Mustangs open with victory

Chris Yemma

A predictable output from Costa Mesa High senior Bethany Vergara led

to a predictable outcome for the Mustangs as they defeated visiting

Corona del Mar, 58-51, in both teams’ season opener Tuesday night.

Vergara and junior Tracy Bjelland were supposed to be the go-to

players this season for Mustang Coach Jim Weeks, and both of them got

a good start in that direction against the Sea Kings.

Vergara and Bjelland combined for 35 of the Mustangs’ points and

led the team out of a jam when the score got close in the third

quarter.

“Bethany and Tracy are going to be the two girls this year,” Weeks

said. “Bethany we counted on from last season, and Tracy went from

not playing [last season] to leading this year.”

After a comfortable lead in the first and second quarters was

whittled down by CdM, Vergara hit a three-pointer near the half-court

line just before the buzzer to put the Mustangs up, 32-25, going into

the half.

When it got close again in the fourth, Vergara hit a jumper from

just inside the arc to put Mesa up, 47-40, and with just minutes

left, with CdM trying to foul her, she dodged and dribbled, ran the

clock down to 1:45 and then took it in for the score.

“We had a pretty good game,” Vergara said. “We could have done

better, but it was the first game. Offensively we did really well and

defensively we reached too much.”

Vergara finished shooting 6 of 17 from the field for 17 points,

while Bjelland hit 8 of 15 for 18 points. But it was Vergara’s

defense, with six steals and one block, that also proved to be a big

factor.

For CdM Coach Scott Kahawai, there were a couple of things that

needed to happen for the Sea Kings to have a legitimate shot at the

game.

“We have to run and get up and down the court,” Kahawai said

before the game. “We have to apply pressure and we have to execute

offensively.”

He added that with only three seniors on the team, two of which

start, he was looking for his sophomores to step up.

Junior Kristina Wayte led the Sea Kings with 12 points and five

rebounds, while senior Sanya Wadhwa and junior Allison Long each had

eight points. CdM’s lone starting sophomore, Allie Duernberger, had

seven points and sophomore Shannon Johnson had two points.

Costa Mesa’s bench was also a contributor to the victory. Venise

Enesi, Judie Akansel and Rachel Evans combined for 14 Mesa bench

points, while CdM’s Long and Johnson combined for 10.

Weeks had said his depth was going to be a big factor for the team

this season.

“This will be the first season in a long time where we can go down

pretty far in the lineup and not lose much,” he said last week. “We

can go eight players deep without losing anything.”

After Tuesday’s game, Weeks said he was pleased overall with his

team’s first regular-season performance.

“It was a good first game,” he said. “We executed fairly well, we

had some early momentum and Bethany hit that shot just before half

that gave us some room.

“On defense, we were letting them do some things and we reached

too much, but overall if we keep playing like this, this is a good

team.”

The Mustangs will try and add to their win column Thursday as they

face visiting Santa Ana Valley.

*--*

Nonleague

Costa Mesa 58, Corona del Mar 51

Score by Quarters

CdM 10 15 13 13 -- 51

Costa Mesa 16 16 11 15 -- 58

CdM -- Benbow 2, K. Wayte 12, Marks 7, Wadhwa

8, Duernberger 7, Long 8, Johnson 2, Schulte

0.

3-pt. goals -- Marks 1.

Fouled out -- Schulte.

Technicals -- Team.

CM -- Bjelland 18, Cluff 0, Sanchez 7,

Vergara 17, Courtney 2, Enesi 6, Akansel 7,

Evans 1.

3-pt. goals -- Vergara 2.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

*--*