SANTA ANA — The Centennial girls basketball team avenged its only loss of the season by beating Mater Dei 65-51 Saturday to win the CIF State Regional Open Division championship.
The Huskies lost to Mater Dei 83-80 in overtime in the Southern Section championship game on June 10. This is the first CIF regional championship for Centennial (25-1).
Centennial coach Martin Woods’ game plan Saturday was no different than it was for the teams’ previous matchup.
“The difference was that we executed today,” Woods said. “The loss motivated us, but some of the stuff put out on social media motivated us as well.”
Centennial’s defense made the difference in the game. The Huskies forced more turnovers than they did in the previous matchup and they held Mater Dei All-American guard Brooke Demetre to two points.
The Huskies often sent help on Demetre when she got the ball inside, but Trinity San Antonio was largely responsible for the dominant defensive effort.
“She is one of the best defenders in the country, period. And she showed that tonight,” Woods said of San Antonio, a Cal Baptist signee.
Cal signee Jayda Curry led the Huskies with 27 points.
Mater Dei cut the Huskies’ lead down to one point in the third quarter, but Curry’s 14 points in the quarter kept the Monarchs at arm’s length.
“The lack of respect that she gets, you look at the ESPN top 100 rankings, no mention of her and that motivated her,” Woods said. “She showed why she’s one of the best in the country tonight.”
Londynn Jones scored 18 points for Centennial and sophomore Sydni Summers added 15 points and eight rebounds.
The Huskies were able to take care of the ball in the fourth quarter and make their free throws to hold onto the lead.
“We felt that we should have won that first game,” Woods said. “Instead of protecting the lead, the inability to have the experience we needed showed. We watched the film and learned and you can see the difference in how we executed down the stretch.”
Mater Dei (21-1) struggled to get open shots and couldn’t shake Centennial’s physical defenders. Alyssa Durazo-Fresca led the Monarchs with 18 points. Soleil Montrose was the only other Monarch to score in double-figures with 10 points.
Demetre had a game-high 10 rebounds and Durazo-Fresca added eight.
Despite its size disadvantage, Centennial was competitive with Mater Dei on the glass. Summers and Curry each had eight rebounds and Layla Curry added seven rebounds.
“By far this is the best collection of kids I’ve ever had as people,” Woods said. “Not just talent or skill level, just amazing individuals, and that is a product of what they get at home with their parents.”
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