Mesa upset hopes denied at Santa Ana

Steve Virgen

For the first eight minutes, the Costa Mesa High boys basketball

team had the makings of an upset over Golden West League host Santa

Ana Wednesday. The Mustangs (6-13, 1-4 in league) built a 7-0 lead in

the game’s opening 4:13, they held a 9-5 edge after one quarter and

it appeared their zone defense slowed down the Saints’ offense.

However, Costa Mesa scored just two points in the second quarter,

while Santa Ana (11-7, 4-1), in particular senior Brandon McGee, got

back on track and gained a 23-11 halftime lead. The Saints maintained

their momentum and scored a 54-39 victory.

“It’s the same story for us; our problem is not scoring,” Mesa

Coach Bob Serven said. “We were (14 of 52 for 27%) from the field, 6

of 15 from the free-throw line (40%) and with two points in the

second quarter, that adds up to not being able to win over a good

team like Santa Ana.”

McGee, who scored a game-high 19 points, went 3 for 3 from behind

the three-point line in the second quarter. He scored 11 points in

the second period. The Mustangs were 0 for 11 from the field in the

second quarter. Mesa also struggled because its freshman starting

point guard, Brian Molina, picked up his third foul 4:17 before

halftime.

“We had poor awareness of where (McGee) was in the second

quarter,” Serven said. “(In previous games) we were able to control

scoring runs if we slowed down the game or controlled the tempo.”

The Saints controlled the tempo for the most part in the second

and third quarters. The Mustangs opened the second half with a 5-0

run that included a three-pointer by senior Danny Krikorian (seven

points) and cut the deficit to 23-16. But Santa Ana answered with a

14-0 run over the next 4:27.

Santa Ana shot 8 of 30 in the first half, and finished 38% (20 for

52) from the field.

“I was a bit worried about their zone,” Santa Ana Coach Adrian

Gomez said. “We showed that we were worried from the start. I was

very disappointed with the way we started. Costa Mesa does a good job

with their zone.”

The Saints missed their first 10 shots, while Costa Mesa earned a

7-0 lead in the first quarter. Freshman Scott Knox got the Mustangs

going with a three-pointer. Knox finished with a team-high 15 points.

Sophomore Jeff Waldron and junior Marko Stankovic combined for 27

rebounds.

The Saints were able to earn their biggest lead of the game,

49-23, with 3:55 remaining. But Costa Mesa came back with a 7-0 run,

as Molina and freshman Tony Krikorian caused turnovers, and Knox

converted with a three-pointer, a layup and then he made two of his

three free throws.

The Costa Mesa junior varsity team defeated Santa Ana, 58-54.

Jesse Luna led the Mustangs with 15 points.