Boys’ basketball: Monarchs start fast in Pangos Dream Classic finale

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Mater Dei is showing why it is ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today and No. 1 in the Southland by The Times in the first half of Saturday’s fifth and final game of the Pangos Dream Classic at Long Beach City College.

The undefeated Monarchs opened a 29-16 lead in the first quarter against unranked Gahr and increased the lead to 52-25 by halftime. Gary McKnight’s squad, favored to win the Division I state title, returns its top four scorers from last year’s Division II state championship team.

Leading the offensive assault so far are North Carolina-bound brothers David and Travis Wear, with 16 and six points, respectively. Also contributing for Mater Dei were the team’s two other captains, USC-bound point guard Gary Franklin (seven points) and Stanford-bound Andy Brown (five), and junior Tyler Lamb (seven), who has already verbally committed to UCLA.

Senior forwards Darrell Fox (eight points) and Devin Golston (five) lead the Gladiators (6-8), who lost 13 seniors from last year’s 20-10 squad.

-- Steve Galluzzo