Mesa’s path back to title game not easy

In a week, Coach Jim Weeks pictures a tough road back to the championship game.

Weeks has been through this before, the CIF Southern Section playoffs, with the Costa Mesa High girls’ basketball program.

On Sunday, the first step, learning who the Mustangs will play in the playoffs. Their path after the first two rounds sure looks troublesome as the playoff pairings were released at the CIF Southern Section headquarters in Los Alamitos.

Costa Mesa is one of two Newport-Mesa-area programs advancing, the other Sage Hill School, in Division IV-AA.

This year the Mustangs (18-8) didn’t receive one of the desired top four seeds. The Orange Coast League champions, No. 3 seeds last season, will open Thursday with a first-round game at home game against Rancho Alamitos (11-10).

Sage Hill (15-9) plays host to Desert Christian (19-3) from Bermuda Dunes Thursday. The Lightning’s run at winning the Academy League title for a fourth straight year ended with a second-place finish this year.

Sage Hill, with junior forward Tierney Danner (17.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game), has a solid chance of reaching the second round, just as it did last season in Coach Lou Silverman’s first year. It’s a matchup of two second-place teams, Sage Hill in the Academy League and Desert Christian from the Victory League, making for a competitive opening-round game.

That shouldn’t be the case for Costa Mesa against Rancho Alamitos. This isn’t the same Rancho Alamitos program in which Weeks led the Mustangs against in 1989-90 to win the Division 3-A section crown, the school’s first, or the Division III-A one the Mustangs, without Weeks as coach, beat Rancho Alamitos for in 1992-93 to win the school’s second title.

The Vaqueros received the Garden Grove League’s third and final playoff berth because La Quinta had to forfeit games due to using an ineligible player, knocking it out of playoff consideration with less than the 12 victories needed for an at-large entry.

“Not much height,” Weeks said of Rancho Alamitos, which played in a league with two teams barely finishing above .500.

It’s not as though Costa Mesa, winners of five straight, has a frontline that towers over everyone. Only 6-foot senior center Jasmine Werdel, who’s averaging 11.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, creates mismatches for opponents in the paint.

But Costa Mesa has stellar guard play, starting with senior point guard Michelle Figueroa. She leads the team in scoring (18.9), assists (4.8), and is second on the team in rebounding (7.3). The other standout guards are junior Amy Gentling and senior Kathy Trinh. Both are solid defensively and combine for close to 14 points per game.

“My guards are more experienced,” said Weeks, who in 13 of his 16 years at Costa Mesa has guided the program to the playoffs. “We don’t have as much depth and height [this year]. Pressure doesn’t bother us. Rebounding bothers us.”

That’s an area Costa Mesa has to pound, or else be ready to suffer a pounding. The Mustangs were able to reach the section finals last year, their fourth appearance in school history, by beating Arrowhead Christian of Redlands, 51-50, in the semifinals. Costa Mesa lost to St. Mary’s Academy of Inglewood, 64-37, in the title game.

Now the Mustangs will have to most likely get past Arrowhead Christian (20-4), the No. 4 seed, in the quarterfinals, and St. Mary’s (20-7), the top seed, in the semifinals, to get back to the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach.

“It’s going to be a bumpy road,” Weeks said.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA is a staff writer. He may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or david.carrillo@latimes.com.DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA is a staff writer. He may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or david.carrillo@latimes.com.