Eagles rally by Mesa

COSTA MESA — It wasn’t the day-old Mohawk haircuts that made it most difficult for Estancia High boys’ basketball coach Agustin Heredia to identify his players Friday night.

After the host Eagles opened their crosstown rivalry with Costa Mesa by missing all 11 first-quarter field-goal tries and netting just three of 21 shots from the field before halftime, Heredia had to be wondering “Who are these guys?”

Costa Mesa posted a 9-0 lead that was 9-2 heading into the second quarter and was up, 15-11, at intermission.

But it was the Mustangs who stayed cold in the steamy, energized gym, finishing just 12 of 47 from the field (25.5%) to allow the Eagles to claim a 44-33 Orange Coast League triumph.

“My guys just didn’t come ready to play,” said Heredia, whose team (13-9, 3-1 in league) took its first lead on a Kevin Thomas three-pointer with 3:17 left in the third quarter and led for good on a Kohl Jones 12-foot jumper with just fewer than 10 minutes left in the game. “We got caught up in all this Battle for the Bell stuff and my kids just aren’t mentally tough.”

Costa Mesa (2-19, 0-4) displayed its toughness in the opening two quarters.

“Absolutely,” Mustangs Coach Bryan Rice said of his positive reaction to his team’s first-half effort. “[The Eagles] slept on us a little bit and they’re a good team. But we’re all right. We’re not a terrible team, even though our record is terrible.”

Junior Davon Joyner was arguably the only Eagle not to have a futile first half, as he scored all 11 of his team’s points.

“[Joyner, who finished with a game-high 16 points and shared game-high rebounding honors with Jones with 10] played a complete game,” Heredia said of the 6-foot-3 forward, who used his quickness to beat taller Mesa post players. “I was proud of him.”

But Heredia was less than pleased with his team at the break.

“We had to come in and yell at them a little bit at halftime,” Heredia said. “But they finally picked it up and got after it a little bit. We finally played to our potential.”

Estancia made eight of 15 from the field in the third quarter, after which it led, 30-24. And the hosts finished 14 for 28 from the field in the second half, including four three-pointers during a span of just less than four minutes late in the third quarter and early in the fourth.

“The three-pointers took the pressure off,” Heredia said. “It just seemed like a struggle and once we hit those threes, there was a little cushion there.”

Jones, the Eagles’ scoring leader, averaging 14.6 coming in, had seven points, all after intermission.

Wes Shaw, like Jones a senior, had nine points and five boards to help pace the winners, who received a pair of three-pointers from senior point guard Kevin Thomas.

Raymond Holmes’ long three ball from near the Estancia bench to beat the third-quarter buzzer, capped a 13-2 Estancia run to end the period.

Senior Brian Waldron had nine points and six rebounds to lead the Mustangs, who had 10 of the game’s 19 turnovers.

“When it was 9-0, I knew there was something wrong, so I just knew I had to pick up my game a little bit and get us back into it,” Joyner said. “We had all the haircuts and everything going. I think we got our heads more into that than into the game.

“We took [the Mustangs] lightly,” Joyner said. “They came out with some intensity, so we had to step up.”

Junior 6-7 center Andrew Albers had seven points and five rebounds for Mesa, for which senior Connor Metcalfe had five points and six boards off the bench.

Junior Matt Dimson had eight points for the visitors.

The two teams meet again Feb. 10 at Costa Mesa.

Orange Coast League

Estancia 44, Costa Mesa 33

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CM – Waldron 9, Dimson 8, Albers 7, Metcalfe 5, Simrak 2, Contreras 2.

3-pt. goals – Dimson 2, Metcalfe 1, Waldron 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Est – Joyner 16, Shaw 9, Jones 7, Thomas 6, Holmes 3, Antonio 3.

3-pt. goals – Thomas 2, Joyner 1, Antonio 1, Holmes 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – Coach Heredia 1.