It was the same story as the night before at J.R. Richards Gym, just a different gender.
On Wednesday, Westlake made 10 3-pointers before the Santa Barbara boys basketball squad pulled away in the fourth quarter for the win. Camarillo’s girls team made 10 treys on Thursday night, and the Dons’ girls squad pulled away similarly in a 54-45 first-round win in the CIF playoffs.
“They kept making them, but in the fourth quarter we got together to stop them and get the win,” said Santa Barbara point guard Rebecca Griffin, who finished with 13 points including a pair of triples.
Brandi Blackwell continued to turn out double-doubles like an In-N-Out burger, this time going for 18 points and 13 rebounds to complement five assists, five blocks and three steals.
The Dons took a 24-16 lead into halftime, but Camarillo came out and nailed five from beyond the arc in the third, eventually tying things up at 33-33 on a make by Brittany Nishimori, who had six 3-pointers and 22 points on the night.
The Dons responded by getting aggressive, as Blackwell put back an offensive rebound and Michelle Crispin grabbed one of her own before dishing to Tess Emerson for a jumper. Larissa Lavender fed a nice pass to Blackwell, who dished off to Jackie Kerns and before Camarillo could blink it was 46-34 with five minutes to go.
“We got it together in that stretch in the fourth quarter and that was the game. We didn’t play great defense down the stretch and we didn’t play great defense on their shooters but we still won,” said coach Andrew Butcher. “We’ve got a couple things to work on.”
The Dons will take on Villa Park in the second round on Saturday, wih the venue to be decided by a coin-flip.
SANTA BARBARA 54, CAMARILLO 45
CAMARILLO — Kakiyama 1, KNishimori 7, Ramos 1, BNishimori 22, Johnston 2, Sanders 4, White 8. Totals 15 5-8 45.
SANTA BARBARA — Blackwell 18, Ramirez 4, Griffin 13, Lavender 4, Crispin 3, Emerson 6, Pereyra 2, Kerns 4. Totals 24 3-9 54.
Camarillo…..4 12 18 11 — 45
Santa Barbara…..14 10 15 15 — 54
3-point goals — C 10 (BNishimori 6, KNishimori 2, White 2), SB 2 (Griffin 2).
Total fouls — C 13, SB 9.
