VENTURA — It was like turning the clock back a few years: Santa Barbara and Buena battling it out for the Channel League championship in girls basketball.
Playing in the gym named after legendary Buena coach Joe Vaughan, Santa Barbara was within reach of winning its first league title since 1988 on Wednesday night. A basket by Tess Emerson gave the Dons a 37-36 lead with 6:12 to go in the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs responded with a 7-1 run and held on for a 49-42 championship victory in the regular-season finale.
“They were a little better than we were and they deserved to win the game,” said Santa Barbara coach Andrew Butcher, whose team will go into next week’s CIF playoffs as the Channel League runnerup with a 6-2 record, 20-6 overall.
Buena finishes on top with records of 7-1, 18-8.
“I just felt all game it was going to come down to who had it last,” Buena coach David Guenther said. “We were just lucky enough to hit a couple of shots in the last two minutes, they missed both of their’s and we hit some free throws.”
Siondra Pereyra’s basket off a missed free throw cut the Dons’ deficit to 45-42 with 55 seconds left. Santa Barbara then got the ball back when Buena was whistled for a violation on an inbounds pass. Jackie Kerns got a wide-open look from 18 feet but her shot bounced off the iron and the Bulldogs rebounded.
Elise Munoz hit two free throws and Amanda Padilla forced a turnover that resulted in two more free throws for Keani Albanez to clinch the win for Buena.
“Our turnovers cost us,” said Butcher.
Buena guards Padilla, Albanez and Taylor McGuire harassed the Dons all game long and made it difficult for them to run their offense efficiently. Rebecca Griffin, the team’s leading scorer was held to just three points.
“They matched up on her and face-guarded her everywhere,” said Butcher.
Freshman Ivette Gil picked up the slack, pouring in a game-high 20 points.
“Ivette had the game of her life, but it’s tough for a freshman to handle that situation,” Butcher noted of Buena’s tight defensive pressure. “We haven’t been in that situation many times. In the playoffs, we may be in that situation every time, so it’s something to work on.
“(Buena) did a great job,” he added. “They got the ball to our freshman, they put Keani on her and that disrupted our offense and then we didn’t get the ball back to Becca. That’s why we scored in the 40s and not in the 50s or 60s. It was a smart coaching play by them and it cost us.”
Guenther said the adjustment of having Padilla shadow Griffin was key in the second half.
“We didn’t have Amanda on her in the first half, which was a not a smart move by me, but she did a great job on her in the seocnd half,” he said. “We tried to make somebody else score for them. It made it tough on them, but we struggled, too.”
It was a physical game from the start, and the officials let the teams play.
Back-to-back assists by Griffin on baskets by Kerns helped the Dons take an 11-6 lead in the first quarter. The Dons could have expanded the lead, but turnovers and missed defensive rebounds alllowed Buena to come back and tie the score at 15-15.
Griffin hit a 3-pointer early in the second quarter to put the Dons ahead 18-17 and Emerson popped in a 13-foot jumper after an offensive rebound basket by Buena’s Kacie Sowell to make it 20-19.
The Bulldogs started going inside to Sowell, who thrived in the physical contest. She scored six points during a 9-2 run for a 28-22 advantage.
There was a lot of contact at both ends of the floor, but the officials let the players play.
“It was tough game and the kids were playing physical,” Butcher said. “You kind of want that in a championship game. I don’t have any complaints.”
Santa Barbara made a run at the Bulldogs in the third quarter and early in the fourth behind the shooting of Gil. She hit a free throw and back-to-back baskets to give the Dons a 33-32 lead with 4:32 to go in the third period.
Buena responded with baskets by freshman Taylor McGuire and Albanez to go up 36-33. Gil, however, came right back, beating the Bulldog press and scoring to make it 36-35 at the end of the third quarter.
“Yvette Gil had an amazing game. She was really aggressive in a hostile environment in the biggest game of the year,” said Butcher.
Emerson blocked a Buena pass and then scored at the other end to give the Dons their last lead at 37-36 early in the fourth quarter.
Buena tied the score on a free throw by Ashley Jameson and then took the lead for good when McGuire made a nice feed to Sowell inside for a basket.
Sowell led the Bulldogs with 17 points while Albanez scored 15.
Emerson tallied 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Dons.
“I don’t think we played close to our potential but you have to give the other team credit for that,” said Butcher. “They took us out of some things. We’ll work the next week and get ready for the playoffs and try to get back and do what we do best.”
As for reliving the old days of Buena and Santa Barbara battling for the title, Butcher said, “We’ve had some good games in this gym and we’ve had some tough ones. It’s fun. It’s the kids, it’s not the coaches. It’s not the schools, really.
“It’s the kids who show up that year and bust their butts, and we have a great group. I don’t think anybody thought if they’d seen us in December that we could compete for the championship. They really worked and bonded and really tried to make themselves better.”
BUENA 49, SANTA BARBARA 42
SANTA BARBARA — Gil 20, Griffin 3, Emerson 13, Pereyra 2, Kearns 4, Lloyd 0, Hoover 0. Totals 19 3-9 42
BUENA — McGuire 7, Padilla 3, Albanez 15, Jameson 3, Sowell 17, Munoz 2, Barnes 2, Sherk 0. Totals 18 12-18 49
Santa Barbara…15 8 12 7 — 42
Buena…15 15 6 13 — 49
3-point goals—SB 1 (Griffin), B 1 (Padilla). Total fouls—SB 15, B 12. Fouled out—Pereyra. Records—SB 20-6, 6-2 Channel League. B 18-8, 7-1.
