After opening the season with 13 straight wins, Mira Mesa High School dropped two games, then went into a Tuesday night showdown against 14-2 La Jolla without injured 6-foot-7 Tim Dorn.

How did the Marauders respond?

By bolting to a 28-point third-quarter lead, withstanding a withering La Jolla rally and walking off their home floor with a 69-53 win.

Rather than breathing a sigh of relief, Mira Mesa coach Jon Pierce liked the way his team responded.

“We executed,” said Pierce. “They made a nice run. They’re a good basketball team. We knew they were going to make their run. We made the plays we needed and had a nice 16-point win.”

No one made a bigger play than 5-foot-11 junior guard Diego Ortiz. With the lead down to seven and less than three minutes to play, Ortiz splashed in a 3-pointer from the wing, stretching the advantage to 10. La Jolla (14-3, 1-1 City League) never scored again.

Ortiz scored a game-high 20 points, including four treys, but he was in a critical mood after the Marauders improved to 14-2 and 1-1.

Regarding a 28-point lead dwindling to seven, he said: “Those things can’t happen, especially with the things we’re striving for. We think we’re good because of our record. But we’re not that good We need to go to work and improve from here.”

Mira Mesa plays a frenetic style, pressing, pushing the ball up the floor. And it worked against the Vikings, causing 20 turnovers.

“They imposed their will on us,” said La Jolla coach Paul Waranowski.

Despite the 14-3 record, slow starts have been an issue for La Jolla.

“This might be a reckoning,” said Waronowski. “This was probably overdue for us. If we embrace the discomfort of it, maybe it’s a good thing.”

Why the slow starts?

“It’s a mystery,” he said.

Ortiz was hardly a one-man gang. Nine players scored. Joining him in double figures were Cole Soriano (12 points) and the athletic Jeremiah McCaleb (10). With Dorn out, La Jolla’s 6-6 Lance Braga led La Jolla with 19 points. Leo Hawkinson, who came in averaging 17.9 points per game, was held to five points.

Dorn is expected to return soon. In the meantime, winning with him dressed in street clothes should give the Marauders confidence.

“It’s next man up,” said Pierce. “It’s nice to get a win with a dynamic player like him out.”

The Marauders have lofty aspirations. Mira Mesa High opened in 1976 and has enjoyed success in multiple sports. The basketball program, though, is still searching for its first section title. The Marauders have played in only one championship, losing the Div. 2 title 83-41 in 2014-15 to Foothills Christian.

“When we’re at our best we can compete with anyone in the county,” said Pierce.

“We want to be that one-in-a-million team in the Mira Mesa community,” said Ortiz. “We want to leave a legacy.”