Boys Basketball: DLS Runs Out of Gas in State Championship

Mater Dei-Santa Ana 43, De La Salle 36

 The Star: Benny Battle came off the bench to lead the Spartans with 10 points. 

The Turning Point: De La Salle came up with a steal with about 40 seconds left in the game, trailing 37-33, but Mater Dei tied it up and, with the possession arrow in its direction, retook control. The Spartans had to foul and launch quick shots the rest of the game, which allowed Mater Dei to pull away.

What’s Next?: Mater Dei can celebrate its state championship as both teams head to the offseason.

Bottom Line: Man for man, De La Salle doesn't quite stack up against the powerful Monarchs, but on Saturday that didn't really matter. The Spartans' toughness allowed them to hang for most of the game, but they just couldn't get enough shots to drop when they needed them. 

Note: De La Salle lost Elliot Pitts to a broken jaw in the first quarter. 

Live Blog: Read Adam Berke's of the game.

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In boys basketball coach Frank Allocco's illustrious career, he's coached several teams overflowing with talent. Coming into the season, he'd won league titles in each of his 13 years at De La Salle and advanced to the state finals three times. 

Several of those teams were loaded with size, depth and Division I players. 

That wasn't the case this year.

If Allocco were to rank his teams on talent alone, this year's squad probably wouldn't even crack the top 10.

Yet somehow at halftime of Saturday's CIF Division I state final, the Spartans led Mater Dei of Santa Ana, which came in ranked No. 10 in the nation by ESPN RISE, 18-12. 

The Spartans couldn't hang on, falling 43-36, but the job they did, first, to get there and, second, to have a shot to win in the final minute will be remembered for a long time. It might go down as Allocco's best coaching job.

"We got here on toughness and grit," Allocco said. "I told those guys they learned a lot about love and faith because I think that's what we were.

"We weren't real skilled — you see we had trouble scoring. We didn't shoot the ball particularly well but we just gutted it up night after night and it looked like we had a shot tonight."

After losing sophomore starter Elliot Pitts — who might end up being the lone player on the team to earn a Division I scholarship — in the first quarter with a broken jaw, the Spartans were stretched even thinner. 

A three from Duke DaRe (nine points) to open the third quarter put De La Salle up 21-12, but Mater Dei began to chip away.

“At half time, I told them they played harder than you in the first half,” said Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight, a friend of Allocco. “I also told them it was a long game. Being down six to these guys is like being down 20. We picked up the intensity. In the first half, we didn't match their intensity. They played more physical than us both offensively and defensively." 

By the end of the third, the Monarchs (32-3) cut the deficit to 28-27 and took their first  lead since late in the first quarter on their first possession of the fourth quarter.

"Not having Elliot hurt and our rotation got tweaked a little bit," Allocco said. "Some guys were playing a little longer than they were accustomed to and I think that definitely hurt. We kind of ran out of gas a little bit there at the end I think. Shots weren't dropping for us."

Benny Battle, who led De La Salle (27-6) with 10 points, drove to the basket to make it 39-36 Mater Dei with 24 seconds left, but after the Spartans fouled Xavier Johnson, he hit both free throws to put the game on ice.

"We just had some deficiencies on offense that kind of bit us there at the end, but it was a great year," Allocco said. "I told them, every year you look at a team and, as a coach, you want to see them maximize their potential and this team certainly did that and more — so I'm proud of them for that." 

There was a point in the season, right around Christmas, when Allocco wasn't happy with the direction his team was headed.

"At the Christmas tournament in L.A., we were really struggling and playing bad," he said. "So we made a list of New Year's resolutions as a team. And they were little things like making sure they were well groomed in practice and being respectful to teachers. 

"They were a lot of character type things. I found that piece of paper the other day and it was pretty interesting. There were very few basketball things on it, but we just challenged them to be better guys and be better men. And they did it. This team was one of the closest teams I've ever had and it wasn't that way in December." 

The Spartans' turnaround, as Allocco said, was keyed by toughness on defense, but it also had a lot to do with the play of senior Travis Pacos. As a junior, Pacos tallied 20 points the entire year, but this year he was the unquestioned leader of a team that nearly won a state title.

"Look what he was able to do … he was one of the best players in Northern California as a senior," Allocco said. "So hopefully some of the juniors will step up next year. Not hopefully — they will. That's what the program is about: growing kids each year."

And no one does it better than Allocco.

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Mater Dei-Santa Ana 43, De La Salle 36

1

2

3

4

F

Mater Dei

7

5

15

16

43

DLS

9

9

10

8

36

Individuals — (fg ftm tp)

MD

Eli Stalzer 2 2-2 6, Katin Reinhardt 4 8-9 17, Xavier Johnson 4 4-6 9, David Brown 2 1-2 5, Stanley Johnson 2 2-3 6, Shaqquan Aaron 0 0-0 0, Jordan Strawberry 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 17-22 43.

DLS

Amadi Udenyi 2 0-0 6, Duke DaRe 2 3-4 9, Elliot Pitts 0 0-0 0, Kelvin Morgan 2 0-0 4, Travis Pacos 2 0-0 5, Benny Battle 3 4-6 10, Dan Peera 1 0-0 2, Remington White 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 7-10 36.

3-point goals: De La Salle 5 (Udenyi 2, DaRe 2, Pacos), Mater Dei 2 (Reinhardt, Johnson)

Records: De La Salle 27-6, Mater Dei 32-3

CIF Division I State Finals, March 26, 2011

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