Mira Costa Squads Hit the Playoffs

The Mira Costa High School boys basketball team will face two challenges when it travels north to Ventura County to play Camarillo in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 2A playoffs Friday night.

First, the Mustangs must shake off the rust that comes from a week-long break between games. Then, they will have to cope with their opponents' size, as the Scorpions like to run the floor despite a front line with 6-foot-7 senior forward Jake Maulhardt and 6-6 senior forward Jeremy Sanders.     

"We will have had five practices by the time we play them," Coach Jeff Amaral said. "I would've preferred to play Wednesday, but if we're able to win Friday, we'll have more time to prepare for the next game. They have a couple of tall kids and they like to get up and down the court but we hope we matchup well with their personnel. We need stops on defense. That's where it starts."

The Mustangs' offense is led by junior point guard Cole Feaster, sophomore forward Justin Strings and senior guard Max Watson, but they will rely on 6-6 senior center Keith Waddell and 6-4 power forward Karl Acres as well.

Mira Costa (17-9) is seeded 15th and earned an at-large berth after finishing fourth in the Bay League behind Leuzinger, Peninsula and West Torrance. Camarillo was second in the Pacific View League and the Scorpions (16-10) have home court advantage because of their higher finish in league.

If the Mustangs prevail Friday night they will host second-seeded Compton in the second round Tuesday, provided Compton wins its opener.

"We're itching to get a playoff win," said Amaral, whose team went on the road to upset sixth-seeded San Bernardino in the first round last year. "It would be a great accent to our season if we can get a victory. Every team from our league made the playoffs, so it shows you how tough it is. I'm pleased with the season overall, but I would've liked to get over the .500 mark in league."

GIRLS SOCCER

The girls soccer team (19-3-2) travels to Calabasas for the first round of the CIF Division 2 playoffs Friday at 3 p.m., with the winner likely to face Riverside Poly in the second round Feb. 22. 

Mira Costa won its first Bay League title in three years after back-to-back third-place finishes. Before that, the Mustangs won five straight league crowns, losing just nine games along the way.

BOYS SOCCER

Travis Bradford scored on a rebound in the 62nd minute and goalie Teddy Sampson made seven saves as Mira Costa hit the road Tuesday and edged Alta Loma, 1-0, in a Division 1 wildcard playoff game. The Mustangs now travel to Anaheim to face top-seeded Servite in the first round Thursday.

Should Mira Costa pull off the upset it would play Long Beach Cabrillo or Bell Gardens in the second round Feb. 21.

GIRLS WATER POLO

Mira Costa traveled north to Channel League runner-up Dos Pueblos for its CIF Division I playoff opener Wednesday night and saw their season come to an end with a 16-6 loss, despite three goals by Jordan Raney and 11 saves by goalie Bianca Magno. The Lady Mustangs (20-10) finished second behind Palos Verdes in the Bay League. Palos Verdes beat Anaheim Canyon 11-5 and hosts Newport Harbor in the second round Saturday.