Mesa finishes with win

The Costa Mesa High boys basketball team saw a 15-point lead vanish

in the fourth quarter, but came back to earn a 56-53 overtime win

over Golden West League visitor Saddleback Friday night.

Mesa senior Danny Krikorian and freshman brother Tony had three

and two three-pointers, respectively, in the first quarter to account

for the Mustangs’ offense and a 15-6 lead after eight minutes.

Danny Krikorian, a four-year varsity player, finished with 26

points and his six three-pointers give him 163 for his career, a

school record, Coach Bob Serven said.

Freshman Scott Knox, coming off the bench as Serven elected to

start his four seniors, added 10 points, while sophomore Jeff Waldron

chipped in six points and 14 rebounds for the winners (10-16, 5-7 in

league).

Tony Krikorian, who along with Knox and freshman Brian Molina, as

well as Waldron, give Serven a strong nucleus for years to come,

finished with nine points, all on three-pointers.

Danny Krikorian opened the overtime scoring with a free throw and,

after a Saddleback bucket, Molina scored on an acrobatic left-handed

layup to put Mesa on top, 52-51.

A Knox free throw upped the lead to two, but the Roadrunners, who

needed the victory to get the 11 necessary to be considered for an

at-large berth into the CIF Southern Section Playoffs, pulled even at

53.

Molina converted 3 of 4 foul shots to finalize the scoring in the

final minute, as Saddleback missed a trio of three-point attempts,

the last after stealing an inbounds pass with one second left, to go

away disappointed.

“Our freshmen started playing like they weren’t freshmen toward

the end of the year and Danny Krikorian closed out a fine four-year

varsity career,” Serven said. “We would love to be practicing next

week (preparing for the playoffs), but it didn’t work out.”