By Patrick McKinney
Exclusive To SoCalHoops

This was the main event of the weekend, the Division I Boys tournament, although there really isn’t much drop off from Div. I and Division II and III, particularly after witnessing spectacular teams like Dominguez, Washington Union, Grant, and El Cerrito. But, Mater Dei came in ranked Fifth in the nation by USA Today and its always interesting to watch them come in en masse with their entourage, gigantic cheerleading squad, and screaming minions. Mater Dei's opponent, Fremont, was seeded second in Northern California and beat De La Salle to get to the final. Known as "32 minutes of Hell", Fremont is known for its suffocating press and running game. The score, 50-45, indicates that little running occurred, and that would seem to work in Mater Dei’s favor. However, Fremont kept it close and put away Mater Dei in a game that was played tightly throughout.

Fremont’s five:

Marques Williams, 5’9 Sr G
Larry Guess, 6’5 Sr F
Jermaine Turner, 6’4 Sr F
Josh Shavies, 6’6 Sr F
Lance Pitts, 5’11 Sr G

For Mater Dei:

Imran Sufi, 5’10 Sr G
Derrick Mansell, 6’2 Sr G
Steve Scoggin, 6’ Jr G
Jamal Sampson, 6’10 So F
Mike Bayer, 6’6 Sr F

Fremont came out hot, scoring the game’s first eight points and threatening to run Mater Dei out of the gym early. Williams started with a three and Mansell turned it over on Mater Dei’s first possession. Williams scored again. Mater Dei’s Bayer took it in and had his shot rejected by Washington State bound Josh Shavies. Bayer got back and was fouled, but he missed both free throws. Pitts scored a threeball for Fremont and it was 8-0. The teams traded turnovers before Mater Dei’s Sufi found Mansell for get them on the board.

A word on Sufi before I continue: He reminded me of David Abramowitz from the USDHS teams and now at San Diego State, wearing the same number (11) and doing a great job breaking the press. David was a little bigger, but Sufi did a great job at the point.

As Fremont got the ball back, Pitts scored again. Sampson scored on a dunk on a feed from Scoggin to make it 10-4, starting a Mater Dei run. Sampson scored on a putback, Bayer scored, and Scoggin put one back to knot it at 10. Turner hit from deep to put Fremont back up and Cory Patterson scored from the corner. At this point, Fremont had free reign over the boards, pulling down one offensive rebound after another. Bayer scored for Mater Dei, but Patterson converted a three point play to put Fremont up five again. Near the end of the quarter, Christian McGuigan was fouled while attempting a three pointer and hit two of the free throws to end the quarter with Fremont up 17-14.

The second quarter was filled with miscues, turnovers, and missed shots for both teams. Mater Dei scored the first nine points of the quarter and held Fremont scoreless for nearly five minutes. Unfortunately for Mater, they did not outscore Fremont by enough to make their good defense count. Turner scored for Fremont with 3:05 left in the half to end the drought, but Mater Dei was only up 23-19. Scoggin scored for Mater moments later and they would not score for the rest of the period. Fremont put in a couple of shots and, despite their lack of scoring early in the quarter, went into the half with a 25-23 lead.

The third quarter followed a similar pattern, with sporadic scoring and tenacious defense by both teams. Pitts opened the half with a 3 for Fremont and things slowed to a halt over the next few minutes. Mansell came alive for Mater, hitting a three, and converting on the four point play. He scored again on an inbound pass from Scoggin and Mater was up 29-28 with 5:30 to go. The teams went back and forth and Fremont employed a swarming press, although it started to lead to foul trouble. Guess got his fourth foul with 1:18 to go and Pitts got his fourth with 10 seconds left. The teams entered the fourth with Mater ahead 35-34 and momentum starting to lean their way.

If anything was going to cost Fremont this game, it was their foul shooting. In the first half, they were 1 for 5. They stepped it up to 28.6% in the second (4-14) for a total of 26.3% for the game. Normally, I would say this type of shooting cannot lead to many wins (maybe that’s how St. Augustine beat them early this year), but their defense overcame this negative factor. Particularly guilty here was Shavies at 1 for 6 and Williams at 1 for 4. A factor cutting in their favor was Mater’s own poor foul shooting, 12-25 (48%). Of course, this is all reflected in the score and the overall shooting percentage of the teams: Mater Dei at 34.8% and Fremont at 31.7%

The defense was tight, as Fremont’s press forced several turnovers. Early in the fourth, Scoggin drew a couple of charges on driving Fremont players to even it out. Mater was up 41-40 with 2:56 to play when Fremont put it together. Pitts hit a three, but would leave a minute later with his fifth foul. Turner banked one home, and Williams and Mario Vital each hit one free throw to put Fremont up 47-42. More importantly, one of those fouls sent Sufi out of the game. Bayer put one back for Mater to make it 47-45 and Shavies hit a free throw to put Fremont up three with 13.6 seconds to go. Scoggin turned it over and Vital was fouled. He missed both shots, but Strawberry got the board and put it back to put the game out of reach.

Jermaine Turner led Fremont with 14 points and 11 rebounds; Pitts added 12 points. Mike Bayer led Mater with 12 points and 10 boards and Mansell had 10. Sufi had 4 steals and 4 assists. Turnovers were the name of this game, however, as Mater Dei had 24 and Fremont 22.