Mesa makes strides in loss

Chris Yemma

Despite a 3-8 record, the Costa Mesa High girls basketball team is

making strides on improvement.

It was evident Monday in the first round of the Costa Mesa

tournament against El Toro. The Mustangs were outscored, 17-5, in the

first quarter, but fought back in the remaining three quarters to

lose, 51-48.

A Costa Mesa three-point attempt that would have tied it and

forced overtime missed in the finals seconds.

Junior guard Bethany Vergara hit 5 of 9 three-point shots and

finished with 20 points to lead the Mustangs against a Charger squad

that started fast but flared out late, as Mesa strengthened its

defense and upped the tempo.

After starting the with wins over Corona del Mar and Rancho

Alamitos, the Mustangs have won once in the last nine games -- a

39-34 triumph over El Dorado Dec. 18. But as the New Year approaches,

so does the second half of the season and Golden West League play.

And with Monday’s performance against a favored El Toro team, the

Mustangs showed that the rest of the season might still hold promise.

“El Toro’s very athletic and very strong,” Costa Mesa Coach Jim

Weeks said. “We’re getting better. We’re playing longer stretches of

good basketball and just a few stretches where we’re not playing

well. And all of that is encouraging.

“I think if we can extend this the next three days, I’ll really

get to know more, because we should be playing some good teams.”

With the loss to the Chargers (7-3), Mesa was relegated to the

consolation bracket of the tournament. It will face Sage Hill today

at 1:30 p.m. in a consolation quarterfinal.

Against El Toro, the Mustangs fell just short of advancing to the

championship bracket. With Mesa down, 51-48, and 14 seconds

remaining, El Toro’s Robin Smith was fouled and had a chance to put

the Chargers up by four points. She missed the free throw, but El

Toro got the offensive rebound.

After another Mesa foul, and another missed El Toro free throw,

the Mustangs inbounded with eight seconds, drove the court and kicked

it out to the three-point line. The shot was just short, though,

clanging off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

“This is a very good start [in the Costa Mesa tournament],” Weeks

said. “I told them this week is very important because next week we

have [league foes] Westminster and Orange, and therefore we have to

get ourselves ready to play.”

In the early stages of Monday’s game, it appeared as if El Toro

was going to walk all over the Mustangs on their home court. Smith

scored the Chargers’ first 11 points and led El Toro to a 17-5

first-quarter start.

Smith finished 10 of 12 from the field for a game-high 25 points.

But the Mustangs shut her down in the second quarter, zooming in on

her and keeping her scoreless.

A key statistic that affected the outcome and the early El Toro

lead was the shooting percentage. The Chargers shot 47% from the

field to Costa Mesa’s 35%, but the mere closeness in the last few

seconds was bothersome for El Toro Coach Steve Lewis.

“It was the worst game we played all year long,” Lewis said. “It

was a lack of mental intensity. I think we were just a little rusty

over the break.”

For Costa Mesa, though, it was a game that showed what sort of

potential is possessed, and what could occur as the team starts to

get in its rhythm.

“We looked good,” Weeks said. “We’ve had a very tough nonleague

[schedule] and we’ve played top teams, so I think they’re learning

and I hope tonight was a real step forward.

“Like I said, I guess we’ll find out [today].”

Costa Mesa tournament

First round

El Toro 51, Costa Mesa 48 Score by Quarters

*--*

El Toro 17 6 13 15 -- 51

Costa Mesa 5 10 16 17 -- 48

*--*

El Toro -- S. Monsanto 4, Hundley 4, Robertson 8, Pettigrew 6,

Armas 2, T. Monsanto 2, Smith 25.

3-pt. goals -- Pettigrew 2, Smith 2.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

Mesa -- Akansel 7, Bjelland 8, Cluff 3, Enesi 6, Evans 2, Vergara

20, Courtney 2, Sanchez 0.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.