Boys’ Basketball: Ocean View surges past Costa Mesa
HUNTINGTON BEACH — Costa Mesa High boys’ basketball Coach Mike Molina hopes his team’s fight in the second half of Saturday’s nonleague game at Ocean View will transfer into Orange Coast League play.
But it was a transfer who ended up doing in the Mustangs.
Junior forward Christian Anderson, a transfer from Tustin, led Ocean View with 19 points as the hosts prevailed, 69-55.
Molina said his team, which has lost five of its last six games, has been struggling a bit since three close losses at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic in late December. He did see some things he liked from the Mustangs in Saturday’s contest.
Junior forward Nabeel Salameh poured in a team-high 17 points before fouling out in the final minute. Salameh was five for 12 from the field, including a trio of three-pointers.
Costa Mesa (7-9) played Ocean View (8-8) even for much of the contest. The Mustangs took an 8-2 lead, and they were still ahead early in the second quarter.
But the Seahawks closed the first half on an 18-1 run for a 37-21 halftime advantage. The Mustangs were outscored by Ocean View, 23-7, in the second quarter, and held to just one field goal.
“We’ve just got to learn to play smarter,” said Molina, who has no senior starters one year after tying the Mesa single-season victories record with 19. “That comes with the youth that we have. It just comes with the territory. You’re going to have to be able to put your big-boy pants on and make plays. We’ve got to be a lot smarter than we have been, especially in the second quarter.”
Sophomore guard Eric Carrasco had nine points for Mesa, while junior forwards Mason Tufuga and Simon Daniel each scored eight. Junior guard Calvin Ko had seven points and a team-best seven rebounds.
Molina said that Tufuga, the Mustangs’ leading scorer, did not start the game due to disciplinary reasons. He was scoreless in the first half before heating up after the intermission.
Salameh made two three-pointers in the opening minutes of the third quarter, as the visitors trimmed their deficit to 40-31 to force an Ocean View timeout with 4:33 left in the quarter. The Mustangs got the deficit as low as six points later in the quarter on a layup by Carrasco, but could get no closer.
“[Salameh] transitioned from the four to the three spot this year, and he’s been doing a great job,” Molina said. “Him, Calvin and Mason are going to be the guys that we lean on for our offensive output. We just have to be tougher defensively. I thought in the second quarter, they kind of punched us in the mouth, and we didn’t really respond well. In the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, we tried to make a game out of it. It was good to show some fight, especially heading into league with a young team. That’s all that matters to me; that they’re playing hard and that they’re rising up to the challenge.”
Anderson, playing in just his second game for Ocean View, asserted himself at the start of the fourth quarter. He scored seven points in the first two minutes of the period, nailing a three-pointer to put Ocean View back up, 52-39, with 6:50 left.
Ocean View Co-Coach Tim Walsh, who shares coaching duties with former Marina and Fountain Valley Coach Roger Holmes, particularly liked to see Anderson’s inside game. It gives Ocean View, which made eight of 23 three-point attempts on Saturday, a dimension it is missing with senior forward Zarek Osborne (shoulder) out of action.
“We’re a team that’s shot well from the perimeter all year, and shot in volume from the perimeter all year,” Walsh said. “Costa Mesa scouted us pretty well, and it did a good job of taking away Bryson [Betti] and taking away our guards. But we were pretty happy with the ability to get stuff at the basket tonight, and defend at the basket as well. [The Mustangs] didn’t have any second chances.”
The Mustangs cut the deficit to nine on a short jumper by Daniel with 2:23 left. But Betti banked in a three-pointer out of a timeout, pushing the Ocean View lead back to 12 with less than two minutes left.
Junior guard Zamir Kelly matched his season average with 15 points for Ocean View, while freshman guard Paul Head scored 14. Betti, another freshman guard, scored all 11 of his points in the second half, including three makes from downtown.
Costa Mesa has a daunting first week in the Orange Coast League, playing host to defending league champion Laguna Beach on Wednesday before traveling to Estancia for the first Battle for the Bell game on Friday. Laguna Beach has won the league all eight years since it was formed in 2006-07. The Breakers have defeated Costa Mesa 20 straight times, including 17 straight in league.
“It’s a tall order for us,” Molina said. “Laguna’s going to be tough and then we can’t sleep, because we’ve got Estancia on Friday. Their place is nuts all the time. It’ll be a lot of fun, especially with Xavy [Castellano] over there and him getting the head job. It’s good to see an Estancia [alumnus] and a Costa Mesa [alumnus] getting after it. It’ll be fun to coach, for sure.”
Nonleague
Ocean View 69,
Costa Mesa 55
SCORE BY QUARTERS
CM 14 – 7 – 16 – 18 — 55
OV 14 – 23 – 8 – 24 — 69
CM – Salameh 17, Calderon 9, Tufuga 8, Daniel 8, Ko 7, Carrasco 3, Pepic 3.
3-pt. goals – Salameh 3, Ko 1, Pepic 1.
Fouled out – Salameh, Ko.
OV – Anderson 19, Kelly 15, Head 14, Betti 11, Reynolds 7, Twist 3.
3-pt. goals – Head 3, Betti 3, Kelly 1, Anderson 1.
Fouled out – None.
