Figueroa’s career night lifts Mustangs

COSTA MESA — If he could have, Estancia High girls’ basketball coach Tommy Rausch might have gone out on the court Wednesday night and tried to stop Costa Mesa senior Michelle Figueroa himself.

After all, Rausch knew what Figueroa was probably going to try to do as she dribbled the ball near the three-point line.

“It was hard,” Figueroa said. “Their coaches knew what I was doing. [Rausch] was like, ‘She’s going left. She’s going left.’ I got stopped a couple of times but I kept working on it. I knew I had to step it up.”

Of course, knowing what the Mustangs point guard is going to do and actually stopping it are two very different things.

Figueroa lit up the Eagles, finishing with a career-high 31 points and adding 14 rebounds in Mesa’s 55-41 Orange Coast League win over its cross-town rival at Estancia.

But it wasn’t easy for Costa Mesa (14-6, 4-0 in league), ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA coaches’ poll. Estancia (3-18, 0-4) was in the game throughout.

After the Mustangs opened up a 16-10 lead midway through the second quarter, it was the Eagles who ran off eight straight points, taking an 18-16 lead on sophomore Erika Soto’s free throw with just over two minutes left in the half.

Costa Mesa then went on a 17-2 run, grabbing a 33-20 lead on Figueroa’s three-pointer midway through the third quarter. But again Estancia battled, getting back within 40-35 with 5:09 left in the game.

The rally was capped when senior guard Tiffany Monteiro got two straight offensive rebounds on missed free throws, and her jumper pulled Estancia within five.

The Eagles, whose grittiness prompted Mustangs Coach Jim Weeks to call the victory “the hardest 14-point win I’ve ever had,” were determined not to go away Wednesday. Mesa had outscored Estancia, 31-13, in the second half of the league opener on Jan. 11.

“We weren’t messing around tonight,” said Estancia senior center Abby Koff, who had six points. “Last time, we played really hard the first two quarters, and came out at halftime and got pummeled in the third and fourth quarters. This time, we came out and we were ready to play ... Even though we lost, [Rausch] said this is the first time he was actually proud after a loss because we did what he told us to do.”

But Figueroa was too much. Her three-point play pushed the lead back to 48-38, with 2:44 to play.

It was one of four different three-point plays in the game for Figueroa, who finished nine of 10 from the free-throw line.

“She was really smart tonight,” Weeks said. “She waited until the lane opened up, and then she penetrated. She really knew when to take it to them.”

Freshman guard Kassie Stratton had 10 points, 10 rebounds and two steals for the Eagles. Senior guard Steffi Ramirez added three steals of her own.

Senior center Jasmine Werdel had eight points and 12 rebounds for Costa Mesa.

Figueroa said the Mustangs will have to watch out for Estancia when the teams have their final meeting of the year, Feb. 1 at Costa Mesa.

“I knew they were going to come out tough,” Figueroa said. “It was a fun game.”

Orange Coast League

Costa Mesa 55, Estancia 41

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CM – Figueroa 31, Werdel 8, Trinh 6, Gentling 5, Scheidt 3, Caicedo 2.

3-pt. goals – Figueroa 2, Scheidt 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Est – Stratton 10, Monteiro 9, Koff 6, E. Soto 6, Ste. Ramirez 5, Arreola 5.

3-pt. goals – Stratton 1, Monteiro 1, Ste. Ramirez 1, Arreola 1.

Fouled out – Koff, E. Soto.

Technicals – None.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at [email protected].