Mustangs hit a road block
Bryce Alderton
At times it probably seemed like there was an invisible hand
swatting away any round orange ball shot from the hand of a Costa
Mesa High girls basketball player Wednesday night against visiting
Ocean View.
The hosts made just 10 for 42 (23.8%) from the field, including an
0-for-13 mark in the third quarter and a 1-for-11 output in the first, while the Seahawks shot 48.5% (17 of 35) to win, 45-37.
Ocean View’s victory dampens Mesa’s chances of catching Estancia
(7-0) at the top of the Golden West League after the Eagles’ 58-55
victory over Westminster (5-2 in league). The Seahawks improved to
10-10, 3-4, and avenged an 11-point loss earlier to Mesa (12-9, 4-3).
Mesa, still in third place, has four league games left, starting
at Orange Monday before traveling to Estancia Wednesday. The top four
teams qualify for the CIF Playoffs.
“Just what I was afraid of,” Weeks said after the loss. “I knew
(Ocean View) would come out fired up and (the visitors) played great
defense in the third quarter and that hurt us.”
Ocean View starting junior guard Erica Williams was better than
all the other players on the court Wednesday night. She scored a
game-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting, 16 coming in the first half
when she made all seven layups on seven attempts. Each field goal
occurred when she broke Mesa’s press to receive a lob pass in stride
down the court.
“We were letting her get open too often,” Weeks said. “We were
down, 12-3, early and were never able to get over the hump.”
Mesa trailed, 12-3, at the end of one quarter and didn’t record
its first field goal until senior Rhondi Naff took a pass from Susana
Trujillo, drove the lane and banked it in with 3:29 remaining. Naff
followed up her season-high 38-point performance in a win against
Saddleback Monday with a team-leading 16 points and seven rebounds
against the Seahawks. She scored in double-figures for the 17th time
in 20 games this season.
Eight of Naff’s points came in the second quarter as Mesa cut the
lead to 24-23 following a Cassey Brick three-pointer with 1:25 left
in the half. Naff converted all six of her free throws in the second
period. She finished 8 of 11 from the foul line.
The Seahawks opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run.
Stacee Sanchez scored all eight of her points in the final quarter
and collected two steals before fouling out with less than a minute
to play. Brick finished with five points, two rebounds and four
steals while Denise Landeros and Lacey Navarrette (each with three
points) and Susana Trujillo (one) contributed to Mesa’s offensive
output.
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