Girls basketball: Mustangs seize PCL top spot

Barry Faulkner

IRVINE - Zone defenses have something to do with the Costa Mesa

High girls basketball team’s propensity for bombing away from distance in

its first two Pacific Coast League games.

But, having scrimmaged against their own defenders in practice, Mustang

shooters should also be excused for being a tad gun-shy from inside 15

feet.

Mesa defenders continued to spread anxiety throughout the league Tuesday,

blocking 13 shots en route to a 43-31 PCL road win over University.

The visitors, who blocked 11 shots in a league-opening win over Estancia,

connected on six three-pointers (in 23 attempts) to improve to 11-5, 2-0

in league. The Mustangs, ranked No. 6 in CIF Southern Section Division

III-A, seized sole possession of first place, one-half game ahead of idle

Corona del Mar.

The victory, Mesa’s eighth in its last nine games, was even more

impressive since it came with junior point guard Nancy Hatsushi sidelined

for all but the first few minutes with a badly sprained left ankle.

Hatsushi will get a week to recover, since the Mustangs next game is

Tuesday against Laguna Beach.

“We played with a lot of guts with Nancy out,” Mesa Coach Jim Weeks said.

Guts, however, is what it takes to attack the heart of the Mesa defense,

where 6-foot-1 senior center Autumn Smith looms large.

Smith, who set a school single-season record with 113 blocks as a junior,

rejected 11 Trojan field-goal attempts to give her 18 in two league games. The 11 blocks is four shy of her single-game school record, set

last season against Estancia.

Smith’s unforgiving inside presence helped lead to Uni’s paltry 22.4%

shooting from the field (13 of 58).

Mesa, however, wasn’t the only team playing defense Tuesday. The Trojans’

zone limited Smith to just four points, almost nine fewer than her

average, and forced the visitors to pump from the perimeter.

And while Mesa found little consistency from long range (27% from the

field), the Mustangs caught fire in spurts.

Three-pointers by Julie Hitt, Christine Caron and Barbara Trejo, all

within a 131-second span in the second quarter, capped a 12-0 Mustang run which erased an 8-4 deficit and put them ahead for good.

After Trejo’s trey, the Mustangs went 8:33 without a field goal, before

junior guard Leigh Marshall broke that drought with a three ball from the

top of the key. Marshall then drained her next two from beyond the arch

-- within 70 seconds -- to spur another 12-0 blitz.

That surge put the Mustangs up, 33-19, with 2:14 left in the third

quarter and senior guard Jenny Earnest, taking over the point vacated by

Hatsushi, scored nine of her team-high 13 points in the fourth quarter to

ice it.

Earnest added 10 rebounds to the cause, while Smith chipped in eight

boards.

Marshall’s aforementioned nine points were pivotal, as were quality

minutes supplied by Caron (five points and five rebounds), Trejo (five

points), Laura Muniz (three points and six boards) and Hitt (three

assists to go with three points).

Hatsushi, who leads Orange County with 7.4 assists per game, appeared to

land on an opponent’s foot early in the first period. Weeks said he could

hold her out against perennial cellar-dwelling Laguna Beach, to ensure

she’d be ready for the Jan. 20 home clash with CdM.

Senior Reagan Anders scored a game-high 15 points for University (6-11,

0-1).

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS

Pacific Coast League

Costa Mesa 43, University 31

Score by Quarters

Costa Mesa 10 11 12 10 - 43

University 8 9 3 11 - 31

Costa Mesa - Earnest 13, Marshall 9, Caron 5, Trejo 5, Smith 4, Hitt 4,

Muniz 3, Hatsushi 0.

3-pt. goals - Marshall 3, Trejo 1, Caron 1, Hitt 1.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.

University - Anders 15, Atiba 7, Ariazand 3, von Tungeln 2, , Wu 2, Janda

2.

3-pt. goals - Ariazand 1, Anders 1.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.