Mendoza’s 18 can’t save Royals against L.A. Baptist

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.”

Marissa Unzueta snatched 11 boards and scored nine points for the Royals (2-2), and Kelley Chilton chipped in nine points as well. The Royals play Santa Paula in Saturday’s third-place game, and Miller said she will use next week’s practices to work on boxing out and finishing lay-ups.

L.A. BAPTIST 49, SAN MARCOS 45

San Marcos…..15  7  15  8 — 45

L.A. Baptist…..10 13 12 13 — 49

SM—Curiel 2, Hyslop 1, Chilton 9, Mendoza 18, Sanchez 6, Unzueta 9.

Team records—SM 2-2, LAB 3-0.