Mira Costa’s boys basketball team has found new life in the postseason winning back-to-back games for the first time in more than a month.
The Mustang’s strong second half provided a 68-52 win over visiting Mark Keppel Tuesday night, propelling head coach Jeff Amaral’s squad into the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA quarterfinals. Mira Costa (18-10) will make the short bus ride to face fourth-seed Lawndale (18-10) in a 7 p.m./ contest on Friday.
Keppel’s fast-paced offense gave the Aztecs an early lead before Dylan Kim’s 3-pointer with less than one minute left in the first quarter gave Mira Costa its first lead of the game 15-13. The game was tied at 15 going into the second quarter.
The Mustangs led for most of the second quarter and entered halftime with a 27-26 lead.
As Keppel big-man Bertram Mak got hot, the Aztecs regained the lead to start the second half but the Mustangs kept the visitors from holding more than a three-point lead.
With Keppel leading 37-35, Quenton Jackson stole the ball and was fouled on his successful drive to the basket. A free throw made it a three-point play putting Mira Costa ahead by one point.
Kim followed with a steal of his own, taking the ball away from Mak. His lay up gave Mira Costa a 40-37 lead and one it would not relinquish. Jason Romero’s 3-point buzzer beater increased the Mustang’s lead to 48-41 and brought the home crowd to its feet.
After a fast and furious third quarter, Mira Costa slowed the tempo down and its defense tightened. Adam Griese forced Mak to take difficult shots, holding the 6-foot-6 senior to four points. Sharp-shooting point guard Bailey Kikuchi scored Keppel’s other five points in the final quarter.
Mak finished with a game-high 25 points while recording 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Griese answered with a double-double posting 18 points and 14 rebounds.
The Mustang faithful were electrified by Mira Costa’s 20-11 fourth-quarter run and plays that included Kim scoring off a long pass from Griese, Romero’s steal of an inbound pass with one and a half minutes left, and Jackson’s basket off a lob pass from Romero.
Jackson tried to put an exclamation point on the win but was unsuccessful on two consecutive dunk attempts. The junior finished with 11 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.
Mira Costa’s Quenton Jackson attempts a dunk over Keppel’s Bertram Mak. Photo
“I was playing so hard in that last quarter I just didn’t have the legs,” Jackson said of his missed dunks. “But we knew what we had to do defensively and our game plan really worked tonight.”
Amaral was happy his strategy paid off in a contest that pitted Mira Costa’s size versus Keppel’s quickness.
“Q (Jackson) did a good job for us,” Amaral said. “We had talked about when we got to the rim, using our size and we did that. Keppel is a well-coached team and Mak and Bailey (Kikuchi) are really good players. I have a lot of respect for them.”
Kim, who finished with 18 points, six rebounds and three steals, said his team has found a renewed energy after dropping the last four games of the regular season.
“We left it all on the court,” Kim said. “It’s fun getting to the quarters. We’re excited. We haven’t been playing well at home all season and we just wanted to show our fans – and ourselves – that we could protect our home court.”
Mira Costa expects a tough opponent in Ocean League runner-up Lawndale who is coming off a 68-54 win at Kaiser.
“We know we’re in for a test,” Amaral said. “They’ve got two big kids. It will be a great game for the South Bay.”
“Lawndale should be our toughest game of the season beside Redondo,” Kim added. “Playing twice against Redondo has prepped up for a game like this.”
In Division 1AA, Bay League runner-up and ninth-ranked Inglewood (17-11) lost a 33-32 heartbreaker at No. 8 Roosevelt (22-4).
Also from the Bay League, Peninsula (15-13) kept its season alive with a 51-43 win at Beaumont in the second round of the Division 1A playoffs. The Panthers will host third-seeded Westlake (23-6) on Friday.
In Division 3A, host Leuzinger (16-13) was eliminated by third-seeded Tahquitz (25-4) 61-58 in a quarterfinal contest.
The Bay League’s third team, Morningside (18-11), had its season come to an end with a 77-66 loss at third-seeded Chaminade (21-9).
For brackets and results, visit cifss.org.
