Redondo boys hold off Mustangs
Cooper Pugnale, the little kid who grew up next to Live Oak Park shooting baskets every day, came off the bench Friday night to hit the two biggest shots of his life — two consecutive three pointers for a quick six to start the fourth quarter. His scoring spree capped an incredible 18-point Mira Costa comeback and ignited Fisher Gymnasium during the annual backyard brawl between the Mustangs and the Redondo Sea Hawks.
“Cooper makes me look good every time I put him in the game,” said Mira Costa coach Henry Myar of the super sophomore, now a not-yet-fully-grown 5-foot-10 point guard. “I was not surprised he hit those two shots….in another game this year he hit three three’s.”
Jamar Cannon scores two of his 16 points in leading Redondo to a 63-58 victory over rival Mira Costa. Both teams conclude Bay League play tonight with Mira Costa traveling to Palos Verdes and Redondo hosting West in 7:30 p.m. contest. Photo
In the end, the Mustangs out-of-nowhere rally — they had shown no signs of being ready to make a fight out of it, falling behind 48-30 mid-way through the third quarter — set the stage for a roller-coaster last two minutes in which the lead changed hands four times. Finally Redondo pulled it out, 63-58, behind the fierce athleticism of senior star Jamar Cannon, whose fourth-chance stick-back after a furious scrum under the Redondo basket made it 62-58 and sealed the Sea Hawk victory. The hard-fought win gave Redondo a tie for second place in the Bay League with Peninsula and the possibility of a higher seeding in the CIF playoffs.
“This win should help us in the playoffs, even though it’s a crazy system that I don’t really understand,” said Redondo Coach Tom Maier. “But I know the higher our ranking, the higher our seed in the playoffs.”
The inspiring Costa comeback started with some determined power moves by the Mustang’s usual leaders, 6-foot-5 senior forward Eric Mochalski and 6-foot-2 junior forward Elliott Ozer, who both scored on get-out-of-my-way drives to the rack. Then Mochalski nailed a three-pointer and Ozer ripped the ball from the hands of 6-foot-6 Redondo center Dylan Irwin and raced all the way down court to chop the huge Redondo lead down to 51-45 by the end of the third quarter. A home crowd that was just starting to keep hope alive suddenly started to believe in miracles when Pugnale lofted a high-arching shot that fell through cleanly and cut the deficit to 51-48 to start the fourth quarter. When he did it again from the same spot a minute later the packed-to-the rafters crowd went nuts. Pugnale had just capped off a 21-3 Costa run to tie the game at 51-51 with six minutes left! Even the Redondo players admitted they were shocked.
“That kid wasn’t in our scouting report,” Cannon said. “But he sure can shoot.”
Brandon Trias hit two foul shots to grab the lead back for Redondo, but Mochalski immediately countered with a power drive to tie it 53-53. Costa freshman Cole Feaster drove the lane and threw up a prayer that got answered, giving the Mustangs the lead at 55-53 and driving the decibels even higher. But Cannon, who had been shooting blanks most of the night, drilled a straight-on 3 to take the lead back at 56-55. Mochalski again drove through traffic and hit a twisting turn-around to regain Costa the lead at 57-56. Banger supreme Thomas Johnson, a 6-foot-5 junior who dominated the boards with 17 rebounds and four blocks, made it 58-56 when he grabbed a rebound and hit a foul shot with two minutes left to drive the crowd into a frenzy.
Determined to avoid repeating the disaster of a one-point loss to Peninsula earlier in the week, the Sea Hawks turned to their star, Cannon, a 6-foot guard who was the best athlete on the floor but had struggled with his shooting all night. He drove the left lane hard, drew the foul and hit two free throws to level at 58-58. Then Irwin hit a driving runner to take the lead back, 60-58.
A minute later Irwin missed two tips and Brandon Boyd missed one before Cannon leaped above a thicket or flailing arms, grabbed the ball, came back down and in one motion turned and banked in a short stick-back that sealed the deal with 35 seconds left.
The exciting win helped Redondo salvage the night following Mira Costa’s 51-38 win in the girls game earlier in the evening. Costa opened with an 11-0 run and maintained control all the way.
After his late burst, Cannon finished with 16 points to lead Redondo. Irwin finished with 14 points and Brandon Trias had 10 for Redondo. Mochalski had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Elliott Ozer had 13 points and seven rebounds for Mira Costa (15-9, 4-4).
Both teams suffered defeats Tuesday. While Redondo (16-9, 5-4) was losing to Leuzinger 79-50, Mira Costa (15-10, 4-5) dropped its game at Peninsula 70-63. Leuzinger (18-6, 9-0) are ranked No. 3 in Division 1A and Redondo is No. 11 in Division 2AA. In Division 2A, Peninsula (19-6, 6-3) is ranked No. 5 and Mira Costa holds the No. 7 spot.
The Bay League season concludes today with Redondo hosting West (6-19, 2-7) and Mira Costa playing at Palos Verdes (9-15, 1-9). ER
