PREP BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Mater Dei Crushes Servite, 71-27

Well, at least Servite’s boys’ basketball team managed to score more points against Mater Dei than the Friars’ football team did this year.

Of course, it looked as if Servite was well on its way to matching its football team’s 0-0 tie with Mater Dei in the first quarter Monday night. The Friars were held scoreless until Kerry Shimizu made a layup with nine seconds remaining.

By then, Mater Dei (6-0) had an 11-2 lead and cruised to a 71-27 victory in the opening round of the 21st Tournament of Champions at Ocean View High.

A near-capacity crowd jammed Ocean View’s gym to watch the county’s two biggest Catholic schools continue a rivalry that has been one-sided in Mater Dei’s favor. The Monarchs have won 19 of the past 20 meetings between the schools with Servite’s only victory coming in the 1990-91 season, 50-49.

Servite committed nine turnovers in its opening nine possessions and had only two shot attempts in the first quarter. It got worse. The Friars had 24 turnovers by halftime, had attempted only seven shots and trailed, 37-7.

“A first-round game against Mater Dei indicates our level of talent and my level of intelligence,” said Servite’s first-year coach, Scott Hamilton, when he agreed to play the game.

In other first-round games:

Ocean View 76, Millikan 58--Forward Greg Rosenberg and reserve center Alberto Alcaraz sparked a fourth-quarter rally that helped Ocean View (3-1) erase a 52-49 deficit.

Rosenberg scored 12 of his 14 points in the last quarter, and Alcaraz came off the bench to make three consecutive baskets as Ocean View outscored Millikan, 28-6, in the fourth quarter. Millikan (4-3) had 28 turnovers in the game, including 10 in the fourth quarter.