Costa Mesa guard Marlee Sloan is defended by Santa Ana’s Jack Rivera on Wednesday night at Costa Mesa. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
Costa Mesa High School’s boys basketball team took another big step toward capturing the Orange Coast League title Wednesday night but the Mustangs had to fight off a tough challenge by Santa Ana to win in overtime 83-78 at Costa Mesa.
“We didn’t play our best basketball, we made some plays when we needed to and stuck together,” said Costa Mesa Coach Jesse Mercado. “Jack (Rivera of Santa Ana) got on fire and luckily we made some plays at the end to pull it out and made some big free throws and got some big defensive stops.”
Costa Mesa (14-8, 8-1) was led by junior Kembe Howerton, who had a season high 29 points. Marlee Slone added 26 points for the Mustangs, who are aiming for their first league title since 2019.
“We got three more games, we’re in first place,” said Mercado. “We got three tough games coming up and two of them are on the road. We got to get back in the lab and prepare.”
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Rivera led Santa Ana (8-13, 2-6) with 38 points and six 3-pointers. Osten Achmad added 20 points including a big 3-pointer in the final minute of regulation and in overtime for the Saints.
“My guys played their butts off and I’m extremely proud of them,” said Santa Ana Coach Zach Johnson.
Costa Mesa led 33-31 at halftime and extended its lead to 53-45 going into the fourth quarter.
But Santa Ana battled back and moved ahead 69-66 with about 45 seconds left in regulation on a 3-pointer by Rivera. But Garry Slone tied the game with three free throws with 38 seconds remaining.
Ochmad then hit a 3-pointer to put Santa Ana ahead 72-69 but Marlee Slone countered with a 3 at the other end at the buzzer to tie the game 72-72 and send it into overtime.
In the overtime, Santa Ana, trailing 79-78, was unable to convert an outside jumper. Marlee Slone made three free throws to clinch the win for Costa Mesa.
“Marlee hit that big three to send us into overtime, he’s got that ability to turn it off and on, I wish he would leave it on all the time,” Mercado said.
The Mustangs celebrated the win but know they have more work to do.
“I wish we did better in the first half,” said Howerton. “But we pulled it together in the second half, we weren’t hoping for overtime but we made it and we pulled it out and I’m thankful that my team did so. It was a good game for me, but I got to give it to my team. I couldn’t get those points without my team and without them behind me, it wouldn’t have happened tonight.”
“Kembe has really come along and the great news is he’s a junior and he’s just barely touching the tip of the iceberg of what he can be,” Mercado added. “But he came up with some big points and some big rebounds more than anything at the end.”
Gary Slone and Dunbar added 11 points each for Costa Mesa and Isaac Alvarez had eight points for Santa Ana.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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