Mater Dei Monarchs move on to State finals

The Chaminade Eagles and Mater Dei Monarchs faced off for the third time Saturday night in the CIF State Girls Open Division regional finals. The Eagles had won the two previous meetings, both by one point.

Mater Dei finally got the elusive win against the Eagles, 48-44. 

The Monarchs had the lead for much of the game, leading by as much as 11. But the Eagles kept at it and eventually grabbed the lead off a pair of free throws by junior Leaonna Odom with 3:30 left in the game. 

Monarch Katie Lou Samuelson, the National Gatorade Player of the Year, did not hit a shot until the fourth quarter, but she made her shots count. With 1:53 to go, she hit her first shot. Then for the next 2 minutes, Samuelson hit shot after shot to push the Monarchs ahead.

Samuelson finished with a game-high 16 points. 

The Eagles took a blow in the fourth quarter when Leonna Odom fouled out. She hit 6 free throws in the final quarter. Odom finished with 14 points.

Paige Fecske, who verbally committed to Pepperdine earlier that day, finished with 13 points. 

Mater Dei will travel to Berkeley to play St. Mary’s (Stockton) for the State championship.