Spartans Play Three Games at Antelope Valley College

MiraCosta has been participating in the Greg Anderson Basketball tournament at Antelope Valley College for more than two decades.  This year the Spartans opened the tournament with a game against De Anza College losing a close game by the final score of 93-85.  De Anza pulled away in the second half only to have MiraCosta fight back using their full court press defense.  Gagan Nijjar was a catalyst for the defensive energy in the come back.  With De Anza on the ropes the time ran out and the Spartans lost, moving to the consolation side of the bracket where the would face El Camino College on Saturday.  Against De Anza the Spartans were led in scoring by Anthony Jensen, Tre Morgan and Rob Phillips who all scored 14 points.

On Saturday against El Camino College the Spartans set a new program record for most points scored in a game.  MiraCosta won by a final score of 135-125 against El Camino whose style of play dictated the high scoring result.  Leading the way for the Spartans were the two point guards, Cole Barton (26 points) and Xavier Allison (25 points). The speed of Barton and Allison was a clear advantage and created many easy baskets. Andrew Thomton added 21 points and nine rebounds finishing numerous lay ups after MiraCosta beat the El Camino press.  Rob Phillips (16), Cody Hicks (13), Tre Morgan (11) and Aleks Pocej (11) also added a scoring boost.  The Spartans pulled away late in the second half after a game that had many runs for both teams.

MiraCosta advanced to the consolation championship where they faced off with LA Harbor College on Sunday.  Another high scoring game left the Spartans on the wrong side of the scoreboard.  MiraCosta struggled to stop the perimeter attack of Harbor and dropped the game 124-100.  Cody Hicks and Cole Barton both scored 15 points and Aleks Pocej added 12 points and six rebounds.