Local sports fans can see one of the best high school boys basketball programs in the country on Saturday, as Mater Dei comes to town to play Dos Pueblos at Sovine Gym. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m.
Year in and year out, Mater Dei produces outstanding players and teams. Last year’s squad, led by CIF-Southern Section and State Player of the Year Stanley Johnson, went 35-0, won the 11th state title — and fourth in a row — in program history and a mythical national championship.
The Monarchs’ Gary McKnight is one of the winningest coaches in high school basketball. He enters the season with a record of 995-85 and an all-time best win percentage of .921. He’s led Mater Dei to 31 league titles and 22 CIF-Southern Section crowns in his 32 years at the helm.
The Monarchs lost the 6-7 Johnson (who is now at Arizona) but they have three starters back from last year’s championship squad. Rex Pflueger is a 6-6 senior guard who can score from anywhere and is a tenacious defender. He’s signed with Notre Dame. MJ Cage, a 6-10 junior power forward and the son of former NBA player Michael Cage, is one of the top big-man prospects in the country. La’vette Parker, a 6-2 senior guard, averaged 10 points last season in the playoffs. Another player with a NBA pedigree is guard KJ Smith. He’s the son of television NBA analyst Kenny Smith, who won two NBA titles with the Houston Rockets.
Saturday’s game will be the season opener for Mater Dei, which starts as the No. 3-ranked team in the L.A. Times Southland rankings, No. 4 in the state by CalHiSports and No. 13 in MaxPreps’ national Xcellent 25.
Dos Pueblos opened its season Tuesday with a win at San Luis Obispo.
