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Sports

Mustangs Win Two, Lose One in Summer Shootout

Mira Costa High basketball team closes out a successful summer schedule with victories over Compton Dominguez and Monrovia and a loss to Culver City

The Mira Costa High Mustangs had a solid weekend at the Summer Shootout at Lawndale High, beating Compton Dominguez 62-46 on Friday before splitting games on Saturday with a 40-33 victory over Monrovia and a 50-43 loss to Culver City.

All three games followed a similar pattern.

In the victory over Dominguez, the Mustangs went on a 10-0 run to start the game and never trailed. Senior forward Elliott Ozer took the opening tip and drove to the basket for the first points and ended up finishing with a game-high 20. Junior forward Karl Acres added 11 points, scoring all of them in the paint.

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"We really attacked the paint today," Ozer said. "We started off really hot, and kept the momentum moving throughout the whole game."

The Costa bench played a key role in the victory. After being held scoreless in the first half, they accounted for 16 second-half points.

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Kevin Kim had six points off the bench and Josh Rodas scored seven points off the bench, including a late 3-pointer to help stave off a rally by the Dons.

"The bench was an important key to keeping the lead down the stretch," said Ozer. "The starting group started off strong, and when rest was needed, the bench came on, and made their shots.  It was really a positive boost for the team."

The Mustangs' victory over Monrovia on Saturday afternoon was similar in that Costa jumped out to an early lead – it was up 24-12 at halftime – before some lapses allowed the Wildcats to make a run. The bench, again, played a big role in the second half.

"Overall we played well, but we have to keep the intensity and energy up throughout the game, even if it is a summer league game," Ozer said. "Our bench has really played well, and they always keep us in the game."

Max Watson came off the bench to score four points points and brought a lot of energy, while Jake Barancho added three points, all in the second half.

Starters Cooper Pugnale and Ryan Kaseff scored seven and six points respectively.

The Mustangs were not as fortunate in their final game of the weekend, the loss to Culver City. Costa again got off to a quick start and held a halftime lead, but turnovers became the biggest factor in the second half. It got to the point where inbound passes were getting stolen, and cross-court passes were getting picked off.

"We were sloppy with the ball," Ozer said. "We had way too many turnovers, and late in the game that came back to haunt us.  It was a little frustrating. We just could not get any rhythm going.''

Ozer again led the Mustangs, scoring 13 points. Cooper Pugnale tacked on 10 points, and Karl Acres had eight points, six of them late in the second half.

Ryan Kaseff added seven points and Cole Feaster had five points, including a big 3-pointer that got the Mustangs back into the game with a minute remaining.

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