estan 205

SoCal High School & Prep Report

O.C. Southern Section Report:
Estancia Beats Costa Mesa--(February 5, 1998)

With Wednesday night's 83-62 PCL victory over the Mustangs, the Eagles extended their winning streak against Costa Mesa to 29 games. And now Estancia (15-8, 4-3 in league) can return to the business of trying to capture a fourth straight PCL crown. The Eagles, behind Air Force Academy-bound sharpshooter Sam Nelson, who had 31 points, in the sixth time this season he's scored more than 30 and the first time in a PCL contest, raced past Costa Mesa, which dropped to 3-17 overall and remained winless in league play at 0-7. Nelson had 17 points in the first quarter, 21 in the game's opening 10:21, as Estancia built a 52-22 halftime lead.

The Eagles, whose winning streak against Mesa dates back to 1982, netted seven three-pointers in the first half, four by Nelson, all in the first quarter as they constructed leads of 10-3, 15-5 and 21-7. Senior Ryan Simpson, along with Nelson a third-year varsity performer who finished 6-0 lifetime against Mesa, scored 14 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked a shot. Junior Peter Andersen also had eight rebounds for the Eagles, along with eight points and two assists. Andersen had all of his points and five of his boards in the second quarter, when Estancia assembled leads of 37-16 and 46-19.

The Eagles' biggest lead was 61-28 in the third quarter when Nelson converted a layup while getting fouled by Mesa's Todd Hylton (15 points). Costa Mesa, led by Hylton, Jon Payne (13 points) and Ryan Naff (11), staged a mild comeback in the second half. The Mustangs, who outscored Estancia in both quarters of the half, pulled to within 69-52 when Hylton made a jumper with 5:16 left in the game, which was stopped twice by the referees because of coins and candy being tossed onto the court by unruly fans.

For Estancia the scoring was Dawkins with 6 including one three, Nelson had 31 including 4 threes, Simpson 14, Rainey 7, Keju 1, Cantrell 2, Valbuena 7, Andersen scored 8 including 2 threes, Johansen 1, and Castellano 6. 3-pt. goals - Nelson 4, Andersen 2, Dawkins 1. Costa Mesa's scorers were Rice with 3, Wier 8, Jones 9, Payne 13, Hylton 15, Bryant 0, Naff 11, Mondragon 2, and Lambert with 1 point.