Mesa turns over game
Patrick Laverty
That Costa Mesa High’s boys basketball team even had a chance to get
back into the game after committing more turnovers than it had points
in the first half was remarkable in itself.
More remarkable is that the Mustangs actually did turn things
around after halftime, coming back from a 12-point deficit late in
the second quarter to tie the game in the final period.
But Mesa simply ran out of gas.
After tying the score in the opening moments of the fourth quarter
and then once again pulling even on a pair of Jeff Waldron free
throws with 6:03 remaining in the game, Cypress outscored the
Mustangs 12-2 to pull off a 49-39 first-round victory at the Anaheim
Convention Center tournament Wednesday.
“We just couldn’t get ahead,” Costa Mesa Coach Bob Serven said.
“We played a poor first half. A little bit of that is we have
sophomores playing against seniors. We showed some maturity coming
back and we kept our composure after all the turnovers in the first
half, but we just couldn’t finish.”
The Mustangs (4-2) committed 18 turnovers, nine each in the first
and second quarters, before halftime and fell behind by as many as 12
points. They went into the break trailing Cypress, 26-16.
Mesa was bale to close the gap by forcing seven turnovers by the
Centurions (6-1) in the third quarter, while committing just three of
their own. Waldron, who led the Mustangs with 19 points and 10 rebounds, scored five points over the final 58 seconds of the quarter
to pull Mesa within three, 33-30.
Marko Stankovic eliminated that lead completely with a traditional
three-point play 45 seconds into the final quarter. After a
four-point run by Cypress, Mesa scored four consecutive points, tying
the score, 37-37.
The last of those points came on Waldron’s free throws after
Centurions Coach Jeff Russell was called for the technical foul. The
Mustangs got the ball back with a chance to take their first lead of
the game, but couldn’t convert. Mesa scored just two points the rest
of the way, a putback bucket by Waldron with 3:25 remaining.
“We were outscored 12-2 to end the game and that’s a compliment to
[Cypress],” Serven said.
Some of that can be attributed to Mesa’s youth. Stankovic is the
only senior that played against Cypress and three sophomores start in
the backcourt, which had trouble in the first half against the
Centurion’s full-court, man-to-man pressure.
“I think we were a little awestruck, playing in a big-time
facility like this,” Serven said. “That’s why we [scheduled this
tournament], to come here and play against good teams.”
The Mustangs will have a chance to do that again today in the
consolation bracket at 6 p.m. at Kennedy High.
*--*
Anaheim Convention Center tournament
First round Cypress 49, Costa Mesa 39
Score by Quarters
Mesa 7 9 14 9 -- 39
Cypress 13 13 7 16 -- 49
Mesa -- Molina 2, Knox 9, Krikorian 4,
Waldron 19, Stankovic 3, Wase 0, Aleson 2.
3-pt. goals -- Knox 1, Krikorian 1. Fouled
out -- None. Technicals -- None. Cypress --
Oberle 4, Meixel 2, Dennis 8, Nitta 9, Lopez
15, Couso 0, Igawa 2, McIver 3, Stafford 0,
Givens 6. 3-pt. goals -- Dennis 1. Fouled out
-- None. Technicals -- Coach.
*--*
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