By Tess Whittet
Staff Writer
As the Mustangs’ fourth quarter lead rose to 20, a hushed silence fell over the Torrance crowd; Mira Costa’s boys basketball team had routed the Tartars.
The Mustangs defeated Torrance High School, 64-40, on Tuesday at Torrance. Senior guard Ryan White and senior power forward Cameron Steen dominated offensively, accumulating a total of 29 points.
“I think we played very consistently and stayed strong throughout the entire game,” Steen said.
The Mustangs came out strong in the first quarter with shots from senior forward Jonas Pittman earning Costa a lead of 15-11.
“We did a good job playing defense by limiting Torrance to one shot a possession and getting the offensive rebounds,” Pittman said. “Offensively, we also did a good job spacing the floor.”
Costa started out the second quarter with a three pointer, but Torrance countered with its own three pointer; by the middle of the quarter, Torrance had taken the lead but was unable to maintain it due to Costa’s defense. The Mustangs ended the half ahead, 27-19.
“We played with a lot of energy, which helped us defensively,” White said. “We also broke their press nicely, which helped us get open looks offensively.”
The Mustangs stayed on top in the third quarter, maintaining their lead at 34-27. Torrance narrowed the gap, however, when it scored two consecutive three pointers, but, ultimately, the Tartars were unable to catch up. Costa finished the quarter with a lead of 42-32.
“We had good overall team energy, and we were able to make solid offensive and defensive plays,” junior shooting guard Bobby Barkley said.
Costa remained ahead in the fourth quarter, holding a 47-35 lead. Halfway through the quarter the Mustangs thwarted any chance of a comeback due to their aggressive offensive, increasing their lead to over 20 points.
“I thought we did a great job, and the game had a fun environment,” coach Jeff Amaral said. “Torrance brought a big crowd out and good energy, and the boys responded to that very well.”
Costa, now 5-4 overall, will play Chaminade High School at home tonight at 7 p.m. The game should be an interesting matchup since Chaminade has taller players than Costa in most positions.
“I think the game will be pretty good since it’s our first real home game,” Steen said. “If we can get a good crowd out there tonight, then it should be a fun game that we can win.”
Boys varsity basketball team defeats Torrance away on Dec. 13th.
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