Mater Dei girls team wins second straight regional title

Alexyz Vaioletama finished with 17 points and six rebounds as Santa Ana Mater Dei (33-1) captured its second consecutive CIF Southern California Division I regional title with a 59-44 victory Saturday over Moreno Valley Canyon Springs (30-4) at USC’s Galen Center. The USC-bound forward carried the Monarchs in the first half, scoring 13 points in the opening 16 minutes as Mater Dei extended its unbeaten streak to 25 games.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, the Gatorade national player of the year, scored 13 of her game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter for Mater Dei. “She got real hot in the fourth quarter and willed herself and us … to the win,” Mater Dei Coach Kevin Kiernan said.

Tear’a Laudermill and Jasmine Johnson each had 14 points for Canyon Springs. Mater Dei will play Berkeley (27-1) in the Division I state title game Saturday at Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento.

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Rialto 44, Ventura Buena 42: Cal State Northridge-bound Janae’ Sharpe scored the winning basket at the buzzer to lift Rialto (33-3) to its second postseason victory over Buena (26-8) and its first Division II regional title. Sharpe finished with eight points and seven rebounds, and Walker had 12 points and seven rebounds. Buena’s Keani Albanez, who was called for charging on the Bulldogs’ final possession, finished with a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds. Rialto will play Stockton St. Mary’s (28-2) in the state Division II final on Friday in Sacramento.

— Austin Knoblauch

Santa Maria St. Joseph 54, Gardena Serra 45: Alyson Beebe, a 6-foot-3 junior center considered among the top prospects in the state, contributed 17 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and four blocks to help the St. Joseph Knights win the Division III regional title.

It was Beebe’s basket with 2:12 left as the shot clock buzzer went off that put a stop to a frantic Serra rally. The Cavaliers (29-6), down by 18 points at the outset of the third quarter, had closed to 46-43. St. Joseph (28-6), which avenged a loss to Serra in the Southern Section 3AA final, will meet Oakland Bishop O’Dowd in the state Division III final on Saturday in Sacramento.

— Eric Sondheimer

Los Angeles Windward 68, La Jolla Country Day 58: Courtney Jaco had 18 points, Jordin Canada had 14, and Paris Baird added 13 for the second-seeded Wildcats (28-4), who used a 19-4 run at the start of the fourth quarter to take command. Imani Stafford had nine points and 16 rebounds for Windward. Windward will play Albany St. Mary’s for the state title Saturday at Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento.

Playa del Rey St. Bernard 60, Oxnard Santa Clara 45: Kacy Swain had 15 points, LaJahna Drummer had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Chyanne Butler added 11 points for the fourth-seeded Vikings (24-14) in the Division V regional championship game at Colony High in Ontario. St. Bernard advances to the state final against Los Altos Hills Pinewood (27-5), the Northern California regional winner, Friday in Sacramento.

— Steve Galluzzo