Mesa closes campaign with loss at La Canada

Costa Mesa High’s girls basketball team, appearing in the CIF

Southern Section Playoffs for the 14th consecutive season, ran into a

talented La Canada squad Thursday night in the first round of the CIF

Division III-A bracket as the host Spartans defeated the Mustangs,

62-45.

The Mustangs, the Golden West League’s third-place representative,

finished 15-12. La Canada, the Rio Hondo League runner-up, improved

to 21-5.

Rhondi Naff (13 points) and Rickell Reeves (11) scored six points

each in the second quarter as Costa Mesa outscored the hosts, 15-10,

to tie the game at halftime, 27-27.

But La Canada netted five three-pointers in the third quarter and

eventually opened up a 20-point lead. Mesa’s Stacee Sanchez (14

points) drained two of her four three-pointers in the fourth quarter

to cut La Canada’s lead to 14, before the Spartans stretched it to 17

points by game’s end.

“They were so much bigger than we were,” Costa Mesa Coach Jim

Weeks said. “They’re just a strong team. A lot of things went against

us today ... but this team played hard all year. This is a great team

and I’m very proud of this team. They gave it everything they had all

year long, and as a coach you can’t ask for anything more than that.”

La Canada’s Diahnn Futalan, a 6-foot-1 junior center, scored a

game-high 18 points, while teammates Kim Gilmour (14 points) and

Kasey Hurlbutt (11) also scored in double figures.

“Naff added four assists, three rebounds and two steals for Mesa,

while Sanchez was 4 of 7 from beyond the three-point line.