Costa Mesa girls’ basketball clipped by Nordhoff in CIF quarterfinals
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Costa Mesa’s surprising run in the CIF Southern Section girls’ basketball playoffs met its end Wednesday night, at the finish and after a fiercely fought final quarter. The Mustangs took it with great serenity.
They surrendered the lead to visiting Ojai Nordhoff in the final minute, fell behind on a three-pointer with 21 seconds to go, and settled for a 46-41 Division 5AA quarterfinal defeat.
Disappointing? Of course.
“It is what it is. ... What can I say?” said Costa Mesa’s first-year head coach Zedric McKee, who led the program to its first postseason berth in five years with a young roster and aggressive defensive approach. “I give Nordhoff a lot of credit, they really worked their butt off at the end.
“Not a lot of people expected Costa Mesa to make it all the way to the quarterfinals. I’m really proud of [my players]. Definitely going back to the drawing board and work our butts off for next year.”
Leilani Quero scored 24 points, 10 of them in a wild fourth quarter, and she grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots to lead the fourth-seeded Mustangs’ charge. She scored another 10 points in a five-minute sequence bridging the second and third quarters as Costa Mesa (14-15) turned a five-point deficit into a 26-21 advantage.
It didn’t last long, and Nordhoff (18-7), the No. 5 seed, took a six-point lead into the last two minutes.
Emi Kamikihara sunk a three-pointer from the right, and Quero followed from the left with her third three of the night to make it 39-39 with 1:19 to go. The Mustangs were ahead when Quero forced a turnover and took it for a layup with 64 seconds left.
Two free throws from Crystal Ramirez, whose speed repeatedly troubled Costa Mesa, and it was even again. Jacaranda Shepard swished in the three-point winner after a turnover, then picked off Quero’s pass into the defensive key, was fouled and converted two free throws with 3.4 seconds on the clock to make it certain.
“It was a hard loss, but I think we made a lot of mistakes that we couldn’t come back from,” Quero said. “I always learn that our mistakes are sometimes going to catch up to us. I’m proud of the way we played, obviously, but it hurts to lose.”
Cadence Renshaw, Nordhoff’s high post with a deft bank shot in traffic (“she did a little Timmy Duncan there,” McKee noted) scored 20 points — 10 of them in the 13-7 early-fourth-quarter stretch — and grabbed 13 rebounds. Shepard and Ramirez added 10 points for the Rangers, who will be home for Saturday’s semifinal against No. 8 Riverside Hillcrest (20-6).
Costa Mesa’s defense was impressive, forcing 22 turnovers and holding Nordhoff to 17% shooting through three quarters and 20% for the game. The Rangers dominated on the boards, 56-35, and turned 25 offensive rebounds into 19 points.
The Mustangs weren’t so efficient offensively, shooting just under 13 percent themselves and committing 16 turnovers, five of them — leading to seven points — in the fourth quarter.
Kamikihara scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds, and she, Quero and Yanelly Martinez combined for nine offensive rebounds. Aaliyah Terry and Myah Martinez hit first-half three-pointers, Terry’s for Costa Mesa’s first basket and Martinez’s to make it 19-18 at halftime.
The Mustangs trailed before the game began. The officials flagged them for their light gray home uniforms, citing a National High School Federation decree requiring white jerseys. Jackson Nash made both technical-foul free throws, Nordhoff got the ball, and it was 7-1 barely two and a half minutes into the game.
“I think [the technical foul] was a shock for all of us,” Quero said. “We’ve been playing all season with gray jerseys. All of a sudden, they can issue [a technical foul]? Which is all right, I guess.”
CIF Southern Section Division 5AA quarterfinals
Nordhoff 46, Costa Mesa 41
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Nordhoff 11 - 7 - 7 - 20 — 46
Costa Mesa 6 - 12 - 8 - 15 — 41
N — Renshaw 20, Ramirez 10, Shepard 10, Nash 6.
3-pt. goals — Shepard 1.
Fouled out — None.
Technicals — None.
CM — Quero 24, Kamikihara 8, M. Martinez 4, Terry 3, Mendoza 2.
3-pt. goals — Quero 3, Terry 1, M. Martinez 1, Kamikihara 1.
Fouled out — None.
Technicals — Team (non-white home uniforms).
Also in the CIF Southern Section girls’ basketball playoffs:
Chatsworth Sierra Canyon 69, Sage Hill 33: Jerzy Robinson had a game-high 29 points for the fourth-seeded Trailblazers on Wednesday in the second round of pool play in the Open Division.
Amalia Holguin scored 14 points to pace Sage Hill (19-10), which has lost its first two games of the playoffs and closes out pool play at fifth-seeded Torrance Bishop Montgomery on Saturday.
Staff writer Andrew Turner contributed to this report.
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