SBCC made just one field goal in the first 10 minutes Saturday night and fell behind 50-24 at halftime on the way to an 82-64 loss at top-seeded Fullerton in the South Region women’s basketball semifinals.
“Fullerton has great depth,” said coach Sandrine Krul. “When they sub, it doesn’t drop off. We gave up 50 first-half points, then we had to re-adjust. We held them to 32 points in the second half and outscored them by eight.”
Francesca DeAngelis led the 16th-seeded Vaqueros (19-12) with 21 points but only hit 6-of-23 from the field. Jake Kelly had 20 points, including four 3-pointers, and five rebounds for Santa Barbara, which won nine of its last 11 games. Kelly hit 5 of 6 shots in the second half and scored 10 points in the final 4:31.
“We had a lot of adrenalin going,” said Kelly, one of five sophomores who played their final game for SBCC. “We were really pumped up and that’s hard to play with. Our shots just wouldn’t fall. It was weird. We calmed down in the second half.
“It was a great season, this is my favorite team I’ve ever played on. I love the girls, love the coaches and I’m sad to see it end.”
Giovanna Aplin tallied nine of her 11 points in the second half and also grabbed five rebounds.
SBCC fell behind 24-6 on a 3-pointer by Jhakia McDonald with 9:40 to go in the first half. Ebony McDonald had 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for the Hornets (29-1), who’ve won 24 straight games. Jhakia McDonald and Taiyande Huskey had 16 points apiece and Ashleigh Adams added 11 points and 12 boards.
The Vaqueros hit just 5-30 in the first half (16.7 percent) while Fullerton drilled nearly 56 percent. “We only played 20 minutes,” noted Krul.
Mara Lux had 11 rebounds, including six at the offensive end for SBCC, which lost the battle of the boards 51-33. Santa Barbara shot 40.6 percent in the second half and outscored the home team 40-32.
“I love this team, we had a great team on and off the court,” said Krul. “That’s why they’re so upset and crying. They didn’t want it to end. They’ve made lifelong friends. They got better throughout the year and they worked hard. There’s no reason to hang our heads.”
