Mustangs outplayed

Barry Faulkner

Costa Mesa High boys basketball coach Bob Serven acknowledged that

no amount of smoke and mirrors could distort the “Ocean View”

experienced from the top of the Golden West League.

Ocean View’s Seahawks (19-3, 7-0 in league), ranked No. 5 in

Orange County and tied for No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division

III-A, showed how exclusive their vantage point atop the seven-team

circuit has become with a 73-42 win Tuesday over the visiting

Mustangs.

“They’re a good team, as good as billed,” Serven said. “Ocean View

is the cream of the crop. Our guys played hard, but we were

overmatched in every aspect.”

The first of five Danny Krikorian three-pointers put the visitors

up, 3-2, and Mesa was within 6-5 of the Seahawks 2:30 into the

contest. But Ocean View junior scoring leader Matt Sargeant scored

seven straight points within a 43-second span and the hosts were off

to the races.

A pair of Ocean View three-pointers to open the second period made

it 23-8, but Krikorian (twice) and Ziad Pepic connected from beyond

the arc to help Mesa (7-14, 2-5) pull within 32-19 by halftime.

Ocean View, however, scored the first 14 points of the third

quarter, en route to its ninth consecutive victory.

Krikorian finished with a team-high 20 for Costa Mesa, while

sophomore Jeff Waldron added 10 points and eight rebounds for the

visitors. Krikorian now has 61 three-pointers for the season,

including at least one in 20 of the Mustangs’ 21 games.

Sargeant finished with a game-high 24 points, more than three

better than his average, despite sitting most of the final quarter.

He was responsible for half of the hosts’ eight three-pointers.

Senior Casey Ortiz, scoreless until the final seconds of the third

quarter, was the only other of 10 Ocean View scorers in double

figures with 10.

Ocean View defeated Costa Mesa, 56-52, in the league opener at

Mesa, but, Serven pointed out, that was after the Seahawks had

experienced a near-two-week layoff.

“It’ no fun to get beat like that, but it happens,” Serven said.

“It happens to good teams and it happens to young teams and we have a

young team.

“We’ll be all right, down the road,” Serven said.