The Dos Pueblos girls basketball team fared much better the second time around against Rio Mesa but still came up short on Thursday in the first round of the Division II-A CIF playoffs, falling 53-47 in Oxnard.
The Chargers, who lost to the Spartans by 32 points in December, suffered a big blow in the first minute when freshman point guard Jessica Escalante went down with an injured ankle.
“It was a big let-down emotionally but the girls immediately banded together,” said DP head coach Maynard Pilapil, whose team actually held the Spartans scoreless in the first quarter and opened up a 10-point lead.
Rio Mesa’s Imani Dixon took control in the second half to power the Spartans’ surge, scoring 22 of her 27 points in the final two quarters.
Freshmen Sara Crane and Jasmine Mata reached double figures for DP, posting totals of 10 and 11 points respectively.
The Chargers finish off the season with a 10-17 record and reached the postseason for the eighth-straight year. And they did it all with only seven players, no assistant coach and one senior in Meghan Murphy.
“I’m real proud of this team,” continued Pilapil. “We’ll be a year wiser next year.”
RIO MESA 53, DOS PUEBLOS 47
DOS PUEBLOS – DiMarco 7, Murphy 2, Hoover-Purter 6, Sessler 8, Hilton 3, Crane 10, Mata 11. Totals – 19, 6-13, 47
RIO MESA – Crier 2, Vistro 3, Devad 10, Abraham 2, Ramirez 4, Vargas-Hardy 5, Dixon 27. Totals – 20, 10-16, 53.
Dos Pueblos 10 16 11 10 – 47
Rio Mesa 0 20 18 15 – 53
3-Pointers – DP 3 (Mata, Hilton, Hoover-Purter) RM 3 (Devad 2, Vargas-Hardy). Total Fouls – DP 20, RM 19.
