Mira Costa boys, girls basketball teams in tournament play

Mira Costa senior Lucas Hobbs leads the Mustang offense after being the team’s leading scorer last season. Photo

Mira Costa’s boys basketball team is hosting its own version of the Pacific Shores Tournament this week culminating with the finals on Saturday.

With new head coach Neal Perlmutter, Mira Costa is off to a fast start this season with a 6-1 record including a 65-43 victory over Golden Valley on Monday in the opening round of Pacific Shores Tournament.

“We had an off night against Golden Valley and must have had over 17 turnovers against their pressure,” Perlmutter said. “Fortunately we found a little bit of rhythm on offense in the second half and Hank (Householter) and Lucas (Hobbs) started to hit shots. Carson Carey gave us energy off the bench and got a few critical transition buckets that helped us extend the lead.”

Ranked No. 6 in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA pool, the Mustangs face Carson today and will take on Rolling Hills Prep, the division’s top-ranked team on Thursday.

Senior starters Householter (forward), Hobbs (guard) and Parker Lynch (forward) have provided consistency for Mira Costa.  

“Parker is our glue guy on defense, Hank provides inside scoring for us while Lucas has been shooting the ball well from beyond the arc,” Perlmutter said.

Other key players include Carson Carey (guard), Tyler Antrobius (point guard), Max McCalla (point guard) and Matt Cammock (guard, wingman).

Prior to the tournament, Mira Costa opened the season defeating South Torrance and Valley Christian before outscoring Pomona and Bishop Amat by a combined 124-70 to capture both games of the Take the Turkey Tournament.

In the El Monte Tournament, Mira Costa lost a nail biter 59-56 to Downey but rebounded to defeat Fullerton 59-43.

“The key to our success thus far has been the time commitment the guys have decided to make to the program and our focus on defense,” Perlmutter said. “We’re giving up less than 45 points per game which shows we are dedicated to that side of the game. I have asked a lot from these players and they are beginning to see it payoff.

“We have won some games early on but the toughest part of our schedule lies ahead. We know that every night in the Bay League is going to be extremely tough, with Leuzinger and Redondo as two of the top teams in Los Angeles. Our focus is treating each game like it’s the CIF Championship. Last year Costa didn’t make the playoffs so we need to win every game possible and lock in a playoff berth.”

 

Girls continue tourney play

Holding an early-season 4-2 record, Mira Costa’s girls basketball team play Birmingham Wednesday in the Brentwood Tournament. The finals will be held Saturday.

The Mustangs opened the tournament defeating Palmdale 66-29 and Los Angeles CES 47-20.

Mira Costa began the season with a 56-26 loss to Westchester, the No. 4 ranked team in the L.A. City poll, then had victories over Locke and University in the Culver City Tournament sandwiching a 45-35 loss to Santa Monica in the Tip Off Classic.

In the Battle at the Beach tournament hosted by Redondo, Bishop Montgomery showed why it is the top-ranked team in Division 1 defeating Etiwanda (No. 4, Div. 1) 59-50.

The Knights were led by seniors Kayla Williams and Kayla Padilla who combined for 42 points and 11 steals in the win. Williams wa named MVP of the tournament. ER

 

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