Nick Lee
Staff Writer
In a victory in the South East Tournament on Wednesday, Costa (3-2) dominated the game, beating South East (1-3), 78-31.
The Mustangs came out strong and ended the first quarter, 27-0. Costa started off in a full-court press and locked up the Jaguars’ offense, not allowing the opposing team to cross half court.
“We played some solid defense,” coach John Lapham said. “However, we did get a little sloppy at times when we fouled and passed up some steals.”
Costa scored 27 answered points, all of which were from the full-court press. The Mustangs turned the game into a drill, stealing the ball and shooting layups.
“Our full-court press did a great job,” Lapham said. “We put pressure on the ball and made their guards turn the ball over.”
The Mustangs also dominated the boards, grabbing 32 rebounds.
“Our team was successful on the boards because we took advantage of our height,” sophomore Allie Navarrete said.
After dominating the first quarter, Costa allowed South East to score its first basket of the game in the second. The Jaguars bounced back, scoring eight points to end the half at 38-10.
“We could have taken better shot selections at the beginning and taken our time to set some plays up,” senior Haley Tojo said.
With a steady lead over South East in the third quarter, Lapham subbed players who normally do not play in games. The bench had a combined total of 29 points, contributing to the massive lead.
“We were able to sub in players that work very hard in practice but don’t get as many minutes,” Lapham said.
South East had one final push in the fourth quarter, but was soon thwarted by the Mustangs’ defense. Costa ended the game with a 47-point lead.
“We kind of let up on defense in the second half and allowed them to score some points,” Tojo said. “However, we stopped their final effort and finished strong.”
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