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SAN DIEGO — They competed to show the younger players the way. They competed for their veteran coach. And they competed to show they’re a proud champion, and not a No. 7 seed.

Mater Dei’s girls basketball team had no shortage of motivation or confidence Wednesday night despite the major challenge it faced in the first round of the CIF State SoCal Open Division regional playoffs.

Orange County’s top-ranked squad didn’t win on the scoreboard at nationally-ranked La Jolla Country Day but found levels of success in its pursuits in a 53-45 loss.

The No. 7 Monarchs (23-7) pushed No. 2-seeded La Jolla Country Day (25-2) deep into the fourth quarter, tying the score at 43-43 on a 3-pointer from the corner by sophomore Emily Shaw with about three minutes left.

Mater Dei also challenged the imposing duo of Jada Williams and Breya Cunningham but a blur of three consecutive fast-break layups by Tajianna Roberts provided the final separation. All three baskets came after Shaw’s 3 as LCD — ranked sixth in the nation by MaxPreps — capitalized on a steal and two missed shots.

“We wanted to win that game just so the underclassmen could experience what it’s like to win something like that, but we couldn’t make ends meet,” said senior Soleil Montrose, who paced Mater Dei with 11 points.

“We do it for them. We do it for our coaches. Winning a championship is a huge deal and us seniors being part of that was something we really wanted them to feel. Hopefully, we’ve done our job (for the underclassmen) and they’re going to learn from what we’ve done.”

Mater Dei won back-to-back CIF-SS Open Division titles in 2020 and 2021 and reached the semifinals this season despite graduating several key seniors. The Monarchs lost to top-seeded and undefeated Etiwanda before receiving the No. 7 seed for the eight-team Open regional.

“We don’t think of ourselves as a seventh seed,” Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan said. “We came in thinking we could win.”

“I was just really happy with how the girls played but it’s a tough road,” he added.

Cunningham scored a game-high 20 points but the Monarchs’ combination of Jenessa Cotton and Isabella Clark made the 6-foot-4 junior work.

Shaw and Camden Joko came off the bench to each hit two 3-pointers as the Monarchs’ bench outscored LCD’s reserves 14-0.

Mater Dei also took a charge and stole the ball from the UCLA-committed Williams, but the point guard had the final say with a late block on a breakaway layup. Williams finished with nine points.

Mater Dei junior point guard Caia Elisaldez finished with 10 points. Lani White added eight points.

Kiernan’s final say in the locker room was emotional.

“I really couldn’t talk much,” he said. “I don’t know how much longer I get to do this. (But) I want to coach until I’m 70.”

Kiernan, 62, also serves as the school’s athletic director. He said he will evaluate his workload in the offseason.

“He works so hard,” Montrose said of Kiernan. “He’s been a great coach. To see him like that was a little bit sad, but we know he’s tough. He’s taught us to be tough. We’ll move (on) and the seniors have learned a lot from him.”

More coverage to come. Check back for updates

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