After falling behind 14-0, the San Marcos girls basketball team never gave up.
Facing mighty second-seeded Agoura on the road, the Royals battled to within two points with three minutes remaining in Thursday’s 50-44 loss to the Chargers in the first round of CIF competition.
“To come back like that showed so much heart. Our girls stayed committed to rebounding, being physical and staying calm,” said Royals coach Kristyn Miller.
Kalley Ridgway finished her career by grabbing a whopping 18 rebounds to go along with seven points, and Kelley Chilton had four points with five assists. Jeannette Mendoza led the Royals’ scoring once again with 14 points.
“We finished with an 8-19 record but that’s a deceiving number,” said Miller. “This team plays so well and really could have gone a couple more games into CIF. I’m so proud of them.”
The Chargers, now 21-3, played the Royals earlier in the year and won the first quarter 30-6. This time it was 14-5, and San Marcos won the third quarter 16-12. Miller said that her team was able to contest Agoura’s shots well, leaving the Chargers with a 5-for-33 mark from beyond the arc.
“Next year we’ve got a good core of players that has been a part of a great team. In he post-game talk we challenged the juniors and sophomores to re-create this and keep taking steps in the right direction,” said Miller.
AGOURA 50, SAN MARCOS 44
SAN MARCOS — Chilton 4, Mendoza 14, Sanchez 7, Ridgway 7, Ochoa 4, Unzueta 8. Totals 18 6-15 44.
AGOURA — Borenstein 4, Levy 17, Oster 16, Cunningham 7, Mahlkneckt 6. Totals 19 7-12 50.
San Marcos….5 14 16 8 — 44
Agoura……….14 15 12 9 — 50
3-point goals — SM 2 (Chilton, Ridgway), A 5 (Levy 3, Oster, Cunningham)
Total fouls — SM 16, A 14.
Fouled out — Mahlkneckt.
Team records — SM 8-19, A 21-3.
