Boys basketball: Mesa ends the streak!

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - When it has been 18 years since you’ve beaten your

cross-town rival, a little four-minute overtime period is nothing more

than a minor inconvenience.

The Costa Mesa High boys basketball team used its overtime opportunity to

earn a 58-50 Pacific Coast League-opening victory Friday over visiting

Estancia, ending the Eagles’ 30-game winning streak in the series.

“It’s my senior year and we hadn’t beaten Estancia since 1982,” said Mesa senior Rick Hatsushi, himself one year younger than the now-terminated

streak.

Hatsushi, a 5-foot-10 point guard, was the primary reason the Mustangs

ended the drought, exploding for a career-high 19 points, including a

three-point play to open the extra session, which put the hosts up for

good.

“I was really pumped up for this game and coach told me I had to make a

few baskets tonight,” said Hatsushi, who helped send the biggest Mesa

crowd in recent memory home pounding its collective chest.

Mesa guard Dave Weir, whom Mesa Coach Bob Serven inserted in the starting

lineup because he was a senior, was also huge for the Mustangs (14-4),

adding a career-high 12 points and smothering defense to the winning

cause.

“These seniors (who won the PCL crown as freshmen) deserve this,” said

Serven, who, in his first year at the school, pleaded ignorance about the

enormity of the triumph.

“I don’t know any of those numbers,” Serven said. “I’ve heard this and

that, but I knew this would be a good quality basketball game. We played

hard and (Estancia) played hard. At the pep rally today at school, they

introduced our team and said ‘and they even have a winning record.’ I

guess they’re not used to this.”

The Mustangs aren’t used to opponents shutting down their top two

scorers, either. But, despite just seven combined regulation points from

Ryan Naff and Nate Jones, a duo which had averaged nearly 32 coming in,

they nearly finished off the Eagles (11-6) without a fifth period.

Jones and Naff, however, sparkled in overtime to finish with seven points

apiece. Fellow senior Shawn Ferryman added 11 points, while junior Steve

Whittaker chipped in two points, five rebounds, three assists and two

steals.

Estancia led at the end of the first and second quarters, but Mesa

squeezed ahead, 32-31, heading into the fourth period.

Estancia’s Travis Chandler hit a 15-foot jumper to open the fourth

quarter, but Mesa scored the next eight points to establish apparent

command.

Three-points by senior guards Jon Cantrell and Jason Simco, however, drew

the Eagles to within 42-41, before a Simco steal and layup erased the

deficit with 1:25 left in regulation.

Jones drilled a three-pointer for his first points of the night with 1:10

left, before Chandler tied it with a layin with 45 ticks remaining.

Hatsushi and Estancia’s Darshaun Garner each hit front ends of

one-and-one free-throw situations and Garner blocked Mesa’s last-second

shot to force the extra session.

“(Serven) told us to give him the best four minutes we had,” Hatsushi

said.

That they did, outscoring the visitors, 12-2, before giving up a

concession bucket at the buzzer.

In addition to his 19 points, Hatsushi added six rebounds, five assists

and two steals.

“(Hatsushi) was outstanding,” Estancia Coach Rich Boyce said. “When we

were ahead, he kept them in it and when they were pulling away, he was

the catalyst. He was the differencemaker.”

Simco finished with 17 points to pace the Eagles. Cantrell, battling a

box-and-one defense with Weir glued to his jersey, finished with 12, as

did Chandler.

Cantrell, who was a part of Mesa’s championship freshmen team before

transferring, hit his first four three-point attempts, but managed just

seven shots. He did not shoot a foul shot.

Garner amassed 18 rebounds, but managed just five points as Mesa’s active

zone helped limit inside scoring chances, much to Boyce’s consternation.

The victory puts the Mustangs within one of matching their highest win

total since 1982. They are only four shy of the school single-season

record of 18.

“I don’t think we get enough credit,” Hatsushi said. “But we could prove

ourselves in the long run and we will prove ourselves.”

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS

Pacific Coast League

Costa Mesa 58, Estancia 50 (OT)

Score by Periods

Estancia 12 10 10 14 4 - 50

Costa Mesa 8 12 11 15 12 - 58

Estancia - Simco 17, Cantrell 12, Chandler 12, Garner 5, Rodriguez 2,

Aguilar 2, Maldonado 0, Concepcion 0.

3-pt. goals - Cantrell 4, Simco 3.

Fouled out - Simco.

Technicals - None.

Costa Mesa - Hatsushi 19, Weir 12, Ferryman 11, Naff 7, Jones 7,

Whittaker 2, Payne 0, Conte 0, Abedrabo 0, Krikorian 0, Knox 0.

3-pt. goals - Hatsushi 2, Weir 2, Jones 1.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.