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SANTA ANA — The challenges for Mater Dei’s girls basketball team extend beyond playing without All-County forward and South Carolina signee Kaeli Wynn.
While season-ending knee surgery has been a blow for Wynn and the Monarchs, the team also is navigating a national schedule with limited returning experience.
Mater Dei pushed forward with another test at the Matt Denning Hoops Classic on Saturday, and passed behind Harmony Golightly and step-up performances from freshman Nelly Strong and sophomore Marissa Bishop.
Golightly matched her season-high with 28 points and Strong made a critical 3-pointer in the fourth quarter as the Monarchs held on for a wire-to-wire 58-55 win against Democracy Prep of Nevada at Mater Dei High.
Democracy Prep (7-5) impressed earlier this season with a 66-61 victory against three-time defending California Open Division champion Etiwanda at the Esperanza showcase.
The Nevada powerhouse later lost UNLV commit Keonni Lewis to a knee injury but still showed plenty of fight against Mater Dei (12-4).
On the final play, Democracy Prep missed a 3-pointer that would have forced overtime.
“This is one of the best (wins for us),” said Harmony, who was selected game MVP. “These were really good competitors today. They beat great teams like Etiwanda so it’s good to pull through with this.”
“I know they were missing one of their best players but it was still a great win and (I’m) proud of the team. I felt like it was a big learning experience,” the junior guard added. “I hope that we keep elevating from here, just being able to push through adversity.”
Mater Dei, ranked third in Orange County, never trailed but never raced away from Democracy Prep despite opening a 21-5 lead late in the first period.
Democracy Prep, the Division 5A state runner-up last season in Nevada, tied the score 45-45 early in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer from Aryana Edwards. But Mater Dei responded with an 8-0 run that featured consecutive 3-pointers from Strong and Harmony.
Strong, a guard, took a short pass from Golightly and sank a 3-pointer from the corner to give Mater Dei a 50-45 lead with 4:56 left in the fourth.
“Nelly is an amazing shooter,” Golightly said. “We’ve been wanting her to score more in games. … I saw her there and knew that she was going to knock it down.”
Golightly followed with her fourth basket from beyond the arc to help stabilize the Monarchs.
UC San Diego commit Noelle Mulvanny added a basket in the paint to push Mater Dei’s lead to 55-52 with 1:34 left.
Strong (six points) and Bishop (eight points) helped Mater Dei tally 16 points off the bench. Bishop, a transfer from Ontario Christian who observed the sitout period, supplied an inside presence with scoring and two blocks.
Strong, Bishop and freshman Legend Tyler all played major minutes in the fourth quarter for Mater Dei. The Monarchs return one starter from last season in Stella Hoss. Golightly started a few games.
“I’m just proud of the way our team is having to mature really quickly,” Kaeli Wynn said. “The only way we’re going to get better is to keep putting ourselves in tough positions and surviving through the tough positions. It’s a process.”
Mater Dei entered the showcase coming a third-place finish in the top division of the Holiday Classic in Portland, Ore. in late December.
Earlier in December, the Monarchs finished 14th in the premier high school division at Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona.
More results to come.