How the heck did Rebecca Griffin score 28 points?
The Santa Barbara High senior is known for her scoring output, with a big chunk of her points always coming from beyond the arc. But on Tuesday against San Marcos, she made just one trey and somehow ended up with 28 as the Dons edged the Royals 53-50 at the SBCC Sports Pavilion.
“I didn’t think she had 28 points. It’s not surprising because she can definitely score that much, but I didn’t know she had that many,” said San Marcos senior Kimmy Sanchez, who had a great game herself with 18 points — including 10 in the third quarter which brought San Marcos back into the game after falling behind 31-20 at the half.
“Twenty-eight? That was pretty quiet, wasn’t it?” said surprised Royals coach Kristyn Miller. “She was our focus, but they found a way to get her the ball and she found a way to score. It wasn’t a typical 3-point onslaught.”
Miller said she had “nothing negative to say to the girls at all” and that the Royals executed the game-plan just how it was drawn up. Desiree Porter-Ray had 14 points, and Santa Barbara’s lead never grew bigger than its 11-point margin at halftime.
Santa Barbara High's Rebecca Griffin
Riley Lloyd pulled down a team-high eight rebounds for Santa Barbara to go along with four points, and coach Andrew Butcher said he felt that Ciondra Pereyra made big plays when the Dons needed them. Pereyra finished with four points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals.
Griffin went 7-for-8 from the line, and made both in a one-and-one situation with four seconds remaining — the final points of the game. Freshman Ivette Gil, who finished with seven points, picked up a steal on San Marcos’ ensuing possession as the clock ran out.
“I’ve been in that situation before and missed them, so I just think of that and focus on making them,” said Griffin of the clutch free throws.
Butcher liked what he saw out of Gil on the bigger stage. The freshman took a charge with 2:39 left and the Dons up five, but Emily Dietz hit a big 3-pointer with 45 seconds that cut the Dons’ lead to 51-48.
Moments later, San Marcos’ Vanessa Curiel missed a jumper but got her own rebound and made a lay-up to cut the lead down to just one. Griffin’s free throws and Gil’s steal followed to seal the Santa Barbara win.
“This was her first San Marcos game, and she said ‘I’m ready,'” said Butcher of Gil. “She was a little tight early, but she made a lot of big plays.”
The Royals are now 10-9 overall and 0-1 in the Channel League while the Dons are 13-4, 1-0.
SANTA BARBARA 53, SAN MARCOS 50
SANTA BARBARA — Lloyd 4, Griffin 28, Hoover-Purtur 3, Emerson 1, Pereyra 4, Kerns 4, Echternacth 2. Totals 18 14-21 53.
SAN MARCOS — Curiel 5, Hyslop 2, Dietz 6, Porter-Ray 14, Sanchez 18, Unzueta 5. Totals 19 7-16 50.
Santa Barbara…8 23 12 10 — 53
San Marcos…9 11 16 14 — 50
3-point goals — SB 1 (Griffin), SM 5 (Sanchez 2, Dietz 2, Curiel). Total fouls — SB 10, SM 19.
