Extended vacation

Joseph Boo

COSTA MESA - After four days off from the holidays, Costa Mesa

High’s girls basketball coach Jim Weeks thought his team might be rusty.

Instead, the host Mustangs performed smoothly as they crushed Whitney,

74-47, in the first round of the Costa Mesa Winter Classic on Monday.

Costa Mesa will face Granite Hills in the second round tonight, at 8 p.m.

“We were pretty good coming off of Christmas,” Weeks said. “After four

days off, I was afraid of losing focus. But we got back into it.”

Whitney, a small school with an enrollment of 520, certainly gave Costa

Mesa (7-4) every opportunity to play at its best. The undermanned and

undersized Wildcats were overwhelmed by the bigger Mustangs.

Costa Mesa’s 6-foot senior center Autumn Smith terrorized Whitney with 20

points and 16 rebounds in three quarters. Smith’s size and speed

eventually led to eight fast break points for her in the third quarter

during a 15-1 Costa Mesa run.

Mustangs point guard Nancy Hatsushi also had a great day, getting 13

points and 12 assists. She hit three three-pointers before sitting out

the fourth quarter.

Jenny Earnest scored 13 points for Costa Mesa. Julie Hitt came off the

bench in the first quarter and sparked the Mustangs with a rebound, steal

and three-pointer in 30 seconds. She ended up with 11 points. And backup

Maria Lazos grabbed seven rebounds, all in the second half.

The game was never close, with Costa Mesa taking a 21-7 lead after the

first quarter. Whitney was only outscored by three points in the second,

a period where Weeks said his defense got sloppy. But a 28 point third

quarter all but sealed Whitney’s fate.

So there are few, if any, negatives Costa Mesa can derive from the first

game in its own tournament.

“I was happy,” Weeks said. “We’re working real hard to cut down on our

mistakes. We’ll see tomorrow though. Granite Hills is a tough team.”

Starting from that game, Costa Mesa can come back from its winter break.

COSTA MESA WINTER CLASSIC

Costa Mesa 74, Whitney 47

Score by Quarters

Whitney 7 14 11 15 - 47

Costa Mesa 21 17 28 8 - 74

Whitney - Young 14, Vargas 4, Gonzales 4, Babadilla 3, Ordonez 2, Park 7,

Woi 8, Lewis 4, Tehramirad 0, Kuo 0, Chan 1.

3-pt. goals - Woi 2.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.

Costa Mesa - Smith 20, Hatsushi 13, Earnest 13, Caron 6, Marshall 1, Hitt

11, Trejo 2, Lazos 4, Le 0, Cooper 4, Muniz 0.

3-pt. goals - Hatsushi 3, Hitt 3, Caron 1.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.