By Katie Von Behren
Staff Writer
Coming off a tough loss against Peninsula on Friday, Costa came out strong Tuesday night at home against Palos Verdes.
Yet, despite strong contributions from seniors forward Justin Strings and guard Chase Crandall, with 21 and 13 points, respectively, a last-second three from PV senior guard Jake Peterson stole the win from the Mustangs, 52-50.
Strings led the team with six points in the first quarter, but Peterson and senior small forward Tyler Colon scored four and six points, respectively, for the Sea Kings, leaving the Mustangs behind, 14-10, at the end of the quarter.
“I think we played well throughout the game, bouncing back from the tough loss we had last Friday,” Strings said. “Unfortunately, Palos Verdes hit a big shot at the end, but you win some and you lose some. We just have to keep pushing on and try to do better in our next game.”
Strings scored nine more points during the second quarter, including a three-pointer. Crandall and senior guard Jake Feder also contributed two points each. The Mustangs went into half time on a positive note, after a three-pointer by senior guard Eric Ambrose.
“The boys played alright during the game and were able to keep the energy up and not fall very far behind,” coach Jeff Amaral said.
Starting the second half, the Mustangs led, 27-24. Junior guard Chris Lebbin contributed with his first three-pointer of the game, followed by a successful free throw by junior guard Dylan Kim. Senior center Sean Ostrom scored four points for the Sea Kings. The Mustangs finished the quarter in the lead, 34-33.
“I think our team played fine throughout the game on Friday,” Kim said. “The problem we had as a team was letting the game get away from us, which allowed Palos Verdes to keep up with us. We have to play with a sense of urgency from the very beginning in our next games in order to win these close Bay League matches.”
With a tight score going into the final quarter of the game, Crandall followed a layup with two three-pointers. Strings scored six more points as well. Junior Palos Verdes forward Jake Manguray and Colon retaliated with one three-pointer each for the Sea Kings. In the final three seconds of the game, Peterson drained the three to take a come-from-behind win for Palos Verdes.
“We played a lot of individual basketball to begin with, instead of playing team basketball,” Crandall said. “We really need to focus on playing team basketball in our next game.”
With the loss, Costa falls to a 2-3 record in Bay League and 16-5 overall. The Mustangs will play again tonight against West Torrance High School away at 7:30 p.m.
“We just want to take it one game at a time,” Strings said. “Bay League is always going to be tough, as we have seen in the last couple of games, so we want to just keep moving forward and play as a team to hopefully win our game on Friday,” Strings said.
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