Girls basketball: Eagles take first shot

Richard Dunn

COSTA MESA - With a relentless in-your-face defense, Estancia

High’s highly spirited Eagles made the first big statement of 2001.

“That was a clinic,” Estancia girls basketball coach Paul Kirby said,

following his team’s 42-26 Pacific Coast League-opening victory over

crosstown rival Costa Mesa Tuesday night at Estancia.

For the Mustangs (9-8), it was their season-low point total as the

Eagles held their shooters to only 17.5% from the floor (7 of 40).

“(The Mustangs) like to shoot the ball and I think our defense had

something to do with it,” Kirby said. “Defensively, it was a clinic.”

Estancia (9-7), which raced to an 8-0 lead behind a fired-up, trapping

defense, limited Costa Mesa to six points or less in three of the four

quarters. The Mustangs shot 12.5% from the field (4 of 32) in the second,

third and fourth periods.

“Their defense did a great job of pressuring our shots and they kept

us from running what we wanted to run,” Costa Mesa Coach Jim Weeks said

of the Eagles, paced by 5-foot-9 sophomore forward Xochitl Byfield, who

scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out three assists and made

a pair of steals.

The Eagles, who played a tough man-to-man defense and never trailed,

were also led by freshman point guard Trisha Wase, who had nine rebounds,

four assists and two steals.

Eagle guards Lisa Hirata (two steals) and Marie Rodriguez (five

rebounds, two assists and one steal) were primarily responsible for

guarding Costa Mesa senior point guard Nancy Hatsushi and holding her to

eight points.

“Our goal was to hold them to 35 points or less and we did that,”

Kirby said. “The way we played defense helped us get our (8-0) lead. We

were playing defense all over the place. And Nancy Hatsushi didn’t kill

us. She’s one of the best players in the league and we did a good job on

her.”

Estancia, which shot 43% from the field in the first half (10 of 23)

as it built a 27-16 halftime lead, came out cold in the third quarter,

misfiring on 14 of 15 field-goal attempts, while the Mustangs were 0 of

10 from the floor to open the second half.

“They’re quick,” Weeks said of the Eagles. “On offense, they were able

to do some things. But I thought we were a little quicker than we showed.

We shot terrible throughout.

“I think Estancia’s really good, and I think (the Eagles) are the best

team in the league. I know Corona del Mar’s picked to win it and (the Sea

Kings) are the defending champions, but they’re a little rusty right now

and I think Estancia’s the best team.”

To open the fourth quarter, Hatsushi buried a three-pointer to cut

Estancia’s lead to 29-23, but the Mustangs wouldn’t get any closer as

Byfield scored seven straight points for the Eagles, including a three

ball with 4:56 to play on a nice pass from Wase.

Costa Mesa is still the owner of the perpetual Lady Bell trophy,

although the Mustangs’ grasp of the annual award appears to be jeopardy

with a 16-point loss.

The Lady Bell trophy is awarded each year to the winner of the series

(based on cumulative points if the teams split, like last year, when the

Mustangs retained the Lady Bell by a slim 91-88 margin).

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Estancia 42, Costa Mesa 26

Score by Quarters

Costa Mesa 10 6 4 6 - 26

Estancia 14 13 2 13 - 42

Costa Mesa - Hatsushi 8, Marshall 8, Naff 4, Muniz 4, Caron 0, Cooper

2, Trejo 0, Poncher 0, Le 0, Lazos 0.

3-pt. goals - Hatsushi 2.

Fouled out - none.

Technical fouls - none.

Estancia - Byfield 18, Hirata 8, Barrera 6, Gray 4, Wase 2, Orellana

2, Matsufuji 2, Rodriguez 0, Cassity 0.

3-pt. goals - Byfield 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technical fouls - none.