Malibu Boys Basketball Goes Down in Tough Loss to Hueneme

Malibu could not overcome a poor shooting night in its lost to Hueneme 60-56 on Monday at Malibu High School.

The game started with both teams struggling to find the basket. The Sharks had trouble getting the ball into their center, junior, Justin Holmes who ended the quarter without a shot registered to his name. Malibu’s disjointed play led to the poultry production of 7 points in the quarter on 3 for 11 shooting. The five turnovers and 8 offensive rebounds that Malibu gave up certainly did not help, falling behind Hueneme 10-7 by the end of the quarter.

The second quarter continued in a similar fashion to the first with both teams swarming each other in defense with neither side able to score easy baskets. Holmes and freshman, Frankie McGovern were the only Sharks to find the basket in the quarter as the game limped into halftime with Malibu behind 22-17.

The raucous Malibu crowd was looking for a little more passion from the Sharks in the second half. Unfortunately, it did not come in the third quarter with forward, senior Will Rosenthal the only Shark able to score on a regular basis. Hueneme started pulling away by the end of the third quarter taking a 36-29 lead into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter opened with the Sharks giving up two big shots from downtown by Hueneme’s point guard who hit from 5 feet behind the line. The game was slipping away from the Sharks as they sent Hueneme to the line and fell behind by as much as 10 points with only a few minutes left. All of a sudden, Malibu came to life with a sense of urgency that was absent for 28 minutes of the game.

The defense started to flex pressing Hueneme into a number of turnovers. The local crowd started getting behind the Sharks. The Sharks clawed their way back to within two points with only 30 seconds left on the back of guards senior, Andrew Yazdani and junior, Anthony Kodomichalos, who went into overdrive feeding Holmes down low.

This was exemplified by one play where Kodomichalos charged down court passed to Yazdani who then dished to Holmes for a 3-point play. The entire play took 2 seconds. In another play shortly after, Yazdani released senior forward Vinnie van Patton for an acrobatic 3-point play.

Unfortunately, Malibu’s discipline did not hold up and the Sharks sent Hueneme to the line just one too many times pushing the score to the final 60-56. The Sharks were led by Holmes with 20 points and 11 rebounds, Rosenthal with 15 points and 5 rebounds, Kodomichalos with 6 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks and Yazdani with 5 points and 4 rebounds.

The Sharks next play in the Clash on the Coast at Pacifica High School from Wednesday through Saturday this week. Wednesday’s game is against League rivals Santa Clara at 3:30 p.m.