Jade Trejo
Online Sports Editor
Despite a solid 9 point performance from junior Max McCalla, the Mustangs were no match for the Sea Kings.
Mira Costa’s boys basketball team lost to Palos Verdes High School, 55-39 in an away game on Tuesday.
“Our help defense just wasn’t there,” junior JD Sanchez said. “ We also needed to box out and grab more offensive and defensive rebounds.”
Both teams came out aggressive and passionate to start the game. The hostile environment in the Palos Verdes gym made for an intense start to the first quarter. The Mustangs began the game with strong defense, but struggled with turnovers on offense, allowing the Sea Kings to capitalize on several fast break opportunities that resulted in points on the scoreboard. The first quarter ended with Palos Verdes ahead of the Mustangs.
“I thought we played good, tough defense, but unfortunately we were just unable to knock down a lot of our shots,” junior Tyler Antrobious said.
Costa had a tough second quarter. Palos Verdes’ offense excelled and was able to repeatedly put points on the board. Costa rarely had possession of the ball and when they did, they failed to hit their shots. Costa ended the quarter only scoring three points. Going into the half, Costa was down by a score of 27-12 and needed to make an offensive change to penetrate the Sea King defense.
“We were not hitting our shots and PV started to go on a run, and it left it very hard for us to come back,” senior Parker Lynch said.
After halftime, Costa’s offense finally started to click, with multiple shots falling from McCalla and senior Henry Householter. These baskets along with stronger defense were able to bring Costa back into the game. The Mustangs were also able to get offensive rebounds and steals which helped to decrease the chances of the Sea Kings scoring. By the end of the third quarter, the Sea Kings held onto a seven point lead, with a score of 38-31.
“We played good defense and began to hit some shots,” Antrobious said. “It allowed us to make a little comeback.”
In the beginning of the fourth quarter, Costa’s offense was powerful, scoring almost every time they had possession of the ball. Baskets by McCalla helped the Mustangs crawl back, making it a three point game. As the quarter progressed, Palos Verdes’ offense grew stronger as well and began to dominate. Mustangs were able to find open shots, but just couldn’t execute. Costa failed to keep up, and the game ended with the Sea Kings on top, 55-39.
“We just didn’t execute at the end of the game and we couldn’t get our shots to fall,” Sanchez said. “We needed to crash the boards better as well.”
Mira Costa will next face off against Leuzinger at 7:30 pm tonight at Leuzinger High School. After losing to Palos Verdes, the Mustang’s record is now 15-9 overall and 4-3 in Bay League. They are looking to keep improving their record and level of play, Lynch said.
“We approach every game the same way no matter who the opponent is, so we will be prepared and fired up to get the win against Leuzinger,” Lynch said.
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