By: Taylor Skipsey

A back-and-forth battle occurred last Friday night with our Spartans taking the 81-80 victory over the Southwestern Jaguars. MiraCosta got off to an aggressive start with a 15-4 lead after five minutes of play. With contributions made by Kobe Smith in transition, Dylan Cabs underneath the rim, and Kai Burdick putting in easy buckets over smaller defenders. MiraCosta had a size advantage, which gave Southwestern guards fits dealing with the switching scheme that Coach Rob had the Spartans running. Southwestern adjusted after their first timeout and elected to spread four players toward the corners of the court leaving room for their guards to make plays. With the combination of some tough shots going down, calls going the Jags' way, and the Spartans going cold offensively for two minutes, Southwestern burst back to make it a three-point game with seven minutes left in the first half.

Things started to get a chippy quickly as the game got close. A flurry of fouls were called on both ends of the court, leading to frustration and emotions running high. Eventually, refs had to step in and call a double technical on Kobe Smith and Kaleb Wilson of the Jaguars. At this point, the crowd at Southwestern started to get involved with cheers for the Jaguars and taunts toward MiraCosta players. The intensity was radiating from the building.

This is when Smith took over offensively for the Spartans. Their offense had been struggling, so he decided to put the team on his back to close out the first half and keep the game close. Almost five minutes had gone by and nobody, but Smith had put the ball in the net. He was forcing turnovers in the backcourt, facilitating for his team, and getting to the rim at will. Kobe's favorite athlete growing up was the guy he was named after, Kobe Bryant. I asked Smith what part of Bryant's game he tries to implement the most of and he said: "The Mentality and the footwork. Without me watching him play, I feel like I wouldn't even be the guy I am today." He conveyed the mamba mentality carrying the Spartans to keep a 41-39 lead at the half.

The second half started with a bang as Kobe Smith made a nice pass to Kai Burdick who posterized Kaleb Wilson and got the and-one call. This play was the ignition to a Spartans run.  Burdick started the second half as a dominant force in the paint. He finished with an 18-point, 13-rebound double-double. Burdick played a huge role in this win grabbing five offensive rebounds, giving the Spartans crucial second-chance points. With all this being said about Kobe and Kai, the true unsung hero of Friday night's game was Donavan Freeman.

Freeman was MiraCosta's leading scorer with 25 points, three rebounds, and three steals coming off the bench. The man was on a mission. He shot 50% from the field (10/20) and 57% from three (4/7). Donavan's shooting came in clutch, and he took over as the primary scorer late down the stretch. He made a shot every time it felt like the Jaguars might run away with the game. He didn't just have a hot shooting night from behind the arc but would regularly get past his man off the dribble and get to the rim.

Smith's well-rounded 17-point, five-rebound, six-assists, and four-steal stat line, with another dominant inside performance from Burdick, coupled with Freeman's scoring off the bench, it's a miracle Southwestern was able to almost steal the win. The most clutch shots of the night go to some names I haven't mentioned yet though. DaVaughn McCrumb had an amazing step-back three-point and-one play, with three minutes left to cut the lead to one. JC Campbell had the game-sealing putback after Freeman's missed free throw with 21 seconds left in the game.  Kobe Smith, Kai Burdick, and Donavan Freeman were the leading contributors in this game, but JC Campbell and DaVaughn McCrumb hit some of the biggest shots down the stretch to rip away another win from the Southwestern Jaguars.