GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Costa Mesa Snaps to Life Late, Defeats Santa Margarita, 58-42

The Costa Mesa girls’ basketball team was lifeless for three quarters in the opening round of the Costa Mesa Winter Classic Monday, but the Mustangs opened the fourth quarter with a 21-2 run and defeated Santa Margarita, 58-42.

With the victory, Costa Mesa (7-3) advanced to today’s quarterfinals, where the Mustangs will face Capistrano Valley (7-2) at 8 p.m. The Cougars routed the North Torrance junior varsity, 68-29.

The Mustangs struggled early, but scored nine straight points to take a 14-6 lead after one quarter. Corri Lurmann led Costa Mesa, scoring eight points and grabbing seven rebounds while playing only the final 4 1/2 minutes of the quarter.

Costa Mesa led by as many as 12 points in the second quarter, but the Eagles rallied in the third. Santa Margarita (3-2) opened the second half with a 12-4 run to close the margin to 28-27, and then Shannon Redfern hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to make it 31-30 going to the final quarter.

“I think we kind of outcoached ourselves,” Mustang Coach Len Whitacre said. “We felt we could play strong man-to-man defense and we weren’t going to show our full-court press if we didn’t have to.”

With Costa Mesa leading by one entering the fourth quarter, Whitacre decided it was time to break out the press. And break out the Mustangs did. Costa Mesa scored 16 consecutive points in less than three minutes, taking a 52-32 lead with 3:26 to play. Santa Margarita committed nine of its 29 turnovers in the final quarter.

Despite picking up the victory, Whitacre was less than ecstatic with his team’s play. Costa Mesa shot only 31% from the field (19 of 61) and turned the ball over 24 times. “It was a very ugly game,” he said. “I don’t know what happened--we had played four good games in a row until today. We’re going to have to play a lot better (today) or we’re going to get killed.”

Costa Mesa’s Koo Kim had a game-high 25 points, including four three-pointers, and Lurmann added 14 points and 13 rebounds in a reserve role for the Mustangs. Santa Margarita held a 47-40 rebounding edge thanks to freshman Michelle Chambers (14 rebounds) and sophomore Tiffani Mendivil (12 rebounds). Redfern, who had 20 points, was the only Eagle to score in double figures.