UCLA recruit Tyler Lamb and Mater Dei in the CIF Southern California Regional finals - Part I

UCLA 2010 recruit Tyler Lamb's high school team, No. 1 Mater Dei (32-1), will be playing No. 2 Westchester (30-3) in the CIF Southeran California Regional finals on Saturday March 20 at 8 pm at the Galen Center, USC.

Mater Dei had to beat Etiwanda, Buchanan, Rancho Verde and Taft high schools to get to the final game.

Here is the story on the Mater Dei-Etiwanda game from March 6. Lamb scored a game-high 22 pts.

Mater Dei struggles, survives for CIF title

The Monarchs get by Etiwanda, 68-65, to end their drought in the section championships.

By STEVE FRYER
OCVARSITY.COM
ANAHEIM - Mater Dei played its worst, but got its best result.

The Monarchs survived their poorest performance of the season, and perhaps got away with a last-second foul that could have been called but was not, to beat Etiwanda, 68-65, in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1AA championship Saturday at Honda Center. Mater Dei had lost three CIF-SS finals in as many years at the Honda Center going into Saturday.

Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight conceded the Monarchs struggled more Saturday's than in any other game this season – and hinted that this could be his final year coaching.

"I don't know how much longer I can do this," said McKnight, happy but weary. Health, especially blood-sugar issues, has been a concern for McKnight in recent years. Immediately after the game, McKnight was eating a granola bar and sipping a soda to pop some sugar into this system as quickly as he could.

If his 28th season coaching the Monarchs indeed is his last, he will exit with an amazing 20 CIF-SS championships in 28 years. Saturday's game was his 24th in a CIF-SS final.

This victory was especially satisfying for Mater Dei's Gary Franklin. A senior, Franklin was the only Mater Dei starter who had been on the 2007, '08 and '09 teams that lost in section finals at the Honda Center.

"It was just a hump we needed to get over," Franklin said. "Coach and I have been through this for a while."

For a while, it looked like they might not get over that hump. On offense, Mater Dei did too much standing around, the Monarchs impatiently put up some bad outside shots, they did not attack the offensive boards as they had so often and so well all season long, and on defense they were just did not hustle.

Etiwanda had a 31-29 lead at halftime, and had a four-point lead in the third quarter. Mater Dei senior Tyler Lamb then led a sequence of plays that put the Monarchs ahead and gave them some much-needed momentum.

He scored inside with 1:46 left in the third to tie it, 49-49. Then he grabbed a defensive rebound and passed down court to streaking Keala King for a fastbreak layup and a 51-49 lead. Later, getting ready to inbound the ball under the Mater Dei basket, Lamb gave a nod to Franklin to make a cut to Franklin's right, Franklin did so and Lamb threw the ball to Franklin for an easy layup to make it 53-49.

Mater Dei took a 53-51 lead into the fourth quarter. Etiwanda tied it, 57-57, but a 3-pointer by Lamb put the Monarchs on top. Again Etiwanda caught up, and Franklin converted a three-point play with 2:46 left to give the Monarchs a 66-63 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.

Etiwanda cut the lead to one point on a basket by Byron Wessley with 1:04 to go. Neither team scored until Mater Dei junior David Brown made two free throws with five seconds remaining to make it 68-65.

The Eagles quickly got the ball down court to Evan Jenkins, who, in front of the Etiwanda bench, went up for a 3-pointer. Mater Dei's King and Eli Stalzer were right there, there was body contact, and the ball went a few feet up in the air and King came down with it at the final buzzer. TV replays indicated Stalzer might have struck Jenkins' left arm during the shot attempt.

Etiwanda coach Dave Kleckner, asked for his opinion, took the high road.

"It looked like he (Stalzer) got ball, hand and wrist all in one," Kleckner said. "But that's not what lost us this game. There were things we could have done throughout the game to win it."

Mater Dei (29-1) and Etiwanda (23-9) will continue the season this week in the CIF Southern California Regionals, the qualifying tournament for the CIF State Championships. Seedings and first-round pairings will be announced Sunday. First-round games are Monday and Tuesday.

Lamb, a senior who signed with UCLA, scored a game-high 22 points. Franklin scored 21, including six 3-pointers. King scored nine with 12 rebounds.

Wesley led Etiwanda with 18 points. Etiwanda shot 50 percent from the field, compared to a shooting percentage of 42 for Mater Dei.

The first half was quite reminiscent of Mater Dei's loss in the 1AA final last year at Honda Center. The Monarchs were favored to beat M.L. King of Riverside, but they came out emotionally flat and never got the competitive fires going that night.

It looked good at the start – Mater Dei had a 12-8 lead in the first quarter, and took a 14-10 advantage into the second. The Monarchs again pushed the lead to eight in the second quarter. But they suffered from a sluggish offense, with little movement away from the ball and players impatiently taking 3-pointers.

Etiwanda started out-running Mater Dei and went on a 17-7 run to take a 31-29 lead into halftime.