High School

West Coast Jamboree indeed: Mater Dei high school girls basketball team finishes December with flurry

From Hawaii to Phoenix to San Francisco, these tight Monarchs travel in style and victory with championship of Platinum Division of 24th West Coast Jamboree

Mitch Stephens

Mater Dei sophomore Stella Hoss celebrates the moment during the Monarchs 65-49 win over Windward to take home the championship of the West Coast Jamboree Platinum title Monday at Dublin High School. Hoss, MVP Addie Deal, Amaya Williams, Devyn Kiernan and Kaeli Wynn were each named to the All-Tournament team.
Mater Dei sophomore Stella Hoss celebrates the moment during the Monarchs 65-49 win over Windward to take home the championship of the West Coast Jamboree Platinum title Monday at Dublin High School. Hoss, MVP Addie Deal, Amaya Williams, Devyn Kiernan and Kaeli Wynn were each named to the All-Tournament team. / Courtesy photo: Mater Dei high school

DUBLIN, Calif. — It’s been a long, successful late December for Mater Dei High School’s girls basketball team. 

Five days in Arizona for the Nike Tournament of Champions followed up with another four-day rendezvous in the Bay Area for the 24th West Coast Jamboree has led to greater cohesion, more bonding, broader travel experiences and ultimately, says first-year head coach Jody Wynn, better basketball. 

The Monarchs, ranked fifth in the state by SBLive/High Schools on SI and 16th nationally, didn’t play their most crisp game of the end-of-2024 onslaught on Monday night, but did more than enough to defeat Windward 65-49 in the championship game of the WCJ’s Platinum Division at Dublin. 

Tournament MVP Addie Deal had nearly a triple double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists and all-tourney selections Kaeli Wynn (18 points, 12 rebounds), Amaya Williams (12 points, four assists) and Stella Hoss (seven points, five rebounds) helped overcome big efforts from Windward’s Carls Rainey and Samari Bankhead (13 points apiece) and Amel Cook (10 points), one of the nation’s top freshmen. 

High school girls basketball: Mater Dei High School
The Monarchs are all smiles after great two-week road trip featuring third-place finish at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix and here a title of the Platinum Division of the West Coast Jamboree. / Courtesy photo: Harold Abend

Mater Dei, which took third at the Nike TOC’s top division, improved to 15-2 with their only two losses to the nation’s top two-ranked teams, Mitty (59-42) and Ontario Christian (66-58). 

“You have to credit Windward with how hard they played and how well they played together,” coach Wynn said. “We played three great games here and even though we didn’t play our best tonight, you saw versatility within our group. You saw different kids who can score and defend in different ways. I thought we played solid team defense throughout the entire tournament.

“I thought it was a great tournament, we saw a lot of great California teams. It’s an honor to be part of it. My kids work really hard. They’re very selfless. They don’t care who scores, who gets awards. They just want to win. It’s a pleasure to coach a group of people who put team above self.” 

After putting on clinics in decisive wins against state ranked No. 25 Oakland Tech (91-25) and No. 7 Bishop Montgomery (83-49), the Monarchs got out slow and trailed 12-11 at the end of one. 

But a quick 8-0 spurt, finished off with a fastbreak dish from Deal, an Iowa signee, to Hoss gave Mater Dei the lead for good. Windward (8-6) kept battling, even after falling behind by 20 entering the fourth quarter. 

Buckets from Bankhead and Cook, cut the lead to single digits, before coach Wynn called timeout and lit into the group pretty good. The Monarchs responded with some fire of their own to win going away, finished off with a  Williams finding Kaeli Wynn for a fastbreak hoop before the final horn. 

The youngest daughter of coach Wynn, Kaeli is the No. 31-ranked junior player in the country, according to ESPN. The 6-2 power forward had a monster WCJ tournament, had 24 points in the opener against Oakland Tech and added 28 points (and 12 rebounds) versus Bishop Montgomery. 

For the tournament, Deal had 63 points, 29 rebounds and 20 assists. 

On the Monarchs' off-day on Sunday, they took a ferry to San Francisco, and went to Fisherman’s Wharf. Earlier this season the Monarchs took a trip to Hawaii. 

All of it has contributed to the Monarchs hot start, says Wynn, who coached 25 seasons at the college level at Washington, Long Beach State, Pepperdine and USC, where she starred as a player. Last year she helped Kevin Kernan, the state’s winningest coach who stepped down after last season. 

The transition has been seamless, says the team. Wynn is a big proponent of working on the inside out, which travel helps with. 

“We’ve done a lot of wonderful things off the court to bond and grow,” coach Wynn said. “It’s not just about the wins and losses, but it’s the friendships and the memories that are made along the way — things they are going to remember for the rest of their lives.” 

Said Deal: “I’m proud of this team for how we played and for winning. I really love being around these girls. I think the culture we have is so important. We really do love each other and care for each other which helps so much on the court.”

Bishop Montgomery 65, McClatchy 56: Sophia Dignadice drilled five 3-pointers and scored 24 points, Atlya Watson added 20 points and Jordin Blackmon 10 as the Knights (11-3) won the third-place game. Nina Cain, a 6-2 do-everything senior, had a game-high 26 points and Breyana Kimmons added 13 for McClatchy (8-4). 

Kamehameha 65, St. Mary’s-Stockton 25: in the fifth-place game, The Warriors from Hawaii (15-5) jumped to a 12-0 lead and never looked back as the Rams didn’t score in double figures in any quarter. 

Clovis 57, Oakland Tech 40: In the seventh-place game, Clovis (13-3) led from start-to-finish. 

MORE CHAMPIONSHIP SCORES (CLICK ON LINK FOR ENTIRE BRACKET)

DIAMOND DIVISION

Priory 53, Saint Francis 47

AMBER

Hanalani 50, Maria Carrillo 41

EMERALD

Clayton Valley 65, Lincoln 58

IVORY

Granada 50, Los Banos 37

JADE

Troy 51, Franklin 33

OPAL

Amador Valley 35, Carlmont 34

PEARL

Dublin 55, Watsonville 51

QUARTZ

Alhambra 41, Dinuba 36

RUBY

Panahou 53, St. Mary's-Berkeley 42

SAPPHIRE

Central East 38, Whitney 37

TOPAZ

TURQUOISE

Castillja 48, American Canyon 32

Published
Mitch Stephens
MITCH STEPHENS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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