Boys basketball: Mesa rallies but falls short

Tony Altobelli

MISSION VIEJO - While three-point land was a safe haven for the

Costa Mesa High boys basketball team, inside the arc was a cavern of doom

and gloom.

In the end, the doom and gloom won out in Thursday afternoon’s 72-68

pool-play loss to A.B. Miller High in tournament play at Trabuco Hills

High.

“Today, we had absolutely no inside game whatsoever,” Mesa Coach Bob

Serven said. “It’s very frustrating right now. We’ve got to find a way to

get some success down low.”

Costa Mesa (4-4) scored 51 of its 68 points on 17 three-pointers.

Senior Jun Gandia led the outside attack with six treys en route to a

career-high 20 points. Junior David Conte (four three-pointers) chipped

in with 14 points, while Chad Vakili (three treys) added 13 points.

Mesa’s outside shooting barrage did not reach a white-hot level right

away and the Rebels (8-1) took advantage, outrunning, outshooting and

outplaying the Mustangs.

“We were very intimidated at the beginning of the game and that killed

us,” Serven said. “We made a variety of mistakes, we had mental lapses

and a serious lack of intensity early.”

Miller slammed the pace of the game into overdrive and beat Mesa down

the floor for a number of easy baskets and a 13-point first-quarter

advantage.

The second quarter wasn’t much better as the Rebels’ lead grew to as

high as 15 points. The Mustangs made only nine shots in the first half,

but eight of those baskets were from beyond the arc as the Rebels’ lead

was cut to only 10 at the half.

“It seems like every guy on that team can hit from downtown,” Miller

Coach John Romagnoli said before halftime with a beleaguered grin on his

face. “It almost doesn’t seem fair.”

Serven was just as puzzled by how his team trailed by such a small

margin at the halfway point. “We should be down by 30 right now,” he said

to no one in particular before the start of the third quarter.

The Rebels tried to send Mesa to the canvas with a 12-0 run and built

the led to 20, but the Mustangs continued to reign long bombs and trailed

by only 13 after three quarters.

Mesa opened the fourth quarter with a 12-6 run to trail by only seven

with 4:34 remaining.

The Mustangs got as close as five, but the Rebels managed to hit 8 of

9 from the free-throw line down the stretch to hang on. A three-pointer

at the buzzer cut the final deficit to four.

Costa Mesa will continue its play at the tournament today at 3 p.m.

against the loser of Carson and Stockdale.

REEBOK “OO” CLASSIC

Pool play

A.B. Miller 72, Costa Mesa 68

Costa Mesa 11 17 11 29 - 68

A.B. Miller 21 17 14 20 - 72

Costa Mesa - Conte 14, Krikorian 6, Gandia 20, Whittaker 3, Cabico 3,

Vakili 13, Payne 6, Fregoso 2, Millward 1, Amburgey 0, Biggio 0.

3 pt. goals - Gandia 6, Conte 4, Vakili 3, Krikorian 2, Whittaker 1,

Cabico 1.

Fouled out - None.

A.B. Miller - Ramirez 20, Ward 12, Taylor 13, Berry 2, Michel 6,

Kingsland 6, Scott 13.

3 pt. goals - Ramirez 1, Taylor 1.

Fouled out - None.