Costa Mesa boys' basketball upsets El Monte to reach Division 5AA semifinals

Costa Mesa's Aiden Spallone (2) hits a basket during the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 5AA playoffs.

By Christopher PiazzaSpecial Contributor

June 2, 2021 2:59 PM PT

The Costa Mesa High School boys’ basketball team knew that a win on Tuesday night meant that its season remained alive and it could secure what is believed to be its first CIF Southern Section semifinal appearance.

Despite trailing throughout the game, the Mustangs rallied in front of their home crowd to beat No. 3-seeded El Monte 67-61 in the quarterfinals of the Division 5AA playoffs.

Junior Aiden Spallone paced the Mustangs (14-6) with 14 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals. Senior Gio Quero contributed 13 points along with a couple of assists.

“It’s exciting and it’s never been done before,” Quero said of reaching the semifinals. “To be part of history, it’s really beautiful.”

Before making history, the Mustangs, with first-year head coach Jesse Mercado at the helm, needed to figure out a way to stifle El Monte (11-4), especially its senior trio of Kacey Romero, Joshua Penunuri and Yahir Martinez-Ruiz.

Costa Mesa defender Christian Dasca, left, tries to steal the ball during a Division 5AA quarterfinal against El Monte.

Costa Mesa’s zone defense allowed those three El Monte players to hit open looks from beyond the three-point arc. However, Penunuri got into foul trouble after picking up two early fouls.

Spallone and senior Blake Wolf gave the Mustangs the lead in the second quarter with a couple of driving layups, but the lead was short-lived.

The El Monte senior trio took over with a 10-0 scoring run. Sophomore Christian Dasca and freshman Jordan Martin managed to bring the Mustangs to within three points before halftime. Martin had 11 points and 12 rebounds in the win.

Costa Mesa made adjustments to attempt to stop El Monte’s senior standouts, especially Romero, who finished with a game-high 28 points.

“We went to our bread-and-butter, man-to-man defense, and picked up on [Romero],” Mercado said. “That was a big difference in the second half, where we locked him up and made his shots a little bit tougher.”

Blake Wolf (23) reacts to a Costa Mesa basket by teammate Gio Quero, far right, during the quarterfinals against El Monte.

The Mustangs’ second-half defense fared better against Romero, but Penunuri got into his rhythm and scored consecutive three-pointers. El Monte had their biggest lead of the game at 39-31 halfway through the third quarter.

Facing their largest deficit, Costa Mesa’s fortunes turned around and the offense clicked. Quero and Wolf hit back-to-back three-pointers, while Martin continued to use his reach in the paint to grab rebounds and put up shots. Wolf finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Another Quero three-pointer capped an extended 17-4 run for Costa Mesa, which saw the eight-point deficit flipped to a Mustang five-point lead with less than a minute until the final quarter. El Monte tied the game at 48-48 just before the third-quarter buzzer.

“We’ve been able to go far in this postseason because we work hard and [try] not to get down on ourselves,” Spallone said. “We keep playing our game and stop the run and turn it in our favor.”

Costa Mesa's Aiden Spallone drives around El Monte's Kacey Romero during a CIF Southern Section Division 5AA quarterfinal.

In the fourth quarter, the Mustangs came away victorious because of their gritty play and Dasca’s clutch free throws.

“It didn’t come down to X’s and O’s,” Quero said. “It just came down to playing with your heart. We just gave it our all. We all have the same goal and that just keeps pushing us even when we’re tired.”

For Mercado, he knew that his team wanted to win for each other, and he made sure to acknowledge it.

“I’ve got a great group of kids, they’re eager to learn and they do it together,” Mercado said. “The more they want, the more I try to give, and it’s fun when they want it more.”

The Mustangs will host No. 2-seeded Valley Village Valley Torah on Friday at 2:30 p.m.