Heritage Christian falls to Mater Dei

The Mater Dei boys basketball team coming to the San Fernando Valley is rare, although when it does make the trek, it's usually to play Sierra Canyon or Harvard-Westlake, two teams the Monarchs faced in the past three years in the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs.

But this year the trek was to play a team of a different ilk in Heritage Christian because the Monarchs aren't in the Open Division this postseason. They're in the Division 1 playoffs, which marks the first time since the Open Division was created in 2014 Mater Dei is not included.

The approach is different. “The Open Division guarantees you four games, even if you lose, you can look forward to games,” Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight said. “This is a win-or-go-home situation. It's been great to get this young team extra games.”

Mater Dei earned at least two more games with a 46-44 win over Heritage Christian in the quarterfinals Tuesday night in Northridge.

Monarchs freshman Brannon Martinsen scored 15 points and made the goahead 3-pointer with three minutes to play, which ended up being the last field goal of the game and broke a 43-43 tie.

The Monarchs will be at home to take on Mira Costa in the semifinals Friday night, and they earned a berth in the CIF State playoffs.

“Our young guys played great, but Zack Davidson is the heart of this team, he was huge,” McKnight said. “Montana is getting a great player.”

Davidson, a 6-foot-8 senior center, scored just four points but had nine rebounds and held Heritage Christian star sophomore Tae Simmons to just six points. Junior Scotty Belnap added 12 points for Mater Dei (25-6).

Giovani Goree led Heritage Christian with 19 points.

The Warriors were 9 for 19 from the free-throw line. The Monarchs made eight 3-pointers.

“That's a very good team,” McKnight said of Heritage Christian. “When I saw they beat Foothill on the road, I knew we were in for a tough game.”

Heritage Christian's Seven Bahati had a last-second heave from midcourt as time expired, but it was off the mark.

The Warriors used a 12-0 run to take a 14-6 lead early in the opening quarter before Mater Dei closed the period with a 10-0 run to take a 16-15 lead. The Monarchs took a 26-24 lead into halftime before taking a 38-29 lead in the third quarter on a 3-pointer from Luke Barnett.

Heritage Christian made its comeback move in the fourth quarter, sparked by Goree and Josiah Johnson, who made a step-back 3-pointer to tie the score at 41-41 with 5:40 to play.

Heritage Christian finished its season 20-12.

The Huskies moved to 2-0 in pool play despite 33 points from Notre Dame's Caleb Foster. UCLA-bound forward Devin Williams had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Huskies. Notre Dame is 1-1 in pool play ahead of its game against Sierra Canyon on Friday night at home.

The Trailblazers dropped to 0-2 in pool play. Ashton Hardaway had 13 points and Bronny James had 11 in the loss. Xavier Edmonds had 24

James Evans and Isaiah Fields each scored 16 points for the Wildcats, who improved to 2-0 in pool play. They can advance to the Open Division final with a win at Harvard-Westlake Friday night. St. Bernard is 0-2.

Elizie Harrington, who was held to single digits in the Braves' first pool-play loss at West Ranch last Friday, scored 22 points in the win. Harvard-Westlake, which had an 11-point lead in the third quarter, was led by Brady Dunlap's 18 points.

St. John Bosco and Harvard-Westlake are both 1-1 in pool play (B).

Division 2A

AGBU advanced to the Division 2A semifinals with a 42-36 win over Adelanto Tuesday night. Arpiar Harmandjian had 15 points and Avand Dorian scored 10 to lead the Titans (23-4). AGBU will play at Rancho Christian in Temecula on Friday night.

Division 3A

Oakwood is in the Division 3A semifinals after beating Newport Harbor 62-42 on Tuesday night. Ben Eisendrath had 22 points, five rebounds and four assists while Oliver Ford added 21 points and seven rebounds in the win. The Owls will host Ontario Christian on Friday night.

Valley Torah fell to San Gabriel Academy 66-53.

Division 4AA

Valencia will play in the Division 4AA semifinals against Beaumont on Friday night after the Vikings thumped Gabrielino Tuesday. Bryce Bedgood had 23 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks. Mikah Ballew scored 21 points and Kai Davis added 17 for the Vikings.

Division 4A

Littlerock topped Leuzinger on the road 60-59, erasing an 11-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to advance to the semifinals, where it will host highly-touted recruit Carter Bryant and Sage Hill on Friday night.

Despite 42 points from Tracy Bryden, Faith Baptist fell to Pacifica Christian/Santa Monica 84-77.

Division 5AA

Hillcrest Christian/Thousand Oaks fell to Don Bosco Tech 78-42. The Saints finish the season 22-7.