Mustangs back in playoffs

Costa Mesa won six of its last seven, including Thursday’s Golden West League triumph over Orange, to reach CIF.COSTA MESA -- The Costa Mesa High girls’ basketball team almost puttered out just before they got to the finish line. But the Mustangs had just enough left in the tank to finish the regular season on a winning note.

Junior Jennifer Courtney’s put-back with 10 seconds left gave the Mustangs a 38-36 victory over Orange in the regular season finale for both squads Thursday night.

Costa Mesa (12-14, 7-5 in league), a senior-heavy team, finished the regular season winning six of its last seven games and will go to the CIF Southern Section playoffs as the third- or fourth-place team out of the Golden West League.

If Westminster lost to first-place Ocean View in its regular-season finale, the team would finish in a third-place tie with Costa Mesa, and both teams would enter the playoffs as third-place teams because they are in different CIF divisions. If Westminster upset Ocean View, Costa Mesa would go as the fourth-place team.

Either way, the Mustangs are happy to be back in the playoffs after a one-year hiatus.

“It feels really good,” senior Tracy Bjelland said. “We’ve finally been playing as a team and putting everything together these last few weeks.”

It was Senior Night for Costa Mesa, which may have altered the team’s focus, especially on the offensive end. The Mustangs shot just 23% from the field, which hearkened back to a time before their late-season surge, when they started the season 6-13.

“If our offense was clicking like it has been the last two weeks, I think it would have been a wider margin of victory,” Costa Mesa Coach Jim Weeks said. “We’ve been shooting 30 to 35% the last six games.”

The Mustangs made up for their poor shooting by playing tenacious defense. Costa Mesa held Orange (4-8 in league) to seven points in the first quarter and seven in the third quarter.

“We stopped them on defense,” Bjelland said.

In the first meeting between the teams Jan. 20 -- right before the Mustangs went on a winning streak -- the Panthers won, 53-51.

“We played much better defensively this time,” Weeks said. “Our defensive effort won the game for us.”

Costa Mesa’s Judie Akansel and Orange’s Brittany Passano opened the fourth quarter by trading three-pointers. The Mustangs never had more than a three-point lead the rest of the game.

Orange point guard Melissa Mahi (team-high 12 points) made one of two free throws to tie the score, 36-36, with 1:26 left in the game.

After Nikki Brannon stole the ball, Bjelland missed a 10-foot baseline jumper, but Bethany Vergara came down with the rebound before the ball deflected out of bounds off an Orange player. The Mustangs worked the ball around off the inbound and got it into the hands of Akansel (team-high 11 points) behind the three-point line.

Akansel, who hit all three of Costa Mesa’s three-pointers on the night, missed her shot, but Courtney (eight points, eight rebounds) came down with the rebound and made a layup with seven seconds left to give the Mustangs a 38-36 lead.

To her coach’s chagrin, Courtney fouled Orange’s Cindy Garcia with 1.7 seconds remaining, but Garcia missed the front end of a one-and-one and Courtney came down with the rebound as time expired.

Golden West League

Costa Mesa 38, Orange 36

Score by Quarters