Mater Dei Girls’ Coach Hauser Suspended for Seven Games

Mater Dei principal Pat Murphy confirmed Monday that girls’ basketball Coach Mary Hauser missed holiday tournaments in Sacramento and at Marina--a total of seven games--because she was suspended by the school.

Murphy declined to discuss the nature of the infraction, only to call it “a very minor situation.”

Hauser said she was not supposed to comment, though Southern Section Commissioner Dean Crowley said the suspension was more for the appearance of potential wrongdoing than anything that might have actually happened.

“There was an innocent situation that arose,” said Crowley, who became aware of the Hauser incident through a separate case he was investigating. “Rather than stepping over the line and potentially violating a school rule, she stepped too close to the line. There was nothing in writing between the school and this office.

“The CIF commends the principal for the action taken in the effort to try to be above reproach and working within the framework of the CIF rules and regulations.”

Hauser was suspended from coaching games but was allowed to coach during practices since the suspension was meted out the week of Dec. 16. She will be on the sideline Thursday when Mater Dei hosts Mission Viejo.

Mater Dei is the defending state champion in Division I.

Mater Dei’s home game against Ocean View Saturday has been moved to 5:30 p.m.

*

The Magnolia girls’ basketball team has had a tough season. At the Bolsa Grande tournament, the Sentinels lost consecutive games by 84, 63 and 86 points to San Clemente (105-21), Newport Harbor (74-11) and Huntington Beach (94-8).

But after 12 consecutive losses, the Sentinels won their first game in the seventh-place game of the Garden Grove tournament, 43-36, against Anaheim--a team it plays twice in the Orange League.

*

Brea Olinda, without a player taller than 5-11, was the smallest team in the eight-team Lady Tiger Classic in Pickerington, Ohio, which included five nationally ranked teams. So what does this say about the fundamentals of blocking out? The Ladycats were the fourth-highest rebounding team in the tournament. They finished third.

Brea, ranked fifth nationally going into the tournament, lost to No. 2 Pickerington and dropped to ninth in the poll; Frederick (Md.) St. John’s Academy at Prospect Hall lost to Brea and No. 14 Christ the King and dropped from 18 to 20.

*

John Mayberry, who coached Kennedy for 32 years and a 304-166 record, will be honored during halftime of Kennedy’s Jan. 15 game against Katella.

The school is inviting all alumni, especially basketball players, to attend. In lieu of gifts for Mayberry, the basketball staff is setting up a scholarship fund in his name for the senior player who exhibits the “Irish Spirit” that Mayberry possessed. Details of how to contribute to the fund are forthcoming.

*

Matt Kinney has resigned as Canyon girls’ soccer coach in order to devote more time to his career in mortgage banking, Kinney said, and John and Paul Gerdis have taken over the program.

Kinney, 2-2-2 this season, led Canyon to a 31-12-9 record in 2 1/2 years, and reached the Southern Section Division II final last season before losing to El Modena.

Kinney informed the team of his decision to leave before its last game, in the consolation bracket of the Excalibur tournament, Dec. 27, a 4-0 victory over Tustin.

“They deserve more attention, which they are not getting,” he said. “It was a tough, tough decision.”

The Gerdis brothers played for Mater Dei’s 1994 Southern Section Division II championship team and have been Kinney’s assistants the last two seasons.

*

Third-year Marina boys’ basketball Coach Roger Holmes thought this might be the year he could get the Vikings back on a winning track after several down years, but nevertheless he has been pleased with his team’s 11-4 overall record. It is second best among Sunset League teams, behind Los Alamitos, and only one victory shy of equaling the Vikings’ victories for the last two seasons.

After taking a pounding with predominantly freshman-laden teams in his first two seasons, Holmes softened the nonleague schedule a bit to build confidence among his young players. Confidence? The Vikings rallied from a 45-33 halftime deficit to defeat neighborhood rival Westminster, 82-74, Saturday.

“We had won only 12 games in two years here, so something had to be done,” Holmes said. “We needed to build some confidence.”

Sophomore forward Scott Rivera (12.1 points a game), sophomore center Scott Austin (11.4), and junior guard Donald Lank (11.6) are doing the job offensively.

Just how well Holmes’ philosophy pays off in the tough Sunset League remains to be seen. The Vikings host Costa Mesa tonight, then open league play Friday by hosting Fountain Valley.

*

The Century-Laguna Hills girls’ basketball game scheduled for last Saturday was rescheduled to next Saturday at 7 p.m. The game wasn’t played because one of the baskets couldn’t be lowered.

*

Five notable girls’ basketball players suffered injuries over the holidays that could hurt their teams’ chances of meeting their goals. Pacifica’s Heather Green (knee, swelling has delayed an MRI to determine exact damage), Capistrano Valley’s Sarina Kissel (re-injured previously repaired ligament in her knee) and San Clemente’s Amanda Engle (torn knee ligament) are probably out for the season. University’s Monique Mathews (elbow) might play tonight after missing seven games; and Laguna Hills’ Whitney Houser (fractured foot) will return in about three weeks.

Staff writers Paul McLeod and Wendy Witherspoon, and correspondent Eric Maddy contributed to this report.