Boys basketball: Mustangs improve, but lose

COSTA MESA - Showing vast improvement wasn’t enough for the Costa

Mesa High boys basketball team, which dropped a Pacific Coast League

game, 75-64, to PCL favorite Northwood Friday on the Mesa floor.

Costa Mesa Coach Bob Serven said his Mustangs played a much better

game than in the 82-51 loss at University Wednesday. But the Timberwolves

(13-3, 2-0 in the PCL) had five players score in double figures.

“There was a lot of improvement,” Serven said. “Maybe we could have

won the game had we defended better. We battled. I can live with that

kind of an effort. It’s a positive, but the reality of it is we’re 0-2 in

league. We can’t worry about that because we have Estancia next up.”

Senior point guard David Conte led the Mustangs (11-7, 0-2) with 21

points, scoring 14 in the second half, while senior Chad Vakili scored 15

of his 17 points after halftime.

After trailing 28-20 at the half, the Mustangs fell behind, 41-31,

with 2:45 left in the third quarter.

However, Costa Mesa cut the lead to 46-41, after scoring six

unanswered in the final 40 seconds of the third. Senior Carlos Jaime

scored twice. And Conte found senior Jason Millward, who scored 12

points, underneath for a bucket with one second left.

The Timberwolves, coached by former Estancia and Orange Coast College

head man Tim O’Brien, retaliated with a 6-0 run in the first two minutes

of the fourth quarter. The Mustangs got as close as, 55-49, after Vakili

completed a three-point play, then Northwood went 14 of 14 from the

free-throw line the rest of the way.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Northwood 75, Costa Mesa 64

Northwood 17 11 18 29 - 75

Costa Mesa 10 10 21 23 - 64

Northwood - Terry 17, R. Selway 15, Gray 11, Susson 4, Bailey 13,

Sanchez 15.

3-pt. goals - Sanchez 3, Terry 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.

Costa Mesa - Jaime 6, Vakili 17, Millward 12, Krikorian 6, Conte 21,

Clark 0, Ball 2.

3-pt. goals - Conte 3, Vakili 2, Krikorian 2.

Fouled out - Clark, Vakili.

Technicals - Coach Serven.