By: Tayor Skipsey

The MiraCosta men's basketball team had a dominant win on Friday night over the Cuyamaca Coyotes in a physical game. Kobe Smith led the way for the Spartans with an impressive 24 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Kobe was a dominant force in the paint, relieving pressure through efficient ball distribution among his teammates. Kai Burdick wasn't too far behind with a nice double-double stat line of 14 points, 10rebounds, and five assists.

The Coyotes sent help in the paint, but this allowed Smith and Burdick to facilitate. Smith dominated with a flurry of midrange pull-ups, passing out of the paint when doubled, and shooting from the line seven times. MiraCosta set the tone early by battling for offensive rebounds and backing down smaller defenders. The Spartans played an inside-out scheme, and the the coyotes played right into their hands. Cuyamaca sent an abundance of help to the paint and collapsed the defense. Big man Kai Burdick and Kobe Smith were used as offensive hubs, pulling in the Coyotes help defenders and passing out to MiraCosta shooters Mason Bowers and Ty Cox. This allowed Bowers and Cox to shoot uncontested threes, or drive to the rim if there was an aggressive closeout. The gravity of Smith and Burdick opened up the game for Bowers and Cox.
At halftime, the Spartans led the Coyotes 33-25. The referees adjusted to control the physicality of the game and immediately started calling more fouls. Three back-to-back calls were made. Coach Rob's message at halftime was clear, as the Spartans drove to the paint and kicked out to the shooters to counter Cuyamaca's heavy weakside help defense. The second half is where Kobe took over the game offensively. There were only three outcomes when Smith had the ball on the offensive end: he finished in the paint, passed to an open teammate, or headed to the line for free throws.

While Kobe led the team offensively as a consistent producer of buckets, Dylan Cabs made his impact on the defensive end. Cabs is a leader on the court and communicates effectively with his teammates. From a background of winning two CIF championships, he understands
what it takes to win games. Cabs know what this team has in the duo of Smith and Burdick, so he tries to fill in the gaps. Cabs says, "We have scorers, we have shooters, we have post guys, so I'm always trying to be the glue guy." He's not wrong. Dylan Cabs had a nice 13 points, eight rebounds, and four assists to fill in the gaps needed for the team to win. His biggest impact comes on the defensive end as he takes it upon himself to guard the other team's best player. Cabs say, "I always take it upon myself to guard the other team's best player, I can guard one through five. I think my best ability is being able to shut down their best player". With the combination of Smith, Burdick and Cabs and help from supporting players, the Spartans were able to pull off a dominant 83-67 win over the Cuyamaca Coyotes.