Redondo sweeps rival Mira Costa on the hardwood

Chase Bowsher led Redondo with 11 points in the Sea Hawk’s win against rival Mira Costa. Photo

By Paul Teetor  

It was raining buckets outside El Segundo High School Tuesday night, but inside the classic gymnasium built in 1927 buckets were hard to come by.

The result was a low-scoring, defensive struggle between the Mira Costa and Redondo boys basketball teams that ended with the Sea Hawks pulling out a 49-42 win in front of a packed house screaming its lungs out.

It was technically a Costa home game, but both teams were represented equally as the Mustangs are forced to play their “home” games away from home while they await the construction of a new $38 million athletic complex.

The victory in the first of two annual back-yard brawls between the long-time rivals and neighbors gave the Hawks a 4-1 Bay League record (15-8 overall) as they attempt to win their sixth straight league title. As of Tuesday night, they are tied with Peninsula atop the Bay League. Mira Costa fell back to 3-2 in league (14-8 overall).

Redondo has the bigger, deeper and more experienced team, so ultimately it was no surprise that they were able to prevail. But Costa’s emphasis on defensive tenacity and physical play kept the game close all the way and made Redondo sweat. Mustang forward Parker Lynch drew three offensive fouls and several other players also stood in for charge calls.

“We were right there with a good chance to win,” Mustang Head Coach Neal Perlmutter said after the game. “It was a one-point game halfway through the third quarter. But we had a couple of missed shots we normally hit, a couple of turnovers here and there, and the game went the other way.”

The low-scoring nature of the game was belied by the first few minutes. Sea Hawk forward Alex Kowal drilled a long-range 3-pointer a few seconds after the tip-off and Costa’s best shooter, guard Lucas Hobbs, immediately answered by swishing a trifecta of his own.

Redondo had scouted Costa well, and focused on containing its two best players, Hobbs and bruising center Hank Householter. Hobbs was covered so closely that several times he was forced to abandon thoughts of launching a three and instead headed for the hoop. The 6-foot-3 Householter was covered like a blanket by 6-foot-6 Chase Bowsher and channeled away from his favorite move of spinning left on a power drive to the bucket.

Mira Costa’s Lucas Hobbs led all scorers with 18 point in a losing effort. Photo

“We stressed to our kids not to let Householter go left, and except for a few times we were successful,” Parvez said. “Chase played a great game on both ends of the floor.”

Mira Costa led 12-10 after one quarter, but the Sea Hawks fought back to lead 22-19 at halftime. Halfway through the third quarter another Hobbs three-pointer pulled the Mustangs within 25-24 and the game was up for grabs.

But Kowal answered with a 10-foot baseline jumper, Bowsher pulled off a nifty reverse layup and Costa was forced to call a timeout with a minute left in the third quarter.

As play resumed Mike Solimando drilled a trey after missing his first five long-range attempts and point guard Jayden Winfrey nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer. Suddenly Redondo had its biggest lead, 35-24, heading into the fourth quarter.

Costa kept fighting all the way — Hobbs hit two foul shots to pull the Mustangs within 41-37 with a couple of minutes left — but in the end Redondo had too much depth and too many athletes for Costa to overcome.

Hobbs finished with 18 points and drew a couple of charges, while Householter chipped in with 14 points and 10 boards. Redondo was led by Bowsher with 11 points and a gritty defensive effort.

Redondo hosts an always-tough Leuzinger team Friday night, while Costa will take on league leader Peninsula at Manhattan Beach Middle School at 8 p.m.

In the girls basketball game featuring the two rivals, Redondo defeated Mira Costa 64-24 to give Sea Hawks head coach Marcelo Enrique his 500th career win.

Calli Stokes led Redondo with 11 points, Dylan Horton added nine and Kennedy Jackson chipped in with eight points.

Redondo (17-2) will host Leuzinger Friday at 6 p.m. then play Lakeside of Lake Elsinore (15-2) on Monday in the MLK Event at Serra High School at 4:30 p.m. ER                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com. Follow: @paulteetor

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