Three Observations: Sierra Canyon vs. Mater Dei
LONG BEACH — Sierra Canyon earned its second straight CIF Southern Section Open Division title Friday night with a 59-48 win over Mater Dei at Long Beach State. The Monarchs had no answer defensively for five-star wing Ziaire Williams, who…
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Continue ReadingLONG BEACH — Sierra Canyon earned its second straight CIF Southern Section Open Division title Friday night with a 59-48 win over Mater Dei at Long Beach State.
The Monarchs had no answer defensively for five-star wing Ziaire Williams, who finished with a game-high 25 points on an efficient 9-for-17 from the field. Kentucky-bound shooting guard Brandon Boston, Jr. added 16 for the Trailblazers who now prepare to make a third-straight run to the State Open Division title game.
Mater Dei was led by junior Wilhelm Breidenbach. The 6-foot-9 junior finished with a team-high 18 points and also pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds. Kentucky-bound point guard Devin Askew added 15 for the Monarchs who didn’t have another player score more than seven points.
Three Observations
Ziaire Williams was by far the best player on the floor. The 6-foot-8 swingman got to his spots as he pleased, whether it was a two-dribble pull-up jumper at the elbow or a steal and transition dunk, Williams overwhelmed the Monarchs with his size, athleticism and shot making and creating abilities. While Williams was impressive offensively, his activity on the defensive end was his biggest impact on the game. The senior, who has his pick of which college program he wants to attend, anticipated passing lanes for steals, bothered post-entry and pick-and-roll passes with his length, and had a couple of impressive blocks.
Mater Dei had to make shots to win that game
But the Monarchs didn’t. Mater Dei shot 23.8 percent from 3-point range (5-for-21) with two of those coming from the 6-foot-9 Breidenbach. Outside of Wilhelm, the Monarchs shot a combined 3-for-18 from distance which allowed Sierra Canyon to go under ball-screens and pack-in the paint defensively. Mater Dei did a nice job of driving and kicking to open shooters, but the good looks from 3-point range just didn’t fall.
Turnovers were a major factor, especially early on
There were two things Mater Dei needed to do to keep this one close. The first was mentioned above: The Monarchs had to connect on a high percentage of their perimeter jumpers in order to keep the Sierra Canyon defense honest and make it work. The second was taking care of the basketball and winning the turnover battle. That didn’t happen either. Mater Dei committed 14 turnovers to Sierra Canyon’s 11 and the Trailblazers turned those mistakes into a quick 17 points on the other end. Six of Mater Dei’s turnovers were committed by its primary ball handler, Askew, which is never a good sign for the final score.