Mesa wins a grind

Rick Devereux

There are always two sides to every argument.

When Costa Mesa High beat Newport Harbor, 35-34, in the final

round of pool play in the Bill Reynolds Classic Friday at Newport, it

could have been argued neither offense had a strong showing.

“I give their defense a lot of credit,” Mesa Coach Ryan Schachter

said. “Overall, our defense played well.”

And instead of focusing on the fact his team was held to four

points in the first quarter and remains winless in its first four

games of the season, Sailors Coach Larry Hirst wanted to reiterate

the positives of first two weeks of the season.

“Our defense has been playing well so far,” he said. “I’m very

pleased with our defense.”

Both teams were looking for their first win in the eight-team

tournament, and it appeared the teams were going to need more than

the regulation 32 minutes to find that win.

Neither team scored in the final 2:07, with the final and

game-winning points coming from Mesa’s Jeff Waldron. Point guard

Brian Molina drove the middle of the lane, a Newport defender stepped

up to stop the dribble and Molina fed a perfect bounce pass to

Waldron for a layup to give Mesa the 35-34 win.

But the action was far from over.

Newport (0-4) sent had a three-point attempt and two different

players at the free-throw line, but no points came of it.

Costa Mesa (1-2) had three players on the charity stripe, but also

walked away without a point.

“We had opportunities but we just couldn’t finish,” Schachter

said. “Waldron carried us on his back. He just refused to lose.”

Waldron finished with a game-high 14 points.

The 6-foot-3 forward picked up his third foul early in the fourth

quarter.

“We knew Waldron had some foul trouble,” Hirst said. “We tried to

attack him to try to get him to foul out, but he is a great player

and stayed in there.”

The Mustangs opened up a 10-0 lead and finished the first quarter

with a commanding 15-4 advantage.

The Sailors scored nine points in the second quarter, five coming

off eight free-throw attempts. The Tars finished 10 for 22 at the line.

“We gave up too many offensive rebounds,” Schachter said. “When

you give up offensive rebounds, you are automatically in a bad

position. That’s why we fouled them so much.”

Both teams came out of halftime lethargic on offense. But it could

be said both teams played inspired defense after the break.

The teams combined for 11 points in the third quarter.

Costa Mesa did not score until 19 seconds remained in the third

quarter, allowing the Tars to creep within 21-20.

Waldron made a layup after a rebound and then Duaine Wase scored

on layup with one second left to give the Mustangs a 25-20 lead

heading into the fourth.

Dennis Heenan tied the game at 29-29, the first time the scores

were even since 0-0, with 5:00 left and Ted Slater’s two free throws

gave the Tars their first lead with 4:47 on the clock.

Waldron hit a mid-range jumper to switch the lead back in Mesa’s

favor and Tony Krikorkian’s steal and layup gave the Mustangs a 33-31

advantage with 3:35 left.

Robert Koon drilled a three-pointer with 2:27 left for Newport’s

final points.

“I have a feeling a lot of games are going to be battles like

this,” first-year coach Schachter said. “We are going to have to be

able to grind it out like we did tonight.”

Newport plays today in the seventh-place game at 2:30, followed by

Costa Mesa in the fifth-place game.

*--*

Bill Reynolds Classic

Pool play Costa Mesa 35, Newport Harbor 34

Score by Quarters

Mesa 15 6 4 10 -- 35

Newport 4 9 7 14 -- 34

Mesa -- Molina 5, Sc. Knox 8, Krikorkian 4,

Waldron 14, Aleson 0, D. Wase 4, French 0, B.

Wase 0, Lefebvre 0. 3-pts. goals -- Sc. Knox 2.

Fouled out -- Molina. Technicals -- None.

Newport -- Yaghjian 6, Perrine 3, Slater 4,

Koon 5, Brewer 0, Nasca 2, Dunlap 1, Stevens 2,

Heenan 7, Caldwell 4. 3-pt. goals -- Heenan 1.

Fouled out -- None. Technicals -- None.

*--*