Basketball Recap: Mission Viejo Takes a Loss

If Mission Viejo was feeling good fresh off their 59-16 takedown of Santiago last Tuesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Mission Viejo Diablos were just a bucket shy of victory on Wednesday and fell 41-40 to the Costa Mesa Mustangs. The Diablos were not able to make up for their loss to the Mustangs from their previous meeting back in November of 2019.

Despite the defeat, Mission Viejo had strong showings from Sofia Gozzo, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 11 boards, and Savanna Whitesides, who posted seven points and 19 boards. Those 19 rebounds gave Whitesides a new career-high. Kimora Williams was another key player, putting up ten points and eight rebounds.

Even though they lost, Mission Viejo smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 22 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Costa Mesa only pulled down 13 offensive boards.

Costa Mesa's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Leilani Quero, who put up 17 points and three steals. Quero has been hot, having posted two or more steals the last seven times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Aaliyah Terry, who dropped a double-double on ten points and ten boards.

Mission Viejo has traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-6 record this season. As for Costa Mesa, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 3-3.

Mission Viejo wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next match, a 55-39 win against Rancho Alamitos on the 12th. As for Costa Mesa, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 61-42 victory against Estancia on the 12th.