Nick Lee
Staff Writer
In the semi-final girls basketball game at Norco, the Mustangs had a miraculous comeback in the 4th quarter, continuing their hunt for the California Interscholastic Federation champion title.
Norco came out ready to play, utilizing their size and holding a steady lead for the majority of the game. Costa struggled with Norco’s offense at the beginning of the game, but eventually gained momentum, winning the game 59-51.
“We struggled at the beginning with their quick guards and their larger players,” Head Coach John Lapham said. “We went back to our strengths and changed our sets.”
The Mustangs struggled at the start of the game, missing open shots and failing to guard Norco’s inside presence. Lapham was then forced to call a timeout to slow Norco’s momentum. After the timeout, the Mustangs started capitalizing on some open shots. The Mustangs then found themselves with a two point lead at the end of the first quarter.
“We started off not playing as ourselves,” Lapham said. “ We were being too passive and not playing the way we usually do.”
With Costa holding a two point lead going in to the second quarter, the Cougars dominated on both ends of the court. Costa had trouble guarding the Cougar’s outside shooters. Norco then went on a run and Costa soon found themselves down by 10 at half.
“They’re a very well coached team.” Senior Haley Tojo said. “They killed us with their system and their size.”
In the third quarter, Norco started off with a three right off the bat, setting a high tone for the rest of the quarter. NorCo then continued to extend their lead to as high as 14. Costa struggled to figure out how to stop the Cougars offense, ending the quarter 44-32.
“We could not get any edge on them,” Senior Kaleini Ikehara said. “We could not get into any type of rhythm and gave them too many free throws.”
After a beating in the first three quarters, the Mustang’s developed consistent scoring. With a combination of their press defense and now successful offense, Costa developed a strong foothold, narrowing Norco’s lead to one with three minutes left.
“We shot very well for the first time of the game,” Lapham said. “And we played solid defense for the last six minutes.”
The Cougars held on to their lead of three points when Tojo scored a three pointer after a pass from Sophomore Alexa Underwood, tying the game. After a steal, sophomore Allie Naverette got a shooting foul, making both free throws to seal the game.
“For the first time this season we started hitting our threes,” Lapham said. “With Ikehara’s threes throughout the game and Tojo’s clutch threes at the end we were able to stay alive.”
On Saturday, the Mustangs face off against Redondo(23-3) at Azusa Pacific. After losing the last game against Redondo, Costa is seeking revenge in the CIF championship.
“Having already played them twice in the season, we have a good idea of how they play,” Tojo said. “We have to stop fouling and move our feet.”
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