Rio Mesa overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to beat Santa Barbara High in last month’s Tournament of Champions, and this time the Dons’ girls basketball team got some buzzer-beating revenge.
Rebecca Griffin banked in a 17-footer as time expired to give the Dons a 47-46 win over the Spartans at J.R. Richards Gym on Saturday.
“Before this we had played four nail-biters and were 1-3, so this was nice. It was a hard-fought game,” said coach Andrew Butcher.
Griffin, who finished with a team-high 12 points, made a 3-pointer with a minute to go that put the Dons (15-4) up by one, but Rio Mesa got a bucket to re-take the lead with five seconds to go. Ivette Gil took the ball out at halfcourt after a timeout and got it to Griffin for the winner.
Gil, a freshman, was given the responsibility of guarding Rio Mesa star Julisa DeVad in the second half and held her to just five points. She added five assists and two steals.
The Dons, who committed just nine turnovers and shot 40-percent from the floor, host mighty Ventura on Tuesday.
SANTA BARBARA 47, RIO MESA 46
RIO MESA — Hernandez 17, Abraham 5, Lemos 3, DeVaz 12, Crier 9. Totals 17 4-11 46.
SANTA BARBARA — Gil 8, Lloyd 4, Griffin 12, Hoover-Puter 2, Emerson 7, Pereyra 4, Kerns 8, Echternacht 2. Totals 20 5-9 47.
Rio Mesa…9 9 13 15 — 46
Santa Barbara….15 12 8 12 — 47
3-point goals — RM 8 (Hernandez 5, DeVad 2, Lemos), SB 2 (Griffin 2). Total fouls — RM 11, SB 8.
