Santa Margarita Is Poised in Victory Over Mater Dei

ORANGE —  It was the kind of tournament final that makes crowds cheer, coaches sweat, and teams put reputations on the line.

By virtue of its 55-52 victory over Mater Dei in the 33rd Orange Holiday Classic, Santa Margarita took another step toward solidifying its No. 1 ranking. It was the first Orange tournament title for the Eagles, who lost in the first round last year.

And Mater Dei--which has ruled county basketball for years--showed that while this team is young, unseasoned and beatable, it will still be a force during South Coast League play.

The Monarchs (7-4) gave the unbeaten Eagles (13-0) all they could handle Tuesday. Despite being outrebounded, 30-19, and shooting only 40% from the field (20 of 50), Mater Dei never let Santa Margarita out of reach. The biggest Eagle lead was 28-18 early in the third quarter, and the Monarchs scored the next 10 points to tie it.

With 3:46 left to play in the game, Mater Dei took a 52-49 lead with back-to-back lay-ins by Cedric Bozeman (nine points).

But what has separated Santa Margarita this season from the rest of the county--and what proved to be the difference Tuesday--was the Eagles’ collective calm in the face of pressure.

“Discipline, intensity and poise. That’s what Coach [Jerry DeBusk] had written on the blackboard before the game,” said Eagles center Dekker McKeever, who had 13 of his game-high 15 points in the second half.

“That and our experience. We knew that Mater Dei could and would make a run at us. And when they took the lead we just looked at ourselves in the huddle [during a timeout] and believed there was nothing we could do out there but win.”

To get the win, the Eagles kept Mater Dei scoreless the rest of the way; got an eight-footer in the lane by Craig Rice with 1:26 remaining; two McKeever free throws with 39 seconds left to retake the lead, and two free throws by Jake Rohe with five seconds to play for the final score.

In between, Santa Margarita survived a missed 12-footer by Mater Dei’s Steve Scoggin, and a missed 18-footer from the side by Bozeman, which dipped in and out of the basket.

“They are very good,” Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight said of Santa Margarita. “But this was also a good experience for us. This is the first time in a long time we’ve had to adjust to what other teams are doing instead of them adjusting to us. But I’m going to enjoy being the underdog for a while.”

DeBusk was happy to see his team not wilt under full-court pressure the quicker Monarchs often applied, nor fall victim to the Mater Dei mystique.

“This has the makings of a great rivalry, which would be great,” DeBusk said.

In the third-place game:

Fountain Valley 73, No. 3 Tustin 45--Leading, 52-40, with 5 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Barons had a blistering 21-5 finish to hand the Tillers (12-3) their second straight lopsided defeat. Fountain Valley (8-5) guard Ryan Moreau led all scorers with 20. Peter Johnson had 14 for Tustin before fouling out.