Costa Boys Basketball Defeated by Beverly Hills 63-53

Cole Garvey

Online Sports Editor

Despite a valiant effort, Costa basketball was not able to bounce back, losing to the Beverly Hills Normans.

Costa Boys Basketball fell 63-53 against the Beverly Hills High School Normans in a home game on Tuesday Dec. 12. Costa’s top performers were Morgan Clark, and Tyler Antrobius.

“Our team fought hard after falling behind early and did a great job of getting back in the game,” coach Jeff Amaral said.

The Normans began the game strong scoring first and pushing the ball to score  many points in transition offense. The Mustang’s defense was not able to contain the Normans’ fast paced offense and went into the second quarter down, 19-5.

“Our main goal was to keep them out of them out of the paint because they had several quick guards that could get to the basket well,” junior Parker Lynch said.

The Mustangs began to pick up the pace in the second quarter with help from their bench coming in to make many momentum swinging plays. Costa began to chip away at the Norman lead by scoring in bunches with 3 pointers from guards Tyler Antrobius, Morgan Clark, and Carson Carrey. The Mustangs went into the locker room down  35-22 at the half.

“We started to push the ball up the court, creating fastbreaks that allowed us to get open looks at the basket,” sophomore Tyler Antrobius said.

The Mustangs kept the momentum early in the 3rd by playing lockdown defense and capitalizing on the Normans’ turnovers. The Mustangs brought chaos to the Normans on the defensive end by switching between a zone, man and half court press. Beverly Hills was able to regain their composure and increase their lead on a combination of points in the paint and outside the 3 point arc. The Mustangs trailed the Normans 38-45 heading into the fourth.

“We played like a pack of dogs in the 2nd and 3rd quarter… we will keep fighting every game, no matter who we play,” junior Carson Carrey said.

The Mustangs came out swinging in the fourth quarter with energizing plays in fastbreak situations and by fighting for offensive rebounds. Costa also moved the ball well on offense converting on points in the paint and beyond the arc. The Mustangs dwindled the Norman lead to 45-44 at one time, but the Normans barely escaped with a 63-53 win.

“I had to give it to us to for continuing to battle and compete,” junior Carson Carrey said.

The Mustangs, now 3-6 overall will play a 7:30 game against Nevada’s Legacy High School. The game will be on Friday Dec. 15 against the out of state opponent.

“We need to take care of the ball and execute to pull it off in the 4th,” coach Jeff Amaral said.