Girls basketball: Hot Woodbridge knocks off Costa Mesa

IRVINE - Woodbridge High’s girls basketball team gave visiting

Costa Mesa little, if any chance in a nonleague game on Saturday. The

Warriors shot 18-for-27 in the first half en route to a 68-23 victory

over the Mustangs.

“They just beat us bad,” Costa Mesa Coach Jim Weeks said. “They shot the

lights out of the building.”

Costa Mesa (13-9) didn’t have one single player it could stop on

Woodbridge’s side. The Warriors (13-9) depended on a balanced attack and

only had one player, Lara Gray, in double-digit scoring.

But Woodbridge made it difficult for Mesa to run its offense properly.

The Warriors held Mesa’s big three of Autumn Smith, Jenny Earnest and

Nancy Hatsushi to 12 points. Earnest had eight of those points for a

team-high. Christine Caron and Julie Hitt each hit three-pointers for the

Mustangs.

“Woodbridge is a really good team,” Weeks said. “They’re much bigger than

us, and they made it hard for us to go inside.”

Although Smith only had four points, she did grab seven rebounds and had

six block shots.

“Smith had a good game,” Weeks said. “She was still fighting until the

end.”

And she personified the best aspect of Saturday’s game.

“We were not quitting at the end of the game,” Weeks said “We played

hard.”

Mesa, which trails Pacific Coast League-leader Corona del Mar by two

games and is tied with Estancia for second, faces University in a league

game on Tuesday.

Nonleague

Woodbridge 68, Costa Mesa 23

Score by Quarters

Costa Mesa 9 6 4 4 - 23

Woodbridge 20 18 16 14 - 68

Costa Mesa - Earnest 8, Smith 4, Caron 3, Hitt 3, Marshall 2, Lazos 2,

Muniz 1, Hatsushi 0, Cooper 0, Le 0, Trejo 0.

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

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.

Woodbridge - Gray 14, B. Riley 9, Quinn 9, Stewart 9, Marks 8, Sanford 6,

E. Riley 5, Balingit 4, Teneau 2, Yocum 2.

3-pt. goals - Quinn 1.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.