Girls basketball: Estancia knocks off Mustangs, 52-44.

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - The Costa Mesa High girls basketball team stood on

ceremony, but it was Estancia which was jumping for joy after the Eagles’

52-44 Pacific Coast League road victory Thursday night.

While Estancia reveled in ending Mesa’s cross-town winning streak at

five, the shell-shocked Mustangs, who salvaged the season series with a

three-point edge in point differential, somberly accepted the perpetual

Lady Bell trophy which goes to the annual series winner.

Costa Mesa also earned the “celebratory” postgame rib dinner awarded the

series victor, but not before Estancia planted a less pleasant taste in

the Mustangs’ mouths.

“This is the most emotional win of my career,” said Estancia senior

Lauren Cassity, who contributed eight points, eight rebounds and four

steals to her first win over Mesa in three varsity seasons.

It was also a first for Coach Paul Kirby, who had never won a game, at

any level, in seven previous seasons coaching in the Mesa gym.

“We executed better on offense tonight than the first time we played them

(a 47-36 loss Jan. 6) and our defense has really been getting better the

last four or five games,” Kirby said. “Any time you beat Mesa, it’s a

good win. We called timeout (in the final minute), because we wanted to

try and score enough to win the Bell. But that’s OK, we’ll own it the

next four years.”

Estancia junior Zuyin Barrera scored 19 first-half points, including four

three-pointers, and the Eagles (12-9, 3-2 in league) rode a 14-0 run,

spanning the first and second quarters, to a 29-19 intermission lead.

Barrera scored the final 12 Estancia points in the first half, including

a trio of three-pointers in the final 2:30.

Mesa, victimized by 24 turnovers against relentless full-court Estancia

pressure, never got closer than five after the break.

Barrera, whose previous career-high was 15 points and who did not play in

the first Mesa meeting, due to disciplinary reasons, finished with 23

points. But she had plenty of help.

Sophomore center Erika Avalos amassed nine points, 12 rebounds and six

steals, while freshman forward Xochitl Byfield chipped in eight points

and six rebounds. Senior point guard Lisa Hirata had seven boards and

three assists and sacrificed her body all night.

Torey Matsufuji (four points) was also key off the bench, as Estancia

pulled into a second-place tie with the Mustangs (13-7, 3-2), ranked No.

6 in CIF Southern Section Division III-AA.

Junior point guard Nancy Hatsushi had five of the Mustangs’ six

first-half field goals and finished with a team-high 19 points. Teammate

Jenny Earnest, who hit 9 of 11 foul shots, added 15 points and Autumn

Smith chipped in 18 rebounds, four blocked shots and six points.

“We’ll have our own rib dinner, because we know we deserve it,” Cassity

said. “(Winning) the Lady Bell would have been nice, but we want a league

championship banner even more. This was our third straight win. We have

Laguna Beach Tuesday, then we get Corona del Mar (5-0 in league) at home

Thursday.”