Mater Dei Wins Its Opener in Las Vegas but Loses Gabler

LAS VEGAS —  Mater Dei won a game and lost a player Monday when senior guard Travis Gabler underwent emergency surgery for what is believed to be appendicitis.

The Monarchs’ 91-38 first-round victory over Baton Rouge (La.) Parkview Baptist in the Millennium Cup division of the Holiday Prep Classic became insignificant after Gabler became ill and was taken to a local hospital.

“Say a prayer for him,” Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight told his players after the game.

Gabler, the team’s best three-point shooter, had been feeling sick since Sunday night, McKnight said.

The 6-foot-3 shooting guard has converted 54.8% of his three-point attempts this season and is the team’s fourth-leading scorer, averaging 9.7 points per game.

“It’s a tremendous loss,” McKnight said. “He’s worked real hard to get to this point. This tournament would have been a real good chance for him [to impress] the college scouts.”

The Monarchs (7-0) were never threatened against the overmatched Eagles.

Center Jamal Sampson, limping on a tender right ankle, powered his way to five first-half dunks as Mater Dei took a 53-14 lead. After scoring all 11 of his points in the first half, Sampson sat on the floor alongside the Mater Dei bench for much of the second half, his ankle wrapped in ice.

“At certain points it hurts, but after another week or so it should be fine,” said Sampson, who missed three games after spraining the ankle in practice after the Monarchs’ first game of the season.

Guard Wesley Washington suffered the Monarchs’ only embarrassing moment of the game when he lofted an airball on a three-point attempt along the baseline, but he made up for it on Parkview’s next possession when he stole a pass and dunked.

Mater Dei guard Cedric Bozeman led all scorers with 17 points, and four other Monarchs scored in double figures.

In the Silver Cup division:

Capistrano Valley 73, Las Vegas Mojave 62--Forward Jeff Gloger scored a game-high 23 points on 10-of-11 shooting and had 10 rebounds to lead the Cougars (5-1) to a first-round victory.

Matt Sweany scored 15 points and Jake Franzen added 12 for Capistrano Valley, which shot 59.2% from the field.

The Rustlers (1-6) converted three of 14 three-point attempts and made only 40.6% of their shots.

In the Bronze Cup division:

Canyon 88, Alameda 64--Guard Derron Putnam scored 19 points and guard Matt Baranick added 18 for the Comanches (4-3), who pulled away from the Hornets (6-5) in the second half of the first-round game.

Canyon led by only eight points at halftime even though Putnam had hit three three-pointers and forward Robert Miller had blocked six shots.

But the Comanches hardened their resolve in the second half despite shooting 37.2% from the field. Miller blocked five more shots and Putnam continued to provide the offensive spark.

“It was tougher than it looked,” Canyon Coach Dave Taylor said. “[Putnam] really stepped up and put them away in the second half.”

Darryl Parker added 15 points and Chris Roberson had 14 for the Comanches.

Lodi 63, San Clemente 58--The Tritons (8-2) trimmed an 11-point halftime deficit to two on four occasions in the second half, but could not complete the comeback. Jordan Fleener led San Clemente with 17 points and James Hartman added 15.

Notes

At least six Canyon players were sick with cold symptoms. But the Comanches will still be favored in this morning’s second-round game against Los Angeles Daniel Murphy, which has only eight players on its roster. . . . The tournament is divided into four divisions, three with 16 teams and one with 20. The top division, which includes Mater Dei and Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy, is the Millennium Cup. The next-best division is the Gold Cup, then the Silver Cup and the Bronze Cup. . . . Tournament games are being played in 16-minute halves instead of eight-minute quarters.