The Cubs beat the Mira Costa High School Mustangs 58-40 on Friday, December 7.  With this victory, they now improve to 6-4 overall.

Starting Cubs

PG: Neil Owens

SG: Mason Butler

C: James Keefe

PF: Anthony Lucenti

SF: CJ Jones

1st Quarter

After Mira Costa won the opening jump ball, senior center James Keefe got back-to-back blocks.  The Mustangs got on the board first with a layup, leading 2-0 with less than six minutes remaining.  Keefe was fouled at the 5:07 mark, and made both of his free throws to get Loyola on the board and tie the game 2-2.  The Mustangs regained the lead off of a layup with 4:45 left. Keefe made a layup and tied the game 4-4 with 4:30 to go.  The Mustangs made a three-pointer to gain a 7-4 advantage over the Cubs with less than four minutes to go. They made another layup to lead 9-4 with less than three minutes left.  A Keefe layup and a two-pointer by junior forward Colby Brooks made it a 9-8 game with 1:08 to play. Brooks made a layup to give the Cubs a 10-9 lead with less than 30 seconds left.

Score: Loyola 12, Mira Costa 9

2nd Quarter

The Cubs began the second quarter on a 5-0 run highlighted by a three-pointer by Mason Butler and two-pointers from Keefe and senior guard CJ Jones.  The Mustangs stole the ball and made a layup to cut the lead to six. Keefe converted a three-point play with five minutes to go to give the Cubs a 20-11 lead.  A layup from the Mustangs made it a 20-13 game. A Butler 3 put the Cubs up by 10. Junior forward Grant Roquemore got a steal and Keefe was fouled at the 2:58 mark.  Keefe missed both of his free throw attempts. Mira Costa made a layup, and the Cubs still led 23-15 with 2:30 to go in the first half. The Cubs ended the game on two three-pointers from Butler and Owens.

Score: Loyola 31, Mira Costa 18

3rd Quarter

Mira Costa began the second half with a 7-0 run, still trailing the Cubs 31-25 with less than five minutes left.  A three-pointer by Butler put the Cubs up 34-25 with 4:10 left. Keefe made a layup and was fouled. He failed to convert the potential three-point play.  A layup by senior forward Anthony Lucenti gave the Cubs a 13-point lead, 38-25, with 3:18 left. The Mustangs made a three-pointer with less than two minutes left to cut the lead to 10.  A Jones fadeaway jumper put the Cubs up 40-28 with less than 1:30 left. The Mustangs made a three-pointer with less than a minute left. Brooks made a two-pointer to beat the third quarter buzzer.

Score: Loyola 42, Mira Costa 31

4th Quarter

In the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, Brooks converted a three-point-play and the Cubs led 45-31 with 7:49 to play.  The Cubs jumped out to a 47-31 lead after an Owens layup. The Mustangs earned another trip to the free throw line, and they made one of two attempts.  A three-pointer by Jones put the Cubs up 50-32 with less than four minutes to play. A two-pointer by Lucenti gave the Cubs a 20-point lead with 3:07 to play.  With 2:40 left, a three-pointer by Brooks put the Cubs up 55-32. A dagger three-pointer by Jones put the Cubs up 58-32 with 2:13 left. Mira Costa ended the game on a 5-0 run.

FINAL: Loyola 58, Mira Costa 40

Cub of the Game

The Cub of the Game is Colby Brooks.  Head Coach Jamal Adams said, “I thought Colby Brooks was amazing.  He gave us a lot of juice in the first half. He kept playing the whole game.  I gotta imagine he was our leading scorer tonight. He had a really efficient game, and he rebounded the heck out of the basketball.”  Evaluating his performance and the team’s performance, Brooks stated, “I think [the team’s performance] was pretty good. I think my defense could have been a little better, the offense was pretty good.”

Postgame

In the locker room, head coach Jamal Adams believed the team had a great defensive effort and lots of energy.  In a postgame interview, he said, “Our effort was phenomenal. We were really locked in to the details, I think that’s one of the areas we improved on.  Last game, we only had five assists, so the ball was really stuck. I thought that today, especially in the first half, the ball moved great, we found the open man.  When the ball is alive and they [the team] believe in that, and believe in each other, we can make shots. It’s a matter of turning down good shots and getting great shots.”

Regarding the team’s communication.  Adams believes it was good. “It was a loud environment,” he said.  “It’s good to play a road game [to] get ready for the league. I thought we did a good job staying connected for the most part throughout the day.”  Brooks added, “I think it can be a little bit better, just keeping our hands up.”

Brooks believes there were several improvements from last week’s loss to El Camino Real.  He said, “We probably improved a lot on our talking, our defense, and getting our hands up. But it could be better.”

The Cubs begin the St. John Bosco Tournament on Monday, December 10, against Covina High School.  To prepare for the game, Brooks stated, “We just have to be in practice and keep working hard, because that’s gonna be a tough tournament.”