Trailing 20-14 at halftime, assistant coach Alex Sheldon challenged the San Marcos girls basketball team to kick it into another gear."He asked 'Who's going to step it up? Who's going to be the spark?'," said coach Kristyn Miller.In response, the Royals stepped it up as a team and outscored Santa Ynez 27-8 in the second half to pick up a 41-28 win over the Pirates at the Thunderhut in the Gold Coast Tournament. … [Read more...]

The Bishop Diego girls basketball team scored a convincing 59-42 win over Thacher at the Laguna Blanca/Bishop Diego Tournament on Thursday, riding a strong second half for the Cardinals' third straight victory."We turned it up defensively on them," said Bishop head coach Jeff Burich, pleased with how his team turned up the pressure by switching from zone to man-to-man defense. "I have to compliment the girls on adaptibility." … [Read more...]

Rebecca Griffin continued to shine, but the Santa Barbara girls basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, 79-53, to the Agoura Chargers at the Gold Coast Tournament Thursday."Their freshman point guard pretty much dominated the game," said Dons coach Andrew Butcher.That guard was Kylie Cunningham, who scored 20 points and reminded Butcher of UCSB freshman floor general Emilie Johnson. Six-foot post player Brittany Oster added 21 points for the Chargers, who blasted out to a … [Read more...]

Rebecca Griffin kept up her stellar play and the Santa Barbara High girls basketball team remained perfect on Wednesday with a 57-46 win over Righetti in the Gold Coast Tournament.Tess Emerson added 11 points with seven rebounds and Brandi Blackwell had a well-rounded seven points, 10 rebounds, five steals and four assists.Geena Boscacci added 10 points for the Dons, who play Agoura at Rio Mesa Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. … [Read more...]

Jessica Escalante's five 3-pointers were the highlight of a balanced Dos Pueblos attack in a 60-39 victory over Santa Ynez on the opening day of the Gold Coast Tournament hosted by San Marcos.It was a one-point game at the end of the first quarter before DP outscored the Pirates 20-8 in the second on the way to the win. Escalante had 24 total and Sara Sessler tallied 12 as the Chargers improved to 4-1. … [Read more...]

It's pretty tough to win when the other team makes 13 three-pointers.San Marcos' girls basketball team found that out Wednesday night, as Agoura made 7-of-8 treys in the first quarter to down the Royals 79-43 in the Gold Coast Tournament."They just came in shooting the lights out in the gym. It seemed like each one of their players got a 3-pointer," said coach Kristyn Miller. "But we didn't give up. We kept after it." … [Read more...]

Valley Christian Academy used a strong first quarter to set the tone and rolled over Laguna Blanca 33-14 on Tuesday.Eva Davis and Natalie Nomura led the Owls in scoring on a tough shooting night for Laguna Blanca. … [Read more...]

Myrah Diaz and Sierra Freeman led the Carpinteria full-court press as it stumped the La Reina offense in a 34-29 girls basketball win on Tuesday."This was our best defensive effort of the of the year. Those girls really get after it on the press," said coach Dan Mercer.But another dynamic defensive duo was also busy on the night, as Gina Targoni and Jaclyn Guerrero hunkered down in the paint and held La Reina's pair of 6-2 post players to a combined 15 points, around 10 below their … [Read more...]

Lompoc started four seniors while DP started three freshmen, but age is just a number anyway.The Chargers' girls basketball team finished strong in the Bryan Ayer Classic Saturday, defeating the host Braves 45-41 for third place after falling behind 23-16 at the half.All-Tournament selection Meghan Murphy turned in another strong performance with 14 points while Jessica Escalante added 11. The Chargers jumped out to an 8-0 lead, but were outscored 16-4 in the second quarter. DP (3-1) cut … [Read more...]

All-Tournament selection Janelle Kohler scored 20 points and the Bishpo Diego girls basketball team tallied a season-high 13 assists as the Cardinals stomped the Thacher Toads 56-17 in Saturday's consolation championship game at the Fillmore Tournament. … [Read more...]

Pinole Valley's girls basketball team was ranked 15th in the nation last season when Dos Pueblos pulled a gigantic 55-52 upset over the Spartans at the Bryan Ayer Classic.Apparently, the memory stuck.Junior DeNesha Stallworth, already committed to play for the Cal Bears, scored 34 points and grabbed 21 rebounds Friday as Pinole Valley avenged last year's loss in a 72-48 win over the Chargers."They came back with a chip on their shoulder, and they were definitely intimidating our … [Read more...]

First-year varsity player Jeanette Mendoza scored 18 points to go along with eight rebounds Friday, but the San Marcos girls basketball team dropped a 49-45 decision to L.A. Baptist in the Fillmore Tournament."I was impressed with our ball control and the fact that we only had nine turnovers," said coach Kristyn Miller. "We played with a lot of heart in the first quarter, but we lost the game because we allowed them to convert on too many offensive rebounds." … [Read more...]