Talk about a nail-biter at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Mater Dei Monarchs were in full control over Long Beach Poly for most of the game, until a late run by the Jackrabbits made things very interesting.
Prior to Saturday night's Mater Dei vs. Long Beach Poly matchup, everyone was fully aware of what the Gary McKnight coached Monarchs squad had in its arsenal. UNLV commit Katin Reinhardt, Colorado Buffaloes commit Xavier Johnson, junior Elijah Brown and stellar sophomore Stanley Johnson filled out the star-studded Mater Dei lineup.
On the other side of the court, Head Coach Sharrief Metoyer's Long Beach Poly team brought a swagger along with their 27-1 record. Juniors Jordan Bell and Roschon Prince were poised to prove that they deserved to be ranked higher than the No. 21 National Ranking handed out to the Jackrabbits by MaxPreps. At 6'8", Bell has provided matchup problems for teams in Poly's path, but the Monarchs defensive effort proved to be too much for the talented junior.
"I tried to keep Jordan Bell off of the glass, to get to the ball, and to rebound," Mater Dei's Xavier Johnson told College Level Athletes after the game. In the end, Johnson tallied a team-high 19 points to go along with a monstrous 20 rebounds. Xavier Johnson handled his, and some.
The Monarchs got off to a slow start for the second week in a row, and shot only 27% from the field in the first half. Long Beach Poly made it easy for Mater Dei on the defensive end, and shot a dismal 25% from the floor in over the first two periods.
McKnight's team went into halftime with a 27-21 lead, but as always, the veteran coach was able to motivate the Monarchs for the second half of play. "I was 2 of 10 in the first half and Coach McKnight told me to hold my follow-through, keep playing hard and get offensive rebounds," said (Xavier) Johnson. "I had eleven offensive rebounds," the Colorado commit added.
Whatever Coach McKnight said to the Monarchs definitely worked. Both (Xavier) Johnson and Reinhardt scored a majority of their points in the second half, and the team shot 44% from the field.
The Jackrabbits didn't go down without a fight. Long Beach Poly pulled things together in the third period and were fueled by senior point guard Chris Croom's hot streak from behind-the-arc. Croom had 4 points at the end of the first half, but went on a shooting spree from distance hitting three consecutive treys in the third quarter, and the Jackrabbits went into the final quarter trailing 48-41.
At the start of the fourth period, Poly was able to apply pressure defense and force two consecutive Monarch turnovers. Nonetheless, Mater Dei increased their cushion and held a 53-42 lead with 6:02 left in the game. A quick 5-point run after a timeout by Poly Head Coach Sharrief Metoyer allowed the Jackrabbits to cut the lead to 53-47. Poly then crept back into the contest after Stanley Johnson picked up his fourth foul on a Prince three-point attempt, and the Poly junior was able to sink 2 of 3 shots from the charity stripe, cutting the Mater Dei lead to 53-49.
After a (Stanley) Johnson jumper with 2:18 left in the fourth, Mater Dei led 57-52. Once again, the Jackrabbits were allowed breathing room and Croom was fouled in the act of shooting a three. The Poly senior point guard was ice-cold from the line, and hit all three freebies to cut the lead to 57-55. Seconds later, Poly was called for a reach-in foul, very much to the chagrin of the Jackrabbits fans, and Mater Dei senior captain Eli Stalzer hit both free throws to give the Monarchs a 59-55 advantage.
An empty trip down the court by Long Beach Poly led to a similar result for Mater Dei, and UNLV commit Katin Reinhardt was called for traveling. On the ensuing possession the Jackrabbits' Joshua Munson capitalized by banking in a three-pointer and the Mater Dei lead was cut down to one point, 59-58.
The final minute of the game was incredibly hard to watch for Mater Dei fans; especially those paying close attention to Stanley Johnson. The Monarchs' sophomore was 1 for 5 from the free throw line in the waning seconds of the game, and helped provide Long Beach Poly with a last second glimmer of hope.
In the blink of an eye, the always reliable Johnson swept the rug back out from beneath the Jackrabbits and engulfed an offensive board on the second end of a one and one. "I knew I was going to be short on the last one, so I timed it to go up for the rebound," he told College Level Athletes. As if to add insult to injury, or make up for his performance at the charity stripe in the fourth, Johnson committed highway robbery and ripped Long Beach Poly's Roschon Prince at the top of the key to put the icing on the cake for the Monarchs.
"I just said 'one more free throw and I know we have a CIF Championship win'," said Johnson. Mater Dei took home the title, winning 63-59.
Prince, the nephew of Detroit Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince, staged an incredible effort for Poly in the second half, and made 9 of 14 shots from the foul line to finish with 16 points. Long Beach Poly enters the the CIF State Playoffs with a 27-2 record, while Mater Dei heads into the final stretch of the season with an undefeated record versus teams from California.
Look for both teams to attempt to share the ball more as they enter the CIF State Basketball Playoffs. Saturday's Championship game had a combined total of 12 assists.
