Boys’ Basketball: Mustangs fall again

One of the top players on the Costa Mesa High boys’ basketball team was keeping score, instead of scoring for the Mustangs on Tuesday.

Coach Phil Weber would have preferred to have Calvin Ko on the court, but he said his guard missed the Mustangs’ second game in the Corona del Mar Beach Bash because he was sick.

Costa Mesa could have used Ko. The Mustangs dropped their second straight game at the tournament, losing to Troy, 52-47, in a pool-play action at home.

Along with CdM, Costa Mesa is one of two host sites during the six-day tournament. The third day of the 18-team tournament is Wednesday, when Troy (3-3) plays against Edison (2-0) at CdM at 8:30 p.m. The winner claims Pool D and advances to the quarterfinals.

“That’s going to be a tough matchup, a lot of good guards,” Troy Coach Aaron Mason said.

Costa Mesa saw Edison’s guard play on Monday, suffering a 76-39 setback at home to the CIF Southern Section Division 1A runner-up finisher from last season. The second game in the tournament proved to be much closer for the Mustangs, after they rallied from a 15-point, third-quarter deficit.

Chris Calderon helped Costa Mesa’s comeback attempt, recording half of his 12 points in the fourth quarter. The guard opened the fourth with a jumper, sparking a 10-2 run.

In the final two minutes, Calderon made consecutive layups, the second one while Troy fouled him. The Mustangs had a great opportunity to make it a two-possession game with 80 seconds, but Calderon was unable to convert the free throw.

Troy, which led, 50-43, went up by nine 24 seconds later on Ryan Murase’s layup. That marked the Warriors’ final basket, and their lead dwindled to five after a floater by Simon Daniel (eight points) and a putback by Mason Tufuga (six points, 10 rebounds and three blocks), but time ran out on the hosts.

“His offensive and defensive presence is really [needed],” Weber said of Ko, a senior. “It would’ve been nice to have him, but, you know, we want to get him at least healthy.”

A day off will do Ko some good, as well as the Mustangs.

Costa Mesa resumes tournament play on Thursday at home. The Mustangs have struggled through the first seven games of the season, going 2-5.

This is the first season Weber, 26, is in charge of a varsity program.

“It hasn’t been that hard,” Weber said of taking over at his alma mater. “I’ve been close with [the past two head coaches at Costa Mesa], Dan [Krikorian] and Mikey [Molina], working with them and seeing how they do it. Big shoes to fill, but I’m glad I get the opportunity to do it.”

Weber said what is lacking from Costa Mesa is communication on the defensive end. Defending the three-point shot is a start.

The Mustangs kept leaving the Warriors open behind the arc, as Troy made eight three-pointers through three quarters. Alec Sinek hit five threes, giving him a game-high 15 points.

The only shot that fell for Troy in the third quarter was the three. Sinek drained three three-pointers in the quarter, and Collin Lee had one. Troy, which only made four of 18 shots in the third, still managed to take a 48-33 lead into the fourth quarter.

Five turnovers in the third hurt the Mustangs. One of the threes came after a steal by the Warriors, and Sinek drilled two wide-open threes from the left corner to give Troy its biggest lead.

“It’s tough, but we knew that coming into this tournament, [this is] the CdM tournament,” said Weber, whose second-leading scorer was Nabeel Salameh (10 points). “We need this now, so we can learn how to handle it come [Orange Coast League play].”

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CdM Beach Bash

Troy 52, Costa Mesa 47

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Troy 19 – 17 – 12 – 4 — 52

Costa 13 – 11 – 9 – 14— 47

T – Sinek 15, Lee 8 , Shafi 8, Norwood 7, Reyes 4, Yoo 4, Murase 2, Mickle 2, Mayo 2.

3-pt. goals – Sinek 5, Lee 2, Norwood 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

CM – Calderon 12, Salameh 10, Daniel 8, Tufuga 6, Pepic 6, Dasca 5.

3-pt. goals – Calderon 2, Pepic 2, Salameh 1, Dasca 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.