Boys basketball: Mustangs overwhelmed

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - There have been many milestones for the Costa Mesa

High boys basketball team in the two-plus seasons since firebrand Bob

Serven took over as coach.

And, on Dec. 7, 2001, at 7:20 p.m., with 4:32 left in the first

quarter, a moment that should live forever in Mustangs’ lore occurred

when visiting Orange County monolith Mater Dei, called timeout to stop

the bleeding from a 12-8 deficit everyone knew wouldn’t last.

“I purposely didn’t convey to our guys (during four practice days of

preparation) what we knew could happen tonight,” Serven said after the

Monarchs (3-0), with more CIF Southern Section championships (15) than

Mesa has players, pulled away for an 82-44 nonleague blowout. “And for

that first quarter and a little longer, I thought our guys played like

they believed they could play with (the Monarchs).

“We played really well for a long time,” Serven added. “But then ...

they just overpower you.”

The Mustangs (3-2) led, 2-0, 5-4, 8-6, 12-8, 14-12 and 16-14. The

hosts trailed only 26-22 with possession and 2:22 left before

intermission.

But, despite a monster performance by 5-foot-11 senior Chad Vakili,

who sank his first three shots, including a pair of three-pointers, en

route to a game-high 21 points, the Mustangs didn’t have enough athletes.

An 8-0 Mater Dei run, which included a slam dunk by senior Mike

Strawberry, bumped the lead to 34-22, before a Carlos Jaime bucket pulled

the Mustangs to within 10 just before the halftime buzzer.

But, with senior Cal State Los Angeles-bound point guard David Conte

struggling mightily and Mesa unable to go more than six deep to try to

find answers, the inevitable red wave left Mesa submerged.

“We had a good game plan and our intensity was there,” Serven said.

“But whether we could play with them for four quarters, was another

story.”

Strawberry, a 6-foot-5 high flyer, 6-9 sophomore center Chris Henry,

as well as frontcourt reserves D.J. Stawberry and Mike Jones proved too

imposing and athletic inside against a Mesa starting five consisting of

the 6-1 Jaime and four sub-6-footers.

Mike Strawberry finished with 19 to lead the winners, while Henry

added 13, D.J. Strawberry 11 and Jones 10.

The Mustangs led before the clock started, as Conte netted two free

throws awarded when Mater Dei earned a technical foul by dunking in

warmups.

Vakili’s hot shooting produced 12 points in the first 14-plus minutes

and senior Nolan Clark had all six of his points during the same stretch

to keep the sizable and spirited home crowd energized.

Mesa junior Danny Krikorian also did his fair share, finishing with

nine points and a team-high eight rebounds and Jaime (two points and

three rebounds) impressed his coach with unfailing effort.

But Conte, who was also plagued by foul trouble, didn’t hit his first

field goal until 4:38 remained in the third quarter and he added only two

free throws to finish nearly 15 points below the 20.8 scoring average

he’d posted the first four games of this season.

Serven said the loss, though humbling, should benefit his team in the

long run.

“We won’t play another team like that all year,” Serven said.

NONLEAGUE

Mater Dei 82, Costa Mesa 44

Score by Quarters

Mater Dei 14 20 25 23 - 82

Costa Mesa 14 10 11 9 - 44

Mater Dei - M. Strawberry 19, Washington 7, Henry 13, Nelson 8,

Gerrity 2, D.J. Strawberry 11, Jones 10, Schaen 6, Markus 3, Pinner 2,

Joyce 1.

3-pt. goals - Markus 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - Team 1.

Costa Mesa - Vakili 21, Krikorian 9, Jaime 2, Clark 6, Conte 6,

Strohman 0, Millward 0, Ball 0, Rowe 0, Trinh 0, Kohara 0.

3-pt. goals - Vakili 3, Krikorian 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.