Mira Costa Boys Beat Palos Verdes

The Mira Costa boys basketball team jumped out to an early lead Tuesday at home against and then held off a late rally to defeat the Sea Kings, 50-40, in Bay League action.

Led by forward Justin Strings, who finished the game with 21 points along with 10 rebounds, and guard Cole Feaster, who added 13 points with four assists and three steals, the Mustangs scored the first nine points of the contest and held a 20-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, making it look as if Mira Costa was going to cruise to a victory. But the Sea Kings, who are still searching for their first league win, would not go away.

Palos Verdes (6-15, 0-5) cut the lead to 40-38 with 3:48 remaining in the game before the Mustangs defense forced the Sea Kings into four consecutive turnovers and several bad shots leading a 10-2 run to close out the game.

“I think that we had a very good start but maybe we got a little too relaxed in the second half,” Feaster said. “Fortunately we pulled together down the stretch and got the victory.”

Max Watson had a tremendous all-around effort for the Mustangs (15-6, 2-3), finishing with eight points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Keith Waddell and Karl Acres each had two points but it was their presence inside defensively that forced the Sea Kings to miss numerous shots throughout the game.

“Overall we played well enough to win,” Feaster said. “But I think we are going to need to play better if we want to make some things happen down the stretch in league.”