By: Ella Mahan
Staff Writer
Mira Costa High School Boys Varsity Basketball crushed their second tournament of the season, called the Pac Shores Tournament on Dec. 2, 2019 through Dec.7th.
The Mustangs played the Venice Gondoliers and ended up winning by just 3 points. In the first quarter, the Mustangs took an early lead, scoring 19 points and the Gondoliers only scored 10 points. However, in the 2nd quarter, the Mustangs scored only 4 points, and the Gondoliers scored 18. This resulted in the Mustangs going into the 2nd half of the game behind the Gondoliers with the score being 23-28.
“During this tournament our team took a step forward towards our end of the season goals,” freshman Dylan Black said. “Now we just want to keep winning games so our record improves.”
Mira Costa picked it up in the 3rd and 4th quarters, according to sophomore Jesse Waller. Fourteen points were scored in each quarter, making the end score Mira Costa 51, Venice 48. Mira Costa’s new record after the game was 3-3, improving their record overall.
“I think we played up to our ability in the tournament but in some games we lost our leads and the game became close,” said sophomore Jesse Waller.
The Mustangs played again in the tournament the next day, on Dec. 3, against Salesian, at the Manhattan Beach Middle School at 7pm. The Mira Costa Mustangs fell to the Salesian Mustangs with a final score of 26-41. Mira Costa fought hard, according to junior Teagan Disharoon, however they could not bring themselves to beat the Salesian Mustangs.
“We had a very good tournament defensively which is very important for us getting ready for league play soon,” junior Disharoon said. “We also keep turning the ball over less which is good because it shows that we are beginning to play better together.”
With Salesian being 7th in California and Mira Costa being 171st, it was a tough game for the Mira Costa Mustangs. However, it was definitely not a ‘walk in the park’ for Salesian, and just that is a major accomplishment, according to sophomore Jesse Waller. The loss led to the record becoming 3-4, and their record for the tournament became 1-1.
“The Pac Shores tournament was a great learning experience for us,” junior Disharoon said. “We were able to play in some close games against pretty good competition and were able to come out of those games with some big wins.”
On Dec. 4th, the Mira Costa Mustangs faced the Wisenburn- Da Vinci Wolves at Da Vinci High School at 7:30pm. The Mustangs won against the Wolves with the final score being 49-55. After the first quarter, the Mustangs were up 20-13, and kept the lead throughout the whole first half. The score at the end of the 2nd quarter was 28-21.
“We did a good job keeping our lead throughout the whole game in this particular game, which helped in the long run,” senior Max McCalla said.
The Mustangs scored 16 points in the 3rd quarter, and the Wolves scored just 11 points, making the Mustangs lead even bigger. After the 4th quarter, the score was 49-55, with the Mustangs in the lead. The new record for the Mustangs was 4-4 after their win against the Wolves.
“I think we can work on keeping our lead and having less turnovers, but overall I think we played well and it’ll be a good season,” Waller said.
On Dec. 7th, the Mustangs played in the final game of the Pac Shores tournament against Lawndale at Wiseburn Da Vinci High School. The Mustangs did not disappoint, and came out on top, with the final score being 68-46. With a new overall record of 5-4, the Mira Costa Mustangs finished the Pac Shores Tournament strongly. They will next host El Segundo High School on Dec. 13th at the Manhattan Beach Middle School at 7pm.
“We fought through the adversity in our last game and came together as a team both offensively and defensively throughout the whole tournament,” Black said.
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