Mater Dei's Karlie Samuelson trips and falls as she is pursued in the first half of the game.
After losing an overtime stunner to Etiwanda in the CIF-SS Division 1AA semifinals, Mater Dei girls basketball coach Kevin Kiernan said he feels lucky for every game his team still gets to play.
The third-seeded Monarchs' season will continue after they beat second-seeded Santiago of Corona, 78-69, in the CIF Open Division regional semifinals Tuesday night at Santiago High.
Mater Dei faces top-seeded Windward of L.A., the CIF-SS Division 4AA champion, in the regional finals on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario.
"We're just happy to be playing after the loss to Etiwanda," said Kiernan, who has guided his team to three consecutive state championships. "We wanted to come in here and see the CIF champs. We can't get that back, but we beat them on their home court and that's pretty good."
The first half was a back-and-forth shootout, and fortunately for the Monarchs they had one of the best gunslingers in the state to keep them in the game.
Stanford-bound Karlie Samuelson knocked down four of her nine 3-pointers in the first half to keep the Monarchs (30-1) within striking distance of the Sharks (29-3).
"We got more energy when we got that defense going and that helped us hit more shots," Samuelson said.
Karlie Samuelson finished with 33 points.
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