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A new team could be atop the Orange County girls basketball rankings next week.
Adyra Rajan scored 10 of her game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter as Fairmont Prep overcame foul trouble for a 63-48 victory against Mater Dei at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Mesa, Ariz. on Friday.
Mater Dei (7-2), ranked No. 1 in Orange County, suffered its first defeat to a county opponent since January 2022 when it fell at Rosary 51-40.
Fairmont Prep (5-4), ranked No. 3 the county, had three starters foul out en route to its first victory against the Monarchs since January 2017 at the Matson Classic.
“Gritty win,” Huskies coach Josh Lozano said after the second-round consolation game in the Vincent Cannizzaro Division. “Our bench players gets to practice against great basketball players and it showed tonight.”
“We are battled-test,” the coach added. “We’ve already played Ontario Christian, Sierra Canyon twice, Long Island Lutheran (in the first round Thursday) and it only gets harder from here.”
Freshman guard Ryann Huang scored 14 points off the bench to lead the Fairmont Prep reserves.
The Huskies also received double-digit scoring from Lesina Afu (12) and Sarah Aldeguer (11) before they fouled out.
Lozano praised the defense of Aldeguer, a Princeton commit, against high-scoring Mater Dei guard Harmony Golightly, who finished with nine points.
Rajan’s big fourth quarter helped Fairmont Prep score 26 points in the final eight minutes. The senior is committed to Harvard.
The Huskies led 37-33 going into the fourth quarter.
Fairmont Prep also finished the first half strong. The Huskies closed the second quarter with a 13-5 run for a 29-23 lead at halftime.
They then opened the second half with an 8-0 run for a 37-23 advantage.
UC San Diego commit Noelle Mulvanny scored 17 points to lead Mater Dei. The senior sank consecutive 3-pointers in the third to help the Monarchs shrink their deficit.
In the consolation semifinals Saturday, Fairmont Prep plays Monsignor Scanlan of New York. Mater Dei plays Long Peak of Utah in another game.
The Monarchs lost to Bartlett of Tennessee 59-56 in the first round Thursday.
The semifinal matchups for the Vincent Cannizzaro Division are: Archbishop Mitty-Bishop McNamara of Maryland and Long Island Lutheran of New York-Bullis of Maryland.
In other results Friday in Arizona, Sage Hill (Joe Smith), Santa Margarita (Mike Desper) and Villa Park (Dan Wiley) reached the semifinals of their respective divisions.
In the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions:
JSerra 66, Dos Pueblos 57: Kayla Rice scored 14 of her team-high 22 points in the second half to lead the No. 2 Lions (9-2) into the semifinals Saturday.