You could almost see it coming.
Thirteen days before, Dos Pueblos’ girls basketball team had lost a 5-point lead to Santa Barbara in the final minute of a 47-44 loss.
On Wednesday night at J.R. Richards Gym, the Chargers entered the fourth quarter up 37-30.
Jessica Escalante had put them there with a lay-up at the 1:20 mark in the third quarter, giving the Chargers their biggest lead of the second half. But DP would go nearly nine minutes without a point after that and the senior-laden Dons took their cue, pulling off another comeback win, this one ending up at 48-40.
“I knew we would come through with it, but it just took us until the last quarter,” said senior guard Larissa Lavender, who scored all five of her points in the final period.
The Dons were led by 15 points by junior guard Rebecca Griffin, while Brandi Blackwell added nine points and a whopping 19 rebounds, many of which came on the offensive end to give the Dons second and third chances.
Dos Pueblos’ lone senior, Meghan Murphy, appropriately led the Charger attack with 11 points in her final regular-season game. While the Dons had already sealed up the third and final playoff spot in the Channel League, the Chargers will need some good vibes to turn their petition to CIF into a postseason spot.
“It was a tough loss again. It was the same kind of thing — in the end, experience shows,” said Murphy, who has been dubbed “Team Mom” all season due to the fact that she’s the only Chargers player with a driver’s license.
“We were ranked 18th in our division, so I think there’s a good chance that I have another high school game.”
The 7-player DP lineup consists of five freshmen, junior Sara Crane and Murphy, who says she can’t wait to come back over the next few years and see her young teammates realize their potential.
The Dons (18-8, 5-4), meanwhile, had a more traditional Senior Night than Murphy’s one-woman show at Sovine Gym last Friday. Blackwell, Lavender, Adi Hernandez, Jessica Ramirez, Ashley Gilmore, Michelle Crispin, Megan Calderon and Geena Boscacci were all honored before tip-off.
“This was definitely the most fun season I’ve had,” said Lavender, who actually quit the team before the season began but realized her love for the sport and laced ’em up just in time.
“I came back committed to just having fun for my senior year, and it ended up being one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
The Chargers (10-16, 0-8) stormed out to a 15-7 lead in the first, taking a 25-21 lead into the break. A jumper by Tess Emerson gave the Dons a brief lead at 27-26 early in the third quarter, but the Chargers took it right back and eventually extended it to seven with Escalante’s lay-up.
The Dons took the lead at 38-37 off of a steal and lay-up by Blackwell with 5:40 left in the game, and never looked back.
The playoffs await Santa Barbara, while coach Maynard Pilapil and the Chargers will wait until Sunday afternoon to find out if their strength-of-schedule and close league losses will be enough to punch a ticket.
SANTA BARBARA 48, DOS PUEBLOS 40
DOS PUEBLOS — DiMarco 3, Murphy 11, Hoover-Purter 4, Sessler 2, Crane 4, Mata 6, Escalante 10. Totals 14 3-6 40.
SANTA BARBARA — Blackwell 9, Ramirez 5, Hernandez 1, Griffin 15, Lavender 5, Crispin 4, Emerson 2, Pereyra 7. Totals 13 6-11 48.
Dos Pueblos…….15 10 12 3 — 40
Santa Barbara….7 14 9 18 — 48
3-point goals — DP 2 (Mata 2), SB 4 (Griffin 3, Ramirez 1).
Total fouls — DP 12, SB 13.
