Eagles rally past Mesa

Barry Faulkner

In a crosstown rivalry game in which neither side was willing to

back down, it was who stepped up that decided the Golden West League

boys basketball meeting between host Estancia High and Costa Mesa

Wednesday night.

Sophomore Carlos Pinto, 0 for 8 from the field and scoreless

through three quarters, shrugged off any self doubt to score eight

crucial points in the final period to help the Eagles rally for a

40-35 triumph.

In addition, senior Zack Novak personified Estancia’s willingness

to embrace the mounting pressure, excitedly pleading and winning his

case to shoot two technical foul shots that wound up icing the

victory with 32 seconds left.

“I think there’s an opening for me in Las Vegas as a magician,”

Estancia Coach Chris Sorce quipped afterward, citing his team’s

recovery from a spirited Mustang performance that made a Mesa upset

the expected result for 15 minutes of action spanning the second and

fourth quarters.

“I asked my assistants at halftime if they had any miracle cures,”

Sorce said of trying to regroup after Mesa seized a 22-15 lead by

scoring the final 14 points before intermission. “We just weren’t

being aggressive and that’s not us.”

Sorce would agree much of his team’s late first-half funk came

courtesy of Mesa’s active one-three-one zone defense, that virtually

negated any Estancia inside game.

Estancia frontcourt players combined for one field goal in the

first 16 minutes, as the Eagles finished the first half 3 of 18 from

the field (16.7%).

The visitors (5-12, 0-3 in league), rallied from a 7-0 deficit to

within 12-6 at the end of the first quarter then, after a Matt

Cachola three-pointer put the Eagles up, 15-8, with 6:51 left before

half, made themselves at home before a spirited crowd that nearly

filled both bleachers and scattered throughout the open end of the

gym.

Four different Mustangs, paced by senior four-year varsity

performer Danny Krikorian, contributed to the scoring run to close

the half. Krikorian, who matched Cachola for game-high scoring honors

with 14 points, hit the first of his two three-pointers and netted

four free throws during the blitz, which freshman Brian Molina capped

with a three from the top of the key with 36 seconds left in the

half.

Krikorian opened the third-quarter scoring with a three-pointer to

extend the lead to 25-15, before Tyler Hoffman halted an Estancia

scoreless streak of 8:48 by connecting from beyond the arc to give

the home crowd hope.

After a Mesa free throw, Cachola had four points in a 7-0 Eagle

run that pulled the hosts (13-5, 3-1) to within 26-25.

A Jeff Waldron layin off a Molina assist and a three-pointer by

Ziad Pepic helped Mesa take a 31-25 edge into the fourth quarter. But

Pinto wasn’t about to let his team absorb a second straight home

league loss.

“It was my time to step up,” Pinto said of the final eight

minutes, which he opened with a nine-foot jumper and a three from the

left corner to trim the deficit to 31-30.

Pinto then fed Jordan Stroman for an eight-foot turnaround to give

the Eagles the lead with 5:54 left.

Krikorian and Waldron answered with two free throws apiece to put

Mesa up, 35-32, but Novak pared it to one with a pair of foul shots

with 2:46 left.

It stayed that way for 70 seconds, when Pinto beat the shot-clock

buzzer by draining a three-pointer from the right wing for a 37-35

edge with 1:36 left.

After both teams traded possessions, Mesa missed a layup and a

follow shot after a steal, then officials stopped play on Estancia’s

ensuing possession with 32 ticks remaining.

At issue was the failure of the shot-clock operator to start the

35-second clock, an error Serven had tried to point out the

possession before, just as his team stole the ball. An emotional

Serven shouted protests to the referees trying to bring attention to

the error, but also directed his rant at the adult female clock

operator. After voicing derisive comments a third time toward the

clock operator, an official issued Serven a technical foul.

“That was bad officiating, giving me a technical in a two-point

game when it was (the clock operator’s) mistake,” Serven said later.

While Sorce planned for Cachola, the current leader in the team’s

ongoing free-throw contest, to go to the line, Novak had another

idea.

“Zack came over to me raising his hand, telling me he wanted to

shoot, because he was hot and hadn’t missed a free throw all night

(in four previous tries),” Sorce said. “I thought it over for a

second, then told Zack he was our guy. I told him to prove us right

and he did.”

After Novak converted from the stripe to double the lead to 39-35,

Mesa fouled to send Estancia to the line with 30 seconds left. The

Mustangs rebounded a miss, but were unable to convert offensively and

a Cachola free throw with 24 seconds left finalized the scoring.

Costa Mesa, which was 10 of 35 from the floor through three

quarters, did not make a field goal in nine attempts in the fourth

and was scoreless the final 3:28.

“You can’t win scoring three points in the fourth quarter,” Serven

lamented.