Mesa outlasts Vaqs

Steve Virgen

Costa Mesa High boys basketball coach Bob Serven knows his team is

a lot different than last year’s squad. And, with that knowledge, he

told his team to get the most out of the offensive half-court set,

instead of the up-tempo style of last season. The Mustangs followed

their coach’s orders, executed three solid half-court set plays and

outscored the Vaqueros, 8-0, in the final four minutes, leading to a

48-40 first-round win over Irvine in the 21st annual Irvine World

News Basketball Classic at Irvine High Tuesday night.

Costa Mesa (4-2) will play tonight at 7:30 at Irvine High, facing

Diamond Bar, which defeated the tournament’s defending champion Santa

Margarita, 57-54.

“We’re not as seasoned as last year’s team at this time,” Serven

said. “We have to be a better half-court team. We’re not like last

year, running and gunning and playing that quick.”

Marko Stankovic, a 6-foot-6 Mesa junior, and senior teammate Danny

Krikorian each scored 16 points to lead the Mustangs. Stankovic also

grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked five shots, while freshman point

guard Brian Molina contributed eight assists and six points.

“That’s his best game in high school,” Serven said of Stankovic.

“We needed him to pick up the rebounding and we needed him to score

more, and he’s doing that.”

In the final four minutes, Molina accounted for six of Mesa’s last

eight points, as he dished out two assists and nailed two free throws

with 37 seconds left to secure the win. Molina found Krikorian who

was cutting to the basket and finished with the easy bucket with 3:10

left, that gave the Mustangs a 44-40 lead and prompted an Irvine

timeout.

Then with 1:40 remaining, Molina misled the Vaqueros defense with

a slight pump-fake pass to the wing and delivered a smooth, yet quick

pass down low to a wide-open Scott Knox, who made the uncontested

bucket for a 46-40 lead.

“We kind of gutted it out. That’s how I would describe that win,”

Serven said. “(The Vaqueros) were very aggressive. They switched

defenses constantly. But I thought our young guys handled it.”

The Vaqueros, who played their first home game, trailed, 31-22,

with 6:33 left in the third quarter after Stankovic scored Mesa’s

first six points of the period. However, Irvine chipped away at the

lead and went up, 39-38, with 5:29 remaining. It was Irvine’s first

lead since, 10-9, with 1:18 left in the first quarter

The Vaqueros were down, 11-10 after the first period, then Costa

Mesa opened with a 10-0 run, led by Krikorian, who scored six points

in the spurt.

“This is only our sixth game,” Serven said. “We’re a young team

playing in a very good tournament. Some of these teams are very good.

I think some of our players might be a little star-struck.”