Boys’ basketball: Xavier Johnson leads Mater Dei, 61-58

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Down by 10 point in the third quarter, top-seeded Mater Dei rallied for a 61-58 victory over Loyola in a Southern Section Division 1AA semifinal game.

Parker Cartwright made a three-pointer with 28 seconds left to pull Loyola within 59-58. Then Xavier Johnson, who had 23 points and 10 rebounds, made two free throws with 16 seconds left for Mater Dei.

Loyola was never able to get off a decent shot and the Monarchs were able to hold and advance to Saturday’s final against Long Beach Poly.

Stanley Johnson added 16 points. Parker Cartwright scored 17 points, Justin Childress 11 and Khaliq Bedart-Ghani 10 for Loyola, which will play in the state playoffs next week.

Loyola went on a 10-0 run in the third quarter to open a 10-point lead before the Monarchs rallied.

‘It really was they made one more play than we did,’ Loyola Coach Jamal Adams said.

-- Eric Sondheimer