This is the second game in the Sunshine Series.  Both teams are quite young but feature plenty of talent that will play on the collegiate level.  To be honest, the feature here is Mater Dei and its legendary coach Gary McKnight.  Before the state of California passed an asinine rule that the schools in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) could not play against teams that did not play for a state title in their respective states, the Monarchs were seemingly in the main field of this event every other year.  Now, with the emergence of powers like those in the EYBL Scholastic, it is a rare occasion for McKnight and crew to return to the City of Palms Classic.  Fortunately, they have sunshine in California as well and this particular aspect of the City of Palms Classic brings the Monarchs to Fort Myers.

Mater Dei struck first with back-to-back threes, one from Blake Davidson and one from Brady Karich.  Windermere was undaunted and responded with seven straight points as Malachi Martis scored inside, Sinan Huan did likewise and Sam Shoptaw dropped in a three.  The back and forth went from there and with 3:26 left in the first quarter, a transition basket by Brandon Bass gave Windermere Prep a 9-8 lead.  At that point, Mater Dei reeled off the last seven points of the period as Davidson scored inside, Brannon Martinsen threw down a dunk and Scotty Belnap cashed in a three to make the score 15-9 in favor of Mater Dei after one period of play.

An 11-4 run by the Monarchs, seven of those from Martinsen, gave Mater Dei a 26-13 lead with 5:47 left in the second quarter, forcing a Windermere Prep timeout.  The Lakers got their ship somewhat righted but still trailed by double digits, 30-17, with just over three minutes to play in the half.  A dunk inside by Huan and a three from Gustavo Roca got Windermere Prep back to within eight, 30-22, in less than a minute.  Mater Dei scored the last three points of the quarter to lead by eleven, 33-22.

Mater Dei extended its lead to fifteen early in the third behind a transition basket from Benlap and a three from Owen Verna.  Mathis broke the drought for Windermere Prep but five more points in succession by the Monarchs pushed their lead to 42-24 with 5:13 left in the period.  Mater Dei got the lead as high as twenty, 48-28, after a put back from Davidson, but the Lakers scrapped out a 7-2 run to end the third quarter down 50-35.

A 9-0 run to start the final period by Mater Dei, five of those points from Barnett, effectively closed out the contest for the Monarchs.  Windermere Prep closed to within twenty, 67-47, with a minute to go, but ultimately fell 71-47.

Davidson led Mater Dei with 16 points while Barnett finished with 15 points, Martinsen with 13 points and verna with 11 points.

For Windermere, Martis finished with 13 points while Huan added 11 points.