Girls basketball: CdM stands alone in PCL

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - Turns out it was the Sea View League which may have

gotten a break when releaguing shifted the Corona del Mar High girls

basketball team into the Pacific Coast League this season.

Coach Elbert Davis’ squad, which lost its final 33 Sea View games,

completed its inaugural first round of PCL competition with an emphatic

second-half explosion Thursday at Costa Mesa to win the showdown of PCL

unbeatens, 64-31.

The victory, CdM’s sixth straight and 13th in its last 14 games, improved

the surprising league leader to 16-4, 4-0 in league.

It will also turn a few heads, resoundingly rewarding the unranked

program with the respect it has coveted all season.

“This is easily the best win I’ve had here,” said Davis, 12-37 his first

two years at the helm. “And it’s been a long road to get here.”

Costa Mesa (13-6, 3-1 and ranked No. 6 in CIF Southern Section III-AA),

did its part to put CdM on a rocky road, seizing a 24-21 halftime lead.

But after a Laura Muniz putback upped the lead to 28-23 with 6:04 left in

the third quarter, CdM used unrelenting full-court pressure and uncanny

outside shooting to outscore the beleaguered favorites, 41-2, until Mesa

hit a free throw with 15 ticks remaining.

“I knew if we could get them to play our way, which is a hectic, up-tempo

style, sooner or later, they’d break down,” Davis said. “We were hitting

our shots, the girls were playing their butts off on defense and everyone

was in the mix. Once we get on a roll, we’re a tough team to beat.”

Sophomore guard Andrea Gruber’s 19-footer ignited a roll which included

12 straight CdM points, before a Mesa free throw ended the third quarter

and pulled the hosts within 35-29.

The perimeter pyrotechnics, however, were just getting started and point

guard Charlene Quon put the flame to the fuse.

It was Quon, the team’s lone senior and a holdover from the lean years,

who led a clear-the-air discussion which superseded practice Wednesday.

Davis said before tipoff he wasn’t sure whether the impromptu confab

would increase, or alleviate the team’s growing tension.

But Quon helped bury any lingering bitterness by knocking down four

three-pointers within a span of 3:05. Season Meservey, who sat out

Wednesday’s game while her residential eligibility could be cleared,

added another three-pointer to the CdM onslaught, which was aided by

Mesa’s 18 second-half turnovers.

“We came together in the second half,” said Quon, whose 18 points were

one shy of her season high. “I’m glad we pulled it off.”

The Mustangs’ cause was significantly hampered when junior point guard

and Orange County assist leader Nancy Hatsushi left the game for good

with a leg cramp, midway through the third quarter.

But Mesa Coach Jim Weeks offered no excuses, only praise for the victors.

“They played a great game,” Weeks said. “They’re pressure was outstanding

and they were hitting their shots. Villa Park (which won a Jan. 4

nonleague game, 58-37) did the same thing to us. Both times, everything

they did was golden. (CdM) did everything it wanted to in that second

half. I was coaching when (CdM) won CIF (Division 3-A in 1983) and I

don’t remember them ever dominating the way they did tonight, back then.”

That dominance helped force 28 Mesa turnovers and hold the hosts to

0-for-6 shooting in the fourth quarter, 2 for 16 in the second half

(12.5%) and 7 for 33 overall (21.2%).

CdM junior Kristin McCoy collected nine points, 10 rebounds and six

steals off the bench.

Meservey added 11 points, while junior center Chris Eyre (10 boards and

five points) and sophomore Carrie Hawkins (seven rebounds and four

points) helped control the paint.

Gruber added six points and four assists, while Mijanou Pham, Courtney

Kawata and Jackie McCoy also contributed heavily as Davis shuttled in

substitutions to sustain the defensive intensity.

Autumn Smith had seven points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots for

Mesa, which also received seven points from Christine Caron.

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS

Pacific Coast League

Corona del Mar 64, Costa Mesa 31

Score by Quarters

Corona del Mar 8 13 14 29 - 64

Costa Mesa 10 14 5 2 - 31

Corona del Mar - Quon 18, Meservey 11, K. McCoy 9, Gruber 6, J. McCoy 6,

Eyre 5, Hawkins 4, Pham 3, Kawata 2.

3-pt. goals - Quon 4, Meservey 1.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.

Costa Mesa - Smith 7, Caron 7, Hatsushi 6, Muniz 6, Earnest 4, Hitt 1,

Marshall 0, Trejo 0, Lazos 0, Cooper 0, Le 0.

3-pt. goals - None.

Fouled out - Marshall.

Technicals - None.