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Sports

Mustangs Unshakable, Nakamine Tough in 43-31 Victory

Third quarter scoring lifts Mira Costa over Peninsula in defensive contest.

The Panthers did their best to double-team, bump and slap away at senior point guard Kylie Nakamine, but learned for the third time this season: you can’t knock ‘Nak.’

At home in Fisher Gym Tuesday night, the defensive duel between the Mira Costa (17-9, 7-2) girls basketball team and Peninsula (12-14, 2-7) featured a classic example of what do-it-all point guard Nakamine brings to the floor for her teammates night in, night out.

The Mustangs picked up a hard-fought 43-31 win over Peninsula and while the shots weren’t falling for most of the game, the Mustangs persevered, taking a two-point deficit at halftime and turning the game around with a 12-0 run.

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“We didn’t do anything different in the second half, we just finally got some shots to drop and matched them in a very physical game,” Coach Craig Takahashi said.

“They wanted to be physical and bang Kylie up the court, but she can’t be taken off her game," said Takahashi. "She has that constant demeanor and doesn’t get rattled; it didn’t pay off."

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The Mustangs came out of halftime trailing 17-15, but ratcheted up their defensive pressure and were able to find some easy transition buckets to remedy their lack of offensive rhythm.

With 3:32 left in the third quarter, Nakamine came up with one of her six steals on the night and found open teammate Ashley Reese for a layup. 

“It’s always frustrating, but you have to keep your composure and take advantage of opportunities,” Nakamine said.

Senior Center Joelle Herron would then swat away a Peninsula shot and Nakamine would quickly get the ball up court to Camille Mills for a layup. 

Mills would go the length of the court for a layup after picking off a Panther cross-court pass to close the quarter with an 8-0 spurt.

“Defensively, we focused on getting them to play our game and picked up our intensity in the second half,” Mills said.

Mira Costa extended their run to 12-0 on a Reese jumper and Nakamine floater in the lane to bring the score to 33-21, with the Mustangs comfortably holding on for the win on senior night.

“Of course you want to win [on senior night], it adds to the night and makes it even better,” Nakamine said.

Nakamine would lead the way as she has all season with 14 points and five assists.

Mills was also in double-figures with 10 points, eight of which came in the second half to go along with five steals and seven rebounds.

“Getting the layups built up my confidence after missing all those shots early,” Mills said.

The Panthers, who struggled all night from the perimeter, were unable to get their leading scorer Stephanie Wong on track, as the junior scored just 2 points coming off a 28-point effort in her last game against Palos Verdes.

“When you play man-to-man, it’s easier to get a hand in their face and I think that gave them difficulties,” Nakamine said.

Peninsula's Shelby Tsukamato’s 11 points was tops for her team with Shannon Tsumaki chipping in 9. 

The Mustangs finish up their regular season, playing Palos Verdes at home Thursday at 6 p.m.

“This is an important win," said Takahashi. "We want to get to 18 wins so that we can get the best seeding we can and hopefully a home game [in CIF playoffs].” 

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