Esperanza Completes Task by Defeating Trabuco Hills

You can understand if Esperanza does not want to see Trabuco Hills ever again. Or at least the rest of this basketball season.

On Dec. 13, the Aztecs led the Mustangs by 16 at halftime and wound up losing by four. On Friday, in the second round of pool play in the 12th annual Daily Pilot Coast Classic, Esperanza had a 12-point lead at the half, and nearly let that one get away before hanging on to win, 66-62, at Estancia.

The taller, stronger Aztecs looked to have the game in hand after three quarters, 47-35. The Gaulden brothers, Drew and Sean, who combined for 27 points and 16 rebounds, and Chad Willardson (20 points) were working over Trabuco Hills from the inside as guards Richard Kim and Matt Munson disrupted the visitors on defense.

In addition, Esperanza appeared to have little trouble busting the full-court zone press used by Trabuco Hills in an effort to keep the game’s tempo a rapid one.

But Mustang guard Ryan Webster got hot in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 of his game-high 23 points. He made three of his five three-pointers in the final eight minutes.

And in the fourth quarter the full-court trap began to force Esperanza into ball-handling errors, especially after Drew Gaulden and Willardson fouled out. The Aztecs finished with 13 turnovers.

Twice down the stretch Trabuco Hills (5-7) got as close as two, the last time being 64-62 on Webster’s 20-footer with 51 seconds to play. And though Trabuco Hills negated Esperanza’s height advantage, barely losing the rebound battle, 25-24, it lost momentum thanks to turnovers. The Mustangs had 21 for the game, none more damaging than the pass Everett Winkler intercepted with 11 seconds to play.

Still, Esperanza could not exhale until Sean Gaulden made two free throws with two seconds to play, giving the Aztecs a four-point cushion.

Coach John Cyrus, in his first year with the Aztecs, had a smile on his face despite the tense, final moments.

“At halftime I told our players I don’t believe in deja vu,” Cyrus said. “And right now, since we are still learning each other, playing well and them understanding what I want them to do is more important than winning. But I will take the win.”

Mustang Coach Rainer Wulf knew his team would not be lucky enough to survive two slow starts against Esperanza. “We’re a young team and we’re still not a consistent team yet,” he said. “Still we had a chance at the end. But Esperanza is well coached by John, and for the most part they handled whatever we threw at them.”

In other games:

Edison 46, Bakersfield Stockdale 40--Dimitri Karnezis scored 13 points for Edison (7-3) in pool play. Stockdale (3-6) led by six at halftime, but the Chargers outscored Stockdale, 30-18, in the second half.

Glendale Hoover 54, Estancia 50--Estancia led by one after three quarters, but was outscored, 11-6, in the fourth. Sam Nelson scored 25 points and Evan Taboada had 12 for the Eagles (8-4).

Corona del Mar 39, Lakewood Mayfair 29--Corona del Mar (4-8) led, 21-11, at halftime and held off Mayfair’s comeback as the Sea Kings led by at least six points for the remainder of the game.

Tim Conover scored 12 points and Nick Friend added nine for Corona del Mar.