Mustangs saddle victory

Rick Devereux

The snack stand at Costa Mesa High does not sell Dramamine, but maybe

those involved with the boys basketball program should think about

it.

The Mustangs’ level of play rose and plummeted more than a buoy in

a hurricane, but Mesa was able to hang on for a 75-57 Golden West

League win Thursday over visiting Santa Ana.

“[Santa Ana] had us scared,” Coach Ryan Schachter said. “But our

guys responded well.”

Costa Mesa (13-8, 7-1 in league) scored 22 points in the second

and fourth quarters, but was outscored, 20-12, in the third to cut a

41-19 Mustang halftime lead to 53-49 heading into the fourth.

“I give [Santa Ana] a lot of credit,” Schachter said. “They played

extremely well.”

When the intensity dipped, the defense played soft or rebounds

were lost, Schachter inserted sophomore Larry Puente to jump-start

the team.

“Larry provides a lot of athleticism off the bench for us,”

Schachter said. “I expect him to be a big contributor in the second

half of league.”

Puente was at his best in the fourth quarter. He stole the ball

and finished a layup to stretch the Mustang lead to eight points

after Santa Ana made a 4-0 run with less than four minutes remaining.

He made another steal and layup with 1:25 left to give Mesa a

74-57 lead. Puente finished with 10 points.

“I try to push everyone to keep playing hard,” Puente said. “You

can’t stop playing the game when things go bad. You’ve to keep

playing the game.”

Tony Krikorian tied for the game-high with 20 points for Mesa.

Santa Ana’s Frank Granados also finished with 20.

The roller coaster of energy exuded by the Mustangs could still be

related to the emotional loss to cross-town rival Estancia Friday,

but there are other factors involved.

“I think we might get to comfortable when we get a lead,” senior

captain Jeff Waldron said. “We’ve got to try to keep our intensity up

for the whole game.”

Waldron had a monstrous night under the boards, finishing with 12

rebounds. He also had nine points, including a three-pointer in the

fourth quarter that gave the Mustangs an 11-point lead.

Costa Mesa plays at Saddleback Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Golden West League

Costa Mesa 75,

Santa Ana 57

Score by Quarters

*--*

Santa Ana 18 11 20 8 -- 57

Costa Mesa 19 22 12 22 -- 75

*--*

Santa Ana -- Bustamonte 5, Vinanco 2, Hernandez 8, Stephenson 10,

Granados 20, Anguiar 7, Rodriguez 2, Morales 3.

3-pt. goals -- Stephenson 2, Granados 2.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

Costa Mesa -- Molina 5, Sc. Knox 15, Krikorian 20, Waldron 9,

Aleson 9, D. Wase 2, Puente 10, Lefebvre 5.

3-pt. goals -- Krikorian 4, Sc. Knox 2, Molina 1, Waldron 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.