SAN DIEGO — Mater Dei High’s girls basketball team faced its biggest test of the young season Tuesday, April 20 at Cathedral Catholic in a clash of schools ranked in the top 20 in the state.

The Monarchs and Brooke Demetre summoned their championship grit to pass the challenge.

The Stanford-bound senior scored a career-high 31 points and helped the reigning CIF Southern Section Open Division champion press effectively in the fourth period en route to a 67-64 victory in a fast-paced game at Cathedral Catholic.

Mater Dei (7-0), ranked No. 1 in the state by CalHiSports.com, entered with an average margin of victory of 49 points but rallied from a five-point deficit with less six minutes left in regulation against the No. 20 Dons (4-3) and Connecticut-bound center Ice Brady.

“This was the first time we’ve been behind at any point all year, and I think we we were behind 30 minutes,” Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan said with a slight chuckle. “This was the first time this year, since we re-started the season, that we showed the character that we had last year.”

While Demetre played arguably the best game of her high school career, the forward had help in the fourth quarter as the Monarchs rallied behind their press.

After trailing 54-49 with 5:54 left, Mater Dei began its surge on a steal and coast-to-coast layup by Ayana Johnson, who scored despite being fouled. She converted the three-point play to cut the Dons’ lead to 59-58 with 3:22 remaining.

Mater Dei’s full-court press forced another turnover on the next possession that Demetre turned into a basket and a 60-59 lead with about three minutes left.

Sophomore point guard Caia Elisaldez then sank two foul shots to extend the Mater Dei lead to 62-59.

But Cathedral Catholic didn’t back down as Izzy Navarro made a 3-pointer with 1:13 left to knot the score at 62-62. The junior guard finished with a team-high 23 points, including five of the Dons’ 11 3-pointers.

Mater Dei responded with a 10-foot, fadeaway jumper by Demetre over the junior Brady with 57 seconds left.

UNLV-bound guard Alyssa Durazo-Frescas (10 points) added a driving, left-handed layup for a 66-62 lead before the Monarchs sealed the victory with steal by Johnson in the final seconds.

Final to a great game: ⁦@MaterDeiGBB⁩ 67, Cathedral Catholic 64, Brooke Demetre 31 pts @ocvarsity⁩ pic.twitter.com/R0BvE0aayZ

— Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) April 21, 2021

“It was really fun to be challenged finally,” Demetre said. “It shows the character of our team, and we were kind of missing that. What’s our team identity? What’s the character of this team? It kind of shows in this game that we’re able to push through and overcome adversity.”

Demetre made 11 of 19 shots from the floor, including 4 of 6 attempts from beyond the arc.

“She was a Division 1, Stanford basketball player tonight,” Kiernan said of Demetre, who added seven rebounds and two assists. “She was great. She made difficult, important shots.”

The 6-foot-3 Demetre and the 6-foot-4 Brady guarded each other throughout with Brady finishing with 14 points. Demetre and Brady trained with each other during the summer.

“It was definitely a good battle,” Brady said. “Maybe a little (college) preview, you could say.”

Mater Dei played without Pepperdine-bound center Meaali’i Amosa (concussion).

In the San Joaquin League: 

Fairmont Prep 46, Orangewood Academy 44: Hannah Stines scored 15 points but the visiting Spartans fell to the rival Huskies in the league opener for each school.

In the Empire League:

Tustin 56, Crean Lutheran 37: Alyssa Norada scored 14 points to help lead the visiting Tillers in the league opener for each school.

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