Francisco’s Finest: Mater Dei vs Cathedral Catholic (Part 1)

Photo: Charlie Mercado Twitter

Joel Francisco

May 28, 2021 @ 12:02 AM

Francisco’s Finest: Mater Dei vs Cathedral Catholic (Part 1) SANTA ANA, Ca—The Mater Dei Monarchs hobbled into their game with San Diego powerhouse Cathedral Catholic and held on for a dicey 63-60 victory. The Monarchs were down three starters in stud big man [player_tooltip player_id="680195" first="Wilhelm" last="Breidenbach"], junior guard [player_tooltip player_id="748771" first="Gabriel" last="Quiette"], and junior guard [player_tooltip player_id="748772" first="Mason" last="Ressler"], but received an outstanding performance from USC signee [player_tooltip player_id="680209" first="Harrison" last="Hornery"] as he dropped in 24-points for the victors. [player_tooltip player_id="680209" first="Harrison" last="Hornery"] (Mater Dei) 2021, PF, 6-foot-9, 225 pounds Joel’s Take: The Monarchs needed an influential performance from Hornery, and they got one as he scored from all three levels. He knocked in deep 3s, posted up for some impressive finishes, and nailed some difficult mid-range shots. Defensively, he did a nice job stripping the ball from post players Wilhite and Anyanwu deep on the block. [player_tooltip player_id="680249" first="Dillon" last="Wilhite"] (Cathedral Catholic) 15 2021, C, 6-foot-8, 225 pounds Joel’s Take: Wilhite, who is planning on walking on at Kansas in the fall, put together a solid all-around performance. He displayed soft hands, solid foot work, as he converted some nice shots on the block—including a fundamentally sound jump hook. He is a fair athlete with a high basketball IQ and he even had two blocks showing nice timing. [player_tooltip player_id="747083" first="Nick" last="Davidson"] (Mater Dei) 2021, PF, 6-foot-9, 230 pounds Joel’s Take: While Breidenbach was sitting out with an injury, Davidson had more room to operate as he and Hornery exectuted some nice high/low action at the elbow. Davidson is a versatile forward who can play inside and out due to his shooting touch and ability to finish with either hand as he dropped in 18-points. [player_tooltip player_id="747078" first="Obinna" last="Anyanwu"] (Cathedral Catholic) 2021, PF, 6-foot-8, 230 pounds Joel’s Take: Anyanwu had one of those frustrating performances as nothing seemed to drop for him from anywhere on the court—at least until the 4th quarter. There he showed his physical prowess as he finished some shots through contact—including a beautiful step-through post conversion. [player_tooltip player_id="748757" first="Jaden" last="LeBel"] (Cathedral Catholic) 2022, WF, 6-foot-4, 175 pounds Joel’s Take: The Dons needed some desperate 3-point shooting to keep them relatively close—and Lebel provided that for them as he drained three deep 3s to stop the bleeding on multiple occasions. When the Monarchs began to close out on him in the 2nd half, he got to the rim to deep the defenders honest.