Trinh helps win battle

SANTA ANA — Kathy Trinh may or may not catch it in theaters, but Sylvester Stallone’s new “Rambo” movie opens next weekend.

And, while girls’ basketball in the Orange Coast League isn’t exactly warfare, Costa Mesa High Coach Jim Weeks gave Trinh a mission during Friday night’s key league game at Calvary Chapel.

Trinh had to guard a Rambo, not John but Eagles’ senior Ashley Rambo.

It would be fair to say that Weeks thought Trinh did a bang-up job, as her good defense and 11 points helped Costa Mesa to a 55-38 win.

Junior Amy Gentling has always been a shut-down defender, but Weeks said he challenged his players after the Mustangs’ league-opening win over Estancia on Jan. 11.

“I needed a second defensive guard to step it up,” Weeks said. “In the last two games, Kathy’s really stepped it up. She got 11 points tonight and did a great job defensively on Rambo. That’s one of the best all-around games of her career.”

Trinh held Rambo, the talented guard who came into the game averaging 13.4 points per game, to just six points. Gentling helped limit Calvary Chapel junior guard Amanda Souder, the Eagles’ leading scorer at 14.4 points per game, to five points.

But the Mustangs were nevertheless down on the scoreboard until midway through the second quarter. Not a good sign for defending league champion Costa Mesa (12-6, 3-0 in league), which suffered its only league loss at Calvary Chapel (11-9, 1-2) last season.

“We started out really bad,” said senior point guard Michelle Figueroa, who finished with a game-high 19 points and added four assists. “We weren’t playing our game, and in past games that’s been a problem with us in the first quarter. [Weeks] asked us if we were ready to play.”

Mesa got its first lead of the game, at 13-12, on senior center Jasmine Werdel’s layup early in the second quarter. Down, 16-15, the Mustangs scored seven straight points later in the quarter, capped by a three-point play from Trinh, and went into halftime with a 24-18 advantage.

Werdel, who hit her first six shots in the game, finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots.

The Mustangs, ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA coaches’ poll, held No. 8-ranked Calvary Chapel to just a single field goal in the first 12-plus minutes of the second half. Senior forward Kathryn Karkut (a team-high 11 points) got the second basket on a layup, but by then Mesa was already cruising with a 45-27 lead.

Gentling had seven points, seven rebounds and a team-high four steals for the Mustangs, who also received solid defense from seniors Tatiana Caicedo and Denise Rosello. Olivia Scheidt had four points and four rebounds for Mesa, and Weeks said Kelsi Bauermeister and Julianne Judkins provided energy when they entered the game in the second half.

“All nine girls were playing well,” said Weeks, who added he was worried about the game because he considers Calvary the second-best team in the league. “This year’s just such a different thing. How do you keep your team motivated even though the scores look like they’re really easy? But the score gets easy because you’re executing well. You’ve got to execute. You can’t just go out there and mess around.”

They haven’t done that so far. A third of the way through their league schedule, the Mustangs have won three league games by an average of nearly 24 points.

“Now that we won these three, we know that we can win the rest,” Werdel said. “We should win the rest. We know what we can do now.”

Weeks said senior guard Antoinette Langmos, who suffered strained right knee ligaments in the Estancia game, should be back in the next week or two.

Orange Coast League

Costa Mesa 55, Calvary Chapel 38

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CM – Figueroa 19, Werdel 14, Trinh 11, Gentling 7, Scheidt 4.

3-pt. goals – Gentling 1.

Fouled out – Caicedo.

Technicals – None.

CC – Karkut 11, Curran 8, Rambo 6, Souder 5, Haynam 3, Gooch 2, Garcia 2, Wong 1 .

3-pt. goals – Haynam 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.