PREP ROUNDUP : Mater Dei Beats Mission Viejo to Open Season

Mater Dei High School, the defending State Division I boys’ basketball champions, opened the season Tuesday with an impressive 78-49 victory over Mission Viejo in the opening round of the Trabuco Hills Tournament in Mission Viejo.

Mater Dei utilized depth, strong rebounding and a fourth-quarter flourish in making a good Mission Viejo team look bad. Coach Gary McKnight went deep into his bench, using 12 players.

The Monarchs outrebounded Mission Viejo, 38-20, and repeatedly got second and third shots against their smaller opponents.

Mission Viejo opened without its best returning player, forward Mike Boucher, who suffered a career-threatening knee injury in the Southern Section football playoffs and is scheduled to have surgery next week.

Marina 95, Trabuco Hills 54--Guard Sean Haselrig made 11 consecutive shots from midway through the first quarter until early in the third quarter to lead Marina (1-1).