Mater Dei, ranked sixth nationally by MaxPreps, faces Woodland Hills-Taft HS on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles-Price HS, featuring Cal signees Allen Crabbe and Richard Solomon, pulled away from Oaks Christian to win 68-42 in the Division IV quarterfinals. Top-seeded Price (30-3) hosts Pacific Hills (20-11) on Saturday in the semifinals.

Oaks Christian baffled Price for a while with a zone defense, and Crabbe (nine points) and Solomon (eight) struggled much of the night, even as their team gradually pulled away.

“I can’t say enough about Allen,” Price coach Mike Lynch said. “He played the whole game and he just wasn’t going to let his guys lose.”

Richard Solomon, who will join Crabbe in Berkeley next fall, added 19 points for Price.

– In the Southern Section 1AA (large school) title game  Saturday night, Cal signee Gary Franklin Jr. and top-seeded Santa Ana-Mater Dei HS (28-1), ranked No. 6 nationally by Max Preps, take on Etiwanda (23-8). The Monarchs have lost the section title game the past three seasons.

– In Chicago, Cal recruit Alex Rossi and Winnetka-New Trier HS (21-4), ranked No. 19 by the Chicago Tribune, beat Prospect 61-55 in the Class 4A Glenbrook South Regional. Three days earlier, Rossi scored 19 points as New Trier survived Glenbrook South 60-55 in double-overtime. Rossi was selected this week to the Chicago Sun-Times all-area team.

Pac-10 tournament seeding on the line Thursday night . . .

– USC at Arizona State,  5:30 p.m.: The Trojans (16-12, 8-8) were swept at home by the Oregon schools last week, but a win at Tempe would deliver the outright Pac-10 title to Cal. ASU (20-9, 10-6) is 14-3 at home this season. 

– UCLA at Arizona, 7:30 p.m.: The Bruins (13-15, 8-8) need to get busy if they’re going to avoid just their third losing season since 1948. The Wildcats (14-14, 8-8) haven’t been sub-.500 since 1983-84, Lute Olson’s first season. UCLA backup center J’Mison Morgan has been suspended for this game for violation of team rules, but freshman Reeves Nelson, who had laser surgery Feb. 22 to repair a tear in his retina, and seniorNikola Dragovic, who sprained his left ankle Saturday against Oregon, both have been cleared to play.

– Washington at Oregon,  7 p.m.: The third-place Huskies (19-9, 9-7) aim for their 20th victory while hoping to avenge a home loss to the Ducks (14-14, 6-10), who came off the mat last weekend to win twice in L.A.

– Washington State at Oregon State, 7  p.m.: The Beavers (13-15, 7-9) hope to celebrate coach Craig Robinson’s new contract extension at the expense of the Cougars (16-12, 6-10).

– Recruiting update: USC got a 2012 commitment from Larry Lewis, a 6-2 sophomore shooting guard from Arcadia HS in Phoenix. Lewis cannot formalize the commitment until November 2011.

LOCAL HEROES

Weber State sophomore guard Damian Lillard (Oakland HS) was unanimously voted MVP of the Big Sky Conference after leading the Wildcts to the league’s regular-season title and winning the conference scoring title at 19.7 ppg. Lillard was a first-team all-conference pick for the second straight season and became the first sophomore named Big Sky MVP in eight years . . . Kyle Roemer (Concord-De La Salle HS) closed out his career at Colgate by scoring 15 points in a 73-65 loss to Lafayette in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League tournament. Roemer finishes with 1,640 career points.

Arizona State recruit Keala King had 26 points and a school-record 26 rebounds for Mater Dei, which puts its 21-game win streak on the line Friday night against Rancho Verde (26-3) of Moreno Valley at Ocean View HS.

In the Southern Section 4AA quaterfinals, top-seeded Los Angeles-Price HS (27-3), featuring Cal recruits Allen Crabbe and Richard Solmon, whipped Morningside 70-42.

Meanwhile, Cal recruit Alex Rossi and Winnetka (Ill.)-New Trier HS (19-4), ranked No. 20 in the Chicago Tribune poll, beat Maine West 56-37 in its regular-season finale.

Price HS of Los Angeles, featuring Cal signees Allen Crabbe and Richard Solomon, won their second-round 4AA game, routing Banning 87-37.

Top-ranked Mater Dei HS of Santa Ana beat Corona 95-46 in the 1-AA large-school division playoffs, getting 14 points from Cal-bound guard Gary Franklin Jr.

Price HS of Los Angeles, top-seeded in the 4-AA bracket, rode 26 points from Allen Crabbe and 21 from Richard Solomon to an 87-45 victory over South Pasadena.

Crabbe had 23 points, including four 3-pointers, grabbed seven rebounds and had two assists, while Solomon had 13 points, four rebounds and five blocked shots. Price improved to 22-2 on the season.

On Senior Night, Montgomery visited with two of his four incoming freshmen and their parents after the game. Solomon said he attended the Bears’ Thursday night game at USC, and Crabbe indicated he plans to watch Cal play at UCLA on Saturday.

It was my first glimpse of the two, and both are quick and athletic. Crabbe, listed at 6-foot-6, isn’t much shorter than that — at least 6-5. He has a nice stroke, is fast up and down the floor with the ball and seemed unselfish. Of the two, Crabbe comes off as a more polished and confident player at this point.

Solomon was announced as 6-9, but is probably no more than 6-8. He’s very thin and will benefit from time in the weight room. He opened the game by sinking a pair of 3-pointers and made a couple of impressive blocks, but was not an aggressive rebounder in this game.

AROUND THE PAC-10

Here’s Saturday’s schedule . . .

– Cal at UCLA, 1 p.m.: The Bears (14-8, 6-4) need a win to halt a two-game losing streak and emerge from this two-weekend road swing at 2-2. They have lost six straight to the Bruins (11-11, 6-4), who have climbed into a four-way tie for first place.

– Stanford at USC, 4:30 p.m.: Can the Cardinal (10-12, 4-6) win a road game? Not so far after nine tries this season. A loss here, coupled with an Oregon State win over Oregon would leave Stanford in last place. USC (13-9, 5-5) would like to avenge a 54-53 loss at Maples Pavilion last month.

– Oregon at Oregon State, 3 p.m.: The Ducks (12-9, 4-5) arrive in Corvallis riding a two-game win streak, but they had won six in a row when they lost to the Beavers (9-12, 3-6) at Mac Court last month.

– Arizona at Washington State, 5:30 p.m.: The Wildcats (12-10, 6-4) had won four straight before falling Thursday at Washington. The Cougars 14-8, 4-6) have dropped three in a row, but beat UA in Tucson last month.

– Arizona State at Washington, 7:30 p.m.: The Sun Devils (16-7, 6-4), also tied for first place, blasted the Huskies (15-7, 5-5) 68-51 in Tempe last month, but UW is 15-1 at home.

– Pac-10 standings: Cal 6-4, Arizona 6-4, Arizona State 6-4, UCLA 6-4, USC 5-5, Washington 5-5, Oregon 4-5, Stanford 4-6, Washington State 4-6, Oregon State 3-6.

LOCAL HEROES

In a duel of former Oakland Athletic League standouts, Will Cherry (Oakland-McClymonds) scored 14 points to help Montana to a 75-61 win over Weber State, which got 24 points from Damian Lillard (Oakland HS). It was the 12th game of at least 20 points this season for Lillard.

Guard Gary Franklin Jr., has helped Santa Ana-Mater Dei HS to a 16-1 record and a ranking of No. 4 in the state, No. 11 nationally, according to MaxPreps.

Guard Allen Crabbe and forward Richard Solomon have led Los Angeles-Price HS to a 16-2 record and No. 5 state ranking,

And small forward Alex Rossi and his Winnetka, Ill.-New Trier HS team are 12-3 after a 59-48 win over Taft on Saturday in which Rossi scored 31 points.

“It’s good to see teams win, kids come in with a winning attitude. We’re pretty excited about all four of them,” Cal coach Mike Montgomery said this week.

Montgomery believes there is a distinct advantage to signing players from programs with a foundation of winning.

“Recruiting kids from good programs helps because they’ve been coached, and there seems to be less and less of that out there in terms of coaches that are willing to spend the time teaching kids the basics of the game,” he said. “Kids from De La Salle, for example, get it. Very early on they’ve been shown weak-side defense, how to take a charge, all the things that you should learn in youth basketball growing up.”

Two current Cal players — senior Theo Robertson and freshman Brandon Smith — played at De La Salle.

“Every team is going to have a leading scorer. What’s more important is what you’re doing in terms of winning basketball games,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery on Franklin: “Gary has done very well — their team is loaded, obviously. They’ve got (Tyler) Lamb, who is going to UCLA, and (Keala) King, going to Arizona State. They’re very good. Gary really  shoots the ball. He’s really having a good year. He’s not playing the point for them, which is where he would like to play in college. He can play two positions because he shoots it so well.”

On the two Price players: “Crabbe has continued to improve, Solomon has gotten stronger . . . we think he has an upside.”

On Rossi: “Rossi had 30 the other night and the team’s much better than they’ve been.”