Steve Virgen One by one they stepped...

Steve Virgen

One by one they stepped to Costa Mesa High’s center court and rang

their bell. It’s been two years since the Estancia Eagles have won

the perpetual bell trophy, the award for the winner of the boys

basketball game of crosstown rivals. And, so the Eagles rang the bell

loudly, especially Estancia senior Zack Novak.

Before the basketball season began, Feb. 6 was the type of date

Novak circled on his calendar. It would be the day the Eagles faced

the Mustangs and it would be his birthday.

Novak rang in his 18th birthday with a career-high 20 points, that

included four three-pointers, leading the Eagles to a 55-39 Golden

West League win over the Mustangs at Costa Mesa Thursday night.

Novak was overjoyed, to say the least.

“This is the greatest feeling in the entire world,” said Novak,

who shot 4 of 8 from beyond the arc. “This is the most excited I have

ever been in my entire life.”

Estancia never trailed and seemed to will its way to victory in a

pivotal fourth quarter. Sophomore Carlos Pinto scored eight of his 18

points in the final period. Junior Tyler Hoffman grabbed a key

offensive rebound and quickly passed the ball out to senior point

guard Matt Cachola, late in the fourth quarter.

Cachola swung the ball to Pinto, who nailed the back-breaker, a

three-pointer that gave Estancia a 44-33 lead with 3:50 left.

The Eagles (16-8, 6-4 in league) celebrated afterward with the

Estancia students whom were draped over the railing above the gym

floor.

“We’ll enjoy this every day for the next year,” Estancia Principal

Tom Antal said.

An administrator from Costa Mesa delivered a playful challenge.

“We’ll see you next year.”

That didn’t faze the Eagles. That didn’t faze Estancia Coach Chris

Sorce, who chose not to comment on a somewhat controversial situation

late in the fourth quarter. Both coaches did not comment, yet they

did shout at each other during the game, while referees calmed them.

Costa Mesa Coach Bob Serven apparently accused Estancia of sending

the wrong player to the free-throw line after a timeout. Sorce

disagreed during the game and after the contest he immediately asked

for a copy of the video-tape from the cable TV crew that televised

the game.

Estancia led, 44-36, with 1:33 when Mesa senior Danny Krikorian

fouled Novak. After a timeout, Novak went to the free-throw line and

hit the two foul shots.

“I know one thing, I’m going to enjoy ribs like I never enjoyed

them before,” Sorce said. “We kept our composure. They were cutting

into our lead and we didn’t crack under pressure. We weren’t great

from the free-throw line, but Zack made enough in the fourth quarter

to make a difference. Zack might have had the best birthday present

of his life by having such a phenomenal night. He did a great job of

defending Krikorian and knocked down 20 on the other end. Jordan

(Stroman) and Joey (Lindquist) did a great job of pulling rebounds

and Carlos had his usual good scoring night.”

Sorce was also pleased because the Eagles remained one-game behind

second-place Orange in the Golden West League.

Lindquist, the 6-foot-7 senior who scored five points, grabbed a

game-high 13 rebounds, while Stroman, a Costa Mesa transfer, pulled

down nine boards to go with his five points. Stroman also drew a

crucial offensive foul when he planted his feet and took the charge

with 1:40 remaining.

The Mustangs (8-15, 3-6) were led by Krikorian, who scored 11

points. Mesa could not overcome its poor-shooting first half (5 of 24

for 21%). The Mustangs could not connect from downtown either, as

they finished 6 for 38 (16%) from behind the three-point line.

The Eagles’ defense concentrated on taking Krikorian and freshman

Scott Knox out of the offense, and the strategy paid off. Estancia

built a 26-7 lead with 3:05 left in the first half.

“When we’ve lost this year it’s been because we’ve shot poorly,”

Serven said. “They played good defense. Their triangle-and-two

(defense) was good. Our young guys had a tough time attacking it. In

the second half we did a better job of attacking it. But, (the

Eagles) were the best.”

Mesa cut into Estancia’s lead in the second half. Krikorian made

his second of two free throws to make it 29-24, Eagles. But Novak

answered with a three-pointer, as the Eagles outscored the Mustangs,

8-3, to close out the third period.

Costa Mesa came back again and cut the deficit, 39-34, but this

time Pinto answered with five straight points, including the

aforementioned back-breaking three-pointer. Hoffman and Novak also

grabbed important offensive rebounds that aided Estancia to run out

the clock.