Sports
Mustangs Lose at the Line
Major free throw differential proves key in Mira Costa's playoff loss.
There was a big elephant in the gym Tuesday night. It showed up after Mira Costa's boys basketball team suffered a 77-68 loss to visiting Pasadena in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division II-A playoffs.
The key in the game was quite simple—the free throw differential. Pasadena finished 33-of-40 from the free-throw line while Mira Costa was just 12-of-14 from the charity stripe.
To his credit, Mira Costa (18-11) coach Henry Myar didn't want to point blame, or even directly discuss the officiating. "I guess they were being more aggressive than we were," Myar said. "If you get to the basket enough you're probably going to get fouls."
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Yet, it's obvious to anyone who watches basketball that when a team shoots 26 more free throws than its opponent, it is going to end up making a difference in the game.
Myar made it known, however, that his squad's performance was not in question. "We didn't get outplayed," Myar said. "I told the team that after the game. I told them they should be proud to have had as good of a season as they did."
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Mira Costa center Thomas Johnson's post-game comments were a bit more biting.
"It's just frustrating," Johnson said of how the game was called. "When you're out there playing, you feel like everything you do is going to be called a foul."
Despite the free throw discrepancy, Mira Costa certainly didn't play a perfect game. The Mustangs had plenty of chances to put the game away, but failed to do so.
They led by six points late in the third quarter, but Pasadena ended the quarter on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 52. Early in the fourth quarter, Pasadena went on a 12-2 run to break open a nine-point lead.
It should be noted that Pasadena made 12 of its 15 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter, which is one more free throw attempt than Mira Costa had for the entire game.
"We made some mistakes in the second half and they got to the free throw line a lot," Mira Costa's Elliott Ozer said. "We let them get on some big runs and you can't do that."
Ozer led Mira Costa with 25 points, five rebounds and five assists. Eric Mochalski had 20 points and Johnson added 12 points and eight rebounds.
