SANTA ANA – Mater Dei’s freshmen played like seniors Friday night.
Freshmen Luke Barnett and Brannon Martinsen made some of the bigger shots of the game as Mater Dei rallied to overcome a 22-point deficit and beat Mira Costa 60-54 in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 boys basketball semifinal at Mater Dei High.
Mater Dei (26-6) will play Etiwanda (25-4) in the championship game Feb. 25 at Honda Center. The time of the game has not been announced.
Etiwanda defeated Canyon 67-57 in Friday’s other Division 1 semifinal.
The Monarchs will try win their 24th CIF-SS championship since Gary McKnight began coaching the team in the 1982-83 season. Their most recent championship game was in 2020 when they lost to Sierra Canyon in the Open Division final.
Mater Dei last won a CIF-SS boys basketball title in 2014.
Martinsen, a 6-8 forward, scored a team-high 17 points. Senior forward Zack Davidson scored 15 points with six rebounds, Barnett scored 11 points with three 3-pointers and sophomore guard Owen Verna added 10 points.
Mira Costa 6-3 senior guard Nick Lundy scored 26 points with four 3-pointers and eight rebounds. He scored 10 points in the first quarter, the end of which the Mustangs had a 22-7 lead. Mira Costa senior Will Householter scored 14 points.
Mira Costa’s largest lead was 32-10 in the second quarter. The Mustangs were up 34-17 at halftime.
The season is not over for Mira Costa. Like all CIF-SS semifinalists, the Mustangs (27-3) qualified for the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs by reaching the CIF-SS semifinals. The regional playoffs begin Feb. 28.
Two of Mira Costa’s losses are to Mater Dei. The Mustangs lost to the Monarchs 64-54 in late December.
Martinsen, a 6-8 forward, scored inside to start the third quarter. Scotty Belnap put in a driving layup, Owen Verna added a layup and Belnap completed a three-point play and in fewer than three minutes into the third quarter it was 36-26 and the Monarchs were back in the game.
Mater Dei…
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