Boys’ basketball: Mater Dei hopes to get back M.J. Cage next week

Strep throat sidelined Santa Ana Mater Dei standout M.J. Cage this week, but the Monarchs were able to pull out wins over Santa Margarita and Orange Lutheran in the Trinity League.

Coach Gary McKnight said he’s hopeful Cage will be back on Friday.

Stepping up for Mater Dei has been Notre Dame-bound senior guard Rex Pflueger, who has been scoring, rebounding and leading.

“Pflueger has been playing great,” McKnight said.

At one point during Friday’s win over Orange Lutheran, Mater Dei was playing three freshmen _ 6-7 Michael Wang, 6-5 Reagan Lundeen and 6-4 Harrison Butler.

The Monarchs are 14-3 and also figure to get back guard La’vette Parker this coming week. He has missed games with a thumb injury.

Also, tickets are on sale at Mater Dei from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the Nike Extravaganza on Feb. 7 that features Mater Dei taking on Fairfax and Bishop Gorman facing Etiwanda among the featured games.

Twitter:@LATSondheimer