Clinging to an eight-point lead going into the fourth quarter of its Southern Part Division 1 semifinal playoff, Mira Costa made certain there can be no Santa Barbara comeback.
The Mustangs held Santa Barbara scoreless for greater than 5 minutes to start out the quarter and got here away with a 61-40 victory Saturday night time.
Eneasi Piuleini scored 19 factors, McCarthy Bedner had 16 factors and Jacob De Armas 12 factors for a Mira Costa crew that’s 29-3 and can play Los Alamitos for the Division 1 championship subsequent Saturday at Toyota Enviornment in Ontario.
“I like this group of seniors and love this crew,” Mira Costa coach Neal Perlmutter mentioned.
It’s a neighborhood crew through which gamers needed to wait their flip and are available up from the underside and ship when the chance introduced itself. De Armas and Piuleini every began as freshmen junior varsity gamers earlier than turning into senior stars. Every of them had dunks that energized Mira Costa’s dwelling crowd.
“Good issues take time to marinate,” Perlmutter mentioned. “It feels good the fellows who caught round had been rewarded.”
Mira Costa’s protection held Santa Barbara’s Luke Zuffelato to seven factors and solely three pictures within the first half. He completed with 16 factors.
Franklin 69, South East 65: Adam Sanchez scored 23 factors and RJ Sanders 22 factors to assist No. 13-seeded Franklin advance within the Metropolis Part Division II playoffs.
Solar Valley Poly 52, LACES 35: The Parrots superior to the Metropolis Division I semifinals.
Grant 69, El Camino Actual 52: Champ Merrill scored 22 factors to assist the Lancers turn into the second East Valley League crew within the Metropolis Division I semifinals.
