Boys Basketball: Mesa On Fire

Steve Virgen

ORANGE - Speed kills. And the three-point shot is like the nail in

the coffin.

The Costa Mesa High boys basketball team had both quickness and the

three-pointer going for it as the Mustangs put away Sumner of Washington,

70-39, in the fifth-place semifinal of the Orange Holiday Classic

Thursday afternoon.

Though Sumner (3-7) possessed the height advantage, Mesa (8-5) held

the swish advantage at Chapman University.

The Mustangs sank 15 three-pointers led by senior Steve Whittaker who

hit 9 of 12 en route to a career-high 28 points. He converted a

four-point play in the second quarter to give the Mustangs a 33-22 lead.

Whittaker scored 15 of Mesa’s 17 points in a turning-point third

quarter, sinking all five three-pointers he shot. His nine treys ties the

Newport-Mesa District record set last year by Jon Cantrell (Estancia) and

Ryan Naff (Mesa).

Mesa extended a 10-point halftime lead to a 51-28 advantage,

outscoring the Spartans, 17-4, in the third quarter.

“We’re a fairly young team,” Mesa Coach Bob Serven said. “I think

people forget that. And we’re not very big. We could have a lot of things

going against us, but our guys battle. Hopefully, that’s a trademark.”

Junior David Conte, who finished with 15 points for the Mustangs, made

every shot he took in the first 16 minutes as Mesa built a 34-24 halftime

lead.

Conte shot 6 for 6 from the field in that first half, connecting on

three three-pointers. An official ruled he was not behind hte line on

another apparent three-pointer.

“Penetrate and dish, that’s our game,” said Conte who also had five

assists. “We had the flow of the game and they were really slow. If we

hit our shots at the beginning, we get in the flow and we get real

comfortable.”

Said Serven, “We make people adjust to us. We don’t change or adjust

our starting lineup for other people.”

In the second half, Mesa’s Nick Cabico (four points), Jun Gandia

(three) and Danny Krikorian (10) came off the bench and each knocked down

a three-pointer. It was as if the Spartans could not stop the Mustangs’

shooting from the outside.

Serven stopped the bleeding, so to speak, when he pulled Whittaker out

with three minutes remaining, after he nailed his final three-pointer for

a 60-33 lead.

“(The Mustangs) put on a clinic on how you drive and kick the ball

out,” Sumner Coach Rick Mergenthaler said. “They took Ryan Mullooly out

of it. He’s averaging eight assists and, in this game, he had 10

turnovers and one assist, so that tells you how well Costa Mesa did

today. They gave us an education on the way you should play basketball.”

The Mustangs will play for fifth place against Foothill tonight at

6:50.

ORANGE HOLIDAY CLASSIC

Fifth-place semifinal

Sumner 16 8 4 11 - 39

Costa Mesa 15 19 17 19 - 70

Costa Mesa 70, Sumner (Washington) 39

Costa Mesa - Whittaker 28, Conte 15, Krikorian 10, Cabico 4, Gandia 3,

Vakili 2, Clark 2, Payne 2, Millward 2, Amburgey 2, Fregoso 0, Biggio 0.

3-pt. goals - Whittaker 9, Conte 3, Cabico 1, Gandia 1, Krikorian 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.

Sumner - Bellerud 12, Charlie Britt 6, Goodwin 5, Chris Britt 5,

Mullooly 4, Mergenthaler 4, Tipps 2, West 1.

3-pt. goals - Bellerud 3, Charlie Britt 2, Chris Britt 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.