Muir, Back on Court Instead of in It, Defeats Irvine, 59-55

Muir High School of Pasadena returned to a more traditional place Saturday night, the basketball court instead of U.S. Federal Court.

The outcome, however, was similar. The Mustangs, who used a temporary restraining order to get into the Southern Section 4-A playoffs, had another hard-fought victory, 59-55 over Irvine.

Muir, 4-20 counting the forfeits that denied it the Pacific League title but winners of 13 of its last 16 on the court, advances to the second round to meet Santa Barbara (20-5) on Tuesday.

“We had two days of practice,” said Gary Fowler, who scored a team-high 16 points for the host Mustangs. “But that was a lot because everyone was so motivated.”

Muir led, 33-32, at halftime against an Irvine team that was in the playoffs for the first time in the 12-year school history. But the Vaqueros (12-13) scored only three points in the third quarter as Muir took a 43-35 lead, and the Mustangs never trailed again.