SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Mater Dei’s boys basketball team picked up its defensive effort in the second half in a 66-56 win over San Juan Hills in the semifinals of the San Juan Invitational Friday at San Juan Hills High.

The Monarchs (6-2) led by just three points at halftime but held San Juan Hills (8-2) to two points in the third quarter which helped them extend their lead.

“The guys came out really serious in that third quarter and we haven’t been doing that this year,” Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight said. “We really made that an emphasis at halftime and they came out and held a very good shooting team to two points. That was pretty encouraging for us.”

Both teams struggled to shoot from 3-point range. Mater Dei shot just 19 percent on 3-pointers and San Juan Hills shot 25 percent.

The Monarchs eventually found alternative ways to score and shot 67 percent on their 2-point attempts.

“Start making the 3-ball,” McKnight quipped when asked how Mater Dei should generate offense when the team isn’t making 3-pointers. “With our size, we get a lot of mismatches so we have to keep trying to get the ball inside.”

Junior Luke Barnett led Mater Dei with 21 points and seven rebounds. The junior made just 2 of 9 3-point attempts but made 5 of 7 2-point shots and made five free throws.

“I’m just glad to get a win,” Barnett said. “I didn’t shoot great but still found ways to score and affect the game so I feel good.”

Barnett has had his role expand dramatically this season. As a sophomore, he was a perimeter scorer who was mainly a catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter. This season, he has been the focal point of the offense.

“I’m doing a lot more offensively and defensively,” Barnett said. “I was more of a role player last year and now I try to make more plays, affect the game on defense and score a lot.”

Barnett leads the team with an average of 21 points per game and has made a team-high 22 3-pointers through eight games.

“He’s good to take the ball to the basket, he can dunk the ball and is a good free throw shooter,” McKnight said of Barnett. “Teams are going to concentrate on him and he just has to work real hard. Other guys are stepping it up a notch to take the pressure off him.”

Evan Willis had 10 points off the bench for Mater Dei. Malloy Smith, Demarcus Henry, Blake Davidson and Lucas Gaspar each had eight points.

San Juan Hills led for a portion of the second quarter after an 8-0 run. Adam Aziz scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the second quarter for San Juan Hills.

Mason Hodges had a record-breaking two weeks for San Juan Hills. The senior became the first player in school-history to score 1,000 points in his career on Dec. 4 in a previous loss to Mater Dei. Hodges also set two single-game records this week in a win over Rancho Buena Vista with 40 points and 20 rebounds.

San Juan Hills has just two losses this season and both are competitive losses against Mater Dei.

“He works really hard. He’s got a nice touch for a big kid and I love how hard he plays,” McKnight said of Hodges.

Trey Webb had 10 points for San Juan Hills. The Stallions outrebounded Mater Dei 34-33 with Rocco Jensen leading the team with eight rebounds.

Mater Dei will play Capistrano Valley Christian Saturday in the championship game of the San Juan Invitational.

Capistrano Valley Christian beat Mission Hills 67-59 Friday in its semifinal game.

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