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Mater Dei’s Brannon Martinsen goes up for a layup as Mira Costa’s Jacob de Armas looks on during the opening half of Friday night’s semifinal. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
Mater Dei High School’s boys basketball team has had 23 CIF titles and 11 state titles in its history.
Next Saturday night, the Monarchs will get a chance to bring home another.
Coach Gary McKnight’s team rallied from a 34-17 halftime to deficit to defeat Mira Costa 60-54 in the Division 1 semifinals at Meruelo Athletic Center Friday night.
Mater Dei will face Etiwanda next Saturday night in the Division 1 finals at the Honda Center. Etiwanda defeated Canyon 67-57 in the other semifinal.
Mater Dei (26-6) led in the early going 3-2, before Mira Costa (27-3) went on an 8-0 run to take control in the first half. But McKnight’s team adjusted in the second half for the win.
Brannon Martinsen led Mater Dei with 17 points. Zack Davidson had 15 points, Luke Barnett 11 points and Owen Verna 10 points for the Monarchs.
Fernando M. Donado contributed to this story).
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