The Carpinteria girls basketball team survived a sluggish second half on Thursday night, holding on to defeat Malibu 35-32 in a Frontier League matchup in the Warriors’ gym.
Amanda Burch led all scorers with 16 points. Ten of those points came in the second quarter, when Carpinteria opened up a 13-point lead over the Sharks.
But cold shooting plagued the Warriors in the second half as they made only 4-of-19 attempts. Malibu never managed to take a lead in the latter half, but did have a last-second desperation shot that came close to tying it up at the end of regulation.
Warrior head coach Dan Mercer was pleased with the defensive effort. Myriah Diaz, Sierra Freeman and Nicole Pearce combined to rein in All-CIF player Dannielle Bush, limiting her to five points.
Mercer also thanked point guard Caitlin Wallace for her 11 rebounds, some of which came in the fourth quarter to keep Malibu from coming all the back.
Carpinteria (13-7, 4-2 FL) face a stiff test on Tuesday in its next game, Division V-A’s No. 3 team Santa Clara.
CARPINTERIA 35, MALIBU 32
MALIBU – Robinson 4, Bush 5, Quartz 4, Zontelli 4, Pushaw 2, MaGee 13. Totals – 11, 10-13, 32.
CARPINTERIA – Pearce 5, Wallace 5, Burch 16, Diaz 7, Guerrero 2. Totals – 17, 6-19, 35.
Malibu 6 9 8 9 – 32
Carpinteria 8 16 5 6 – 35
3-Pointers – C 5 (Burch 4, Wallace). Total Fouls M 15, C 4. Records 13-7, 4-2 FL.
