Boys basketball: Mesa routs Friars

Barry Faulkner

ANAHEIM - There are bigger games and brighter days ahead for the

Costa Mesa High boys basketball team. But, after trouncing Servite,

77-49, in the first round of pool play at the Loara Tournament Monday,

the Mustangs may have turned in a performance too impressive to shoot for

the rest of the 2001-02 campaign.

The Mustangs, who had lost their previous eight season openers,

connected on 30 of 46 field-goal attempts, shooting better than 50% in

every quarter, to finish an astronomical 65.2% from the field. They also

netted 10 of 11 free throws (91%) to cruise past the Friars and plant a

smile on third-year coach Bob Serven’s atypically serene face.

“I’m happy we could play like that,” said Serven, who had dropped his

first two Mesa openers by a combined 21 points. “You work all offseason

to prepare, but you never really know what to expect that first game. You

think you have a pulse on your team, but I knew Servite has a program

with a lot of tradition.”

But the Mustangs, who graduated two starters from last year’s Pacific

Coast League co-champions, the school’s first league crown in 41 varsity

seasons, are clearly building a new tradition of their own.

After falling behind, 4-2 and 6-4, senior returning starter Chad

Vakili drained a pair of three-pointers to trigger a 17-0 Mesa run that

ended with another Vakili three ball.

With Mesa up, 24-13, after one quarter, Vakili scored the first three

Mustang baskets of the second quarter to give him 19 points in just more

than 10 minutes. The 5-foot-11 guard added a 19-footer late in the half

to match his previous single-game career high and went on to finish with

a game-high 30.

Mesa senior David Conte, who has verbally committed to Cal State Los

Angeles, also showed why Serven has billed him as one of the best point

guards in Orange County. He amassed 24 points, eight assists and seven

steals. His point total matched his career-high.

“You want your two big guns to come out and establish themselves and

they did,” Serven said.

The Mustangs went more than 13 minutes, from the end of the first

period to late in the third, without committing a turnover. Mesa finished

with 11 turnovers, but its swarming pressure forced the Friars into 26

miscues, more than a handful of which the Mustangs converted into layups.

Mesa’s lead was 33 after a Vakili steal and layin with 2:16 left in

the third quarter and the lead eventually swelled to 34 before Servite

went on an 11-5 run in the final 4:16, including a three-pointer at the

buzzer, to pare the deficit.

“There was a little lull there after it was 72-38,” Serven said. “But

if there is going to be a lull, I want to be the one with 72.”

Junior Danny Krikorian added eight points, including two of the

designated hosts’ seven three-pointers, and senior Carlos Jaime added

seven in his varsity debut.

When prodded by a reporter afterward, Serven did find areas of

concern.

“We fouled too much,” he said. “And we need to get more scoring out of

the post.”

Serven, however, praised newcomers Jaime and sophomore Jordan Stroman,

who combined to hit all three of their field-goal attempts.

Mesa was outrebounded, 26-14, but Serven could hardly quibble.

“There are things we need to get better at,” he said.

The Mustangs will continue pool play Wednesday at 6 p.m. against

Valencia at Loara High.

LOARA TOURNAMENT

Pool play

Costa Mesa 77, Servite 49

Score by Quarters

Servite 13 10 9 17 - 49

Costa Mesa 24 16 22 15 - 77

Servite - Ferguson 18, Hilde 15, George 4, Gunderson 3, Millar 3,

McConaghy 2, Killens 2, Morton 2.

3-pt. goals - Gunderson 1, Millar 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.

Costa Mesa - Vakili 30, Conte 24, Krikorian 8, Jaime 7, Clark 4,

Stroman 2, Rowe 2, Millward 0, Ball 0, Kohara 0.

3-pt. goals - Vakili 4, Krikorian 2, Conte 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.