Ocean View Tournament of Champions : Defense Provides Key as Mater Dei Beats Ocean View

Two weeks ago, Jim Harris, Ocean View High School basketball coach, was analyzing Orange County’s top high school basketball teams.

Harris was of the opinion that Capistrano Valley should be the county’s top-ranked team but added, “In the end, when it counts, Mater Dei will be there.”

Little did Harris know “the end” would come only 2 weeks later, as Mater Dei finished off Ocean View, 58-43, Saturday night in the championship of the 17th Tournament of Champions in Huntington Beach.

A crowd of 1,821 packed the Ocean View gym expecting a showdown between a pair of the county’s best teams. Instead, it got a rout as Mater Dei’s defense turned Ocean View into just another ordinary team.

Mater Dei (9-1) limited Ocean View to only 8 points through 10 minutes of play in the second half and had a 20-point lead, 50-30, in the fourth quarter when the fans started filing out of the gym.

Ocean View (6-1) made only 12 of 39 field-goal attempts and repeatedly got only a single shot off as Mater Dei played great pressure defense and screened off inside to control the boards.

Todd Norman, Ocean View’s 245-pound center, tried to carry the offensive load on his massive shoulders but wilted in the end. Norman scored all of his team’s points for nearly a 10-minute stretch in the second and third quarters and finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Mater Dei guard Dylan Rigdon led all scorers with 21 points and signaled the beginning of the end for Ocean View when he made a pair of free throws with 6:57 remaining in the game to push the Monarchs ahead, 43-30.

“When you consider we’ve played without (starting forward) Mike Morris and we’re 9-1, that’s a tremendous team effort,” said Gary McKnight, Mater Dei coach. “It was a great defensive effort.”

The title was the fourth for Mater Dei, the most any school has won in the prestigious tournament. It marked the second time Ocean View has lost in the finals, the first loss coming in the 1984 title game.

With the loss, Ocean View fell from the ranks of the unbeaten, meaning there are only 3 teams in the county with undefeated records. Irvine and Fountain Valley are also unbeaten.

Afterwards, McKnight was asked if his team should be ranked No. 1 in the county when the first Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. poll is released on Tuesday.

“I don’t even want to touch that,” McKnight said. “Just don’t put my picture on the cover of Sports Illustrated.”

In the third-place game:

Capistrano Valley 77, Fresno Edison 65--Forward Scott McCorkle continued his remarkable week in the tournament by scoring 32 points for Capistrano Valley (4-3).

McCorkle scored 130 points in 4 games, averaging 32.5 points per game. He made 16 consecutive free throws against Edison and was 40 of 44 from the free-throw line in 4 games.

Forward Bruce Bowen scored 22 points for Edison (6-4) despite getting his third personal foul with 5:42 remaining in the second quarter.