TORRANCE >> Post players Xavier Edmonds and Tee Bartlett went toe-to-toe in the paint Wednesday, particularly in the second half of a first-round CIF State SoCal Regional boys basketball contest.

Edmonds and Bishop Montgomery had a little more in the tank in the fourth quarter.

The junior scored 18 of his 22 points after halftime and Bishop Montgomery held on down the stretch for a 58-53 win over Mater Dei in the Open Division playoffs.

FINAL: Bishop Montgomery 58, Mater Dei 53 @breezepreps pic.twitter.com/NDAdzrxybG

— Tracy McDannald (@Tracy_McDannald) March 3, 2022

“(Edmonds) kept battling and really came through down the stretch,” Knights coach Doug Mitchell said. “I thought (Mater Dei) got a little tired and that helped us a little bit.”

The Monarchs (26-5) went nearly seven minutes between their only two made field goals in the fourth quarter. Bartlett, who finished with 22 points, was limited to one basket and split six free-throw attempts in the fourth.

The Knights (21-3) will travel Saturday for a regional semifinal at Centennial (30-1), which earned a first-round bye. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Three weeks ago, Bishop Montgomery lost at Centennial, 78-53.

Edmonds said he expects a more “prepared” Knights team in the rematch.

“We know we played bad, that was one of our worst games of the season,” Edmonds said. “We just know we’re way better than that.”

Mater Dei took a 43-40 lead into the fourth and extended it on Zack Davidson’s basket in the lane with 6:53 to play. Davidson finished with 15 points.

An Edmonds offensive rebound and lay-in tied the game at 46, and a Jalen Vazquez jump shot at the 3:48 mark put the Knights ahead for good, 48-47.

The Monarchs committed seven of their 16 turnovers in the fourth. Among them was Davidson’s errant pass to the corner after Edmonds pushed the lead to 52-47 with a tough finish over Bartlett.

The Monarchs were unable to make another serious threat over the final two minutes.

While Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight disagreed with “a couple tough calls that could’ve gone either way” in the fourth quarter, he agreed with Mitchell about the fatigue factor.

“We’ve played 63 games in the last 11 months in CIF,” McKnight said. “Everybody is a little bit tired.

“Montgomery did a really good job of executing their offense and guarding our people.”

Bishop Montgomery owned a short-lived 24-21 lead at the break. The teams got off a blistering start in the third quarter, combining to make nine of the first 11 attempts.

Bartlett scored 11 to Edmonds’ 10 in the quarter, as they accounted for nine of the 15 made field goals.

“It was a good battle,” Bartlett said. “They didn’t give up, at all.”

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Added Mitchell: “(Bartlett) is a handful and he’s got a really nice shooting touch.”

In the first half, Knights senior Kristopher Krause scored nine of his 13 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers, to lead Bishop Montgomery to a three-point advantage at the break.