ANAHEIM — The Orange County basketball community came together Saturday at Esperanza High to take part in a special event, the Maya Enomoto Memorial Showcase.

No. 1 Mater Dei defeated No. 3 Sage Hill 60-49 in the final game of the showcase, which was set up by Esperanza coach Jimmy Valverde and Mater Dei athletic director Kevin Kiernan.

“To see the community surround a great event,” Valverde said, “it meant so much to the parents (Jason and Saori Enomoto), and helped the parents. It was amazing to see and it was a great way to start the Christmas season of giving.”

“It was an incredible day full of basketball and playing for somebody bigger than ourselves and a cause that is greater than anything that we’ve ever played in,” Monarchs coach Jody Wynn said.

Enomoto, who was a youth basketball player for the OC Rhythm, passed away at the age of 11 in July after a courageous battle with brain cancer.

“It was an honor to be part of the event, it was an honor to meet her parents and it was an honor to wear her across my chest,” Wynn said, referring to her shirt that featured an image of Enomoto.

“We said in the locker room that we’re playing for Maya,” Wynn continued. “Whatever the score says, if we don’t make a basket, if you don’t shoot the ball well, if we underperform, our effort is going to be there for 32 minutes.”

“It’s such a good cause,” Sage Hill coach Kerwin Walters said. “Maya fought every day of her life to be here, unfortunately, she’s no longer physically here but in spirit we know she’s here seeing everyone celebrate who she is.”

“We’ve always shown love to her and whatever we can do to support the family and make things better for them, we’re here for that,” Walters added.

The Monarchs (9-1) were led by Addie Deal, who scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Kaeli Wynn added 13 points with eight boards and Amaya Williams contributed 11 points and two steals.

Amalia Holguin scored a game-high 23 points, including four 3-pointers, for the Lightning (7-3).

“She loves competing against the best and you can see it,” Walters said of Holguin.

“We have a short turnaround and if we do what we’re supposed to do in our first game in TOC, we’ll see them (Mater Dei) again,” Walters said.

Mater Dei and Sage Hill are both headed to Arizona for the Tournament of Champions next week, and Wynn is excited at the prospect of a potential rematch.

“It’s good for Orange County,” she said. “It’s good to have high-level players in Orange County and these matchups where we’re not afraid to play each other.”

“It’s a small community in the basketball world,” Wynn added, “and to be a part of something so special and bigger than ourselves, there’s a lot of life lessons in this sport and this is one of them.”

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