 28% (17 for 60).

But when the game was on the line in the fourth quarter and Brea Olinda had chiseled an eight-point deficit to one, 45-44, with 4 minutes 28 seconds left, it was Mater Dei that played like seniors and the Ladycats who showed their youth:

* Peterson drew a foul driving to the basket. She sank both free throws.

* Gondringer’s drive to the basket made it 49-45 with 2:43 left.

* Peterson knocked the ball out of Jennifer Saari’s hands, pulled up for a 10-foot jumper and made it 51-45 at 1:45.

* Gondringer sank two more free throws after pulling down the last of her 13 rebounds with 13.8 seconds left.

“We closed to within [one] and we didn’t want to attack the basket,” Brea Olinda Coach Jeff Sink said. “It was our game to win or lose, and we lost. We didn’t get the ball in the right people’s hands. . . . Maybe we were juniors and sophomores at the end of the game.”

Brea Olinda struggled getting the ball to the player who needed to shoot it most in the final minutes--Saari.

She’s a 50% three-point shooter, but didn’t get off a shot in the fourth quarter until 1:07 remained. After she missed, the Ladycats--needing two three-pointers to tie--held the ball until 45 seconds remained.

Saari, two for four from the three-point arc, led Brea Olinda with 12 points; Marissa Bradley added 11 and Rochelle Anthony had 10. Brea Olinda started four juniors and a sophomore; Mater Dei started four seniors and a junior.

The Ladycats led early, 8-0, and 14-7, but consecutive three-pointers by Peterson spawned an 11-2 run, and with the scored tied at 18, a 15-4 run game the Monarchs an insurmountable 11-point lead.

In the Express League:

Heritage Christian 42, Palos Verdes Rolling Hills Prep 20--Bekah Ramirez scored 16 points for host Heritage Christian (7-9, 5-3).

In nonleague girls’ basketball:

Capistrano Valley 54, Cerritos Gahr 50--Jenny Jennings’ 21 points led Capistrano Valley (12-6). Natasha Combs added 12 points for the Cougars.

Laguna Hills 60, Trabuco Hills 32--Tamara Inoue scored 23 points to lead No. 5 Laguna Hills (17-2). Sarah Warnick scored 18 points for Trabuco Hills (9-10).

Newport Harbor 51, University 39--Breanna Badorek had a game-high 20 points and 15 rebounds for host Newport Harbor (11-8). Lyz Day and Monique Mathews scored 11 each for University (12-8).

Woodbridge 63, Grass Valley Nevada Union 36--Melanie Pearson had 26 points and 12 rebounds to lead second-ranked Woodbridge (18-2) in the Sacramento Shootout. Erin Stovall added 16 points.