Wyatt Davis
Staff Writer
In last Saturday’s CIF Division 1 semifinal against Santa Barbara, Costa’s strong defensive pressure was shown as the Mustangs held the Dons to a 61-40 win. The Mustangs, with a record of 29-3, will face Los Alamitos in the Division 1 Final at Toyota Arena in Ontario tomorrow.
Costa set the tone early with aggressive defense, forcing turnovers and limiting the Dons’ scoring opportunities. By halftime, the Mustangs had built a comfortable lead, allowing their defense to take control of the game.
“Our game plan was to trap everything and get the ball out of the hands of their best player,” senior forward Eneasi Piuleini said. “We knew Santa Barbara couldn’t operate without their best player.”
According to junior forward Jayden Kainsinger, the team spent a lot of time in practice working on preventing shots, especially in doubling players in certain moments.
“We made sure to go over our game plan and specific coverages to limit their threes,” Kainsinger said. “We tried to keep the ball out of the point guards’ hands and we were successful in shutting them down, holding them to 40 points”.
The Mustangs went on a 12-0 run in the third quarter and focused on keeping constant pressure on the Dons during the second half. According to Piuleini, Coach Perlmutter challenged them with the mindset that they are the best defensive team in the state.
“We showed that we are elite on defense.” Piuleini said. “We got them tired in the second half which led to them taking bad shots.”
In the fourth quarter, senior forward McCarthy Bedner got fouled on a three point attempt leading to him making all three free throws. Later, he made a transition three-pointer to add to the lead of 52-32.
“My teammates were able to get open looks for me,” Bedner said. “I was able to get to the line and make those shots giving us a bigger cushion. The students definitely gave energy when we got tired and it was great to see the fans support us and cheer us on the whole game.”
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