Santa Barbara's Sylvia Hoover dribbles the ball under defensive pressure from a Buena's Carly Maciel.
The game plan was working for the Santa Barbara girls basketball team in the first quarter against Buena. The Dons were breaking the press, attacking the basket and getting to the free-throw line, storming to a 21-10 lead.
It was similar to how they roared back to beat the Bulldogs in their first meeting.
This time, however, it was the Bulldogs who battled back. They received clutch play from a couple of unlikely sources and got the Dons in foul trouble to pull out a 58-53 win in a hard fought Channel League game at J.R. Richards Gym on Thursday night.
The loss knocked Santa Barbara out of a first-place tie with Buena and Ventura. The Dons are 3-2 in league and 15-8 overall. Buena is 4-1 and 16-6.
Freshman Aubri Smith hit her third 3-point bomb with four minutes left to put Buena ahead 49-47. Riley Lloyd tied the score, and the Dons got the ball back with a chance to retake the lead. Lloyd drove to the basket but was called for charging and fouled out of the game.
Tess Emerson puts up a jump shot for two of her 17 points against Buena.
“You don’t want to say one play lost the game,” Santa Barbara coach Andrew Butcher said, “but that’s a great time to set it up. You’re tied with three minutes left, you got possession, you want a really strong shot. Riley was playing hard and aggressive. In the craziness of the game, she probably made the choice she didn’t want to make.”
Buena capitalized on the turnover. Joi Moten scored off an inbounds pass, was fouled and converted her free throw to give the Bulldogs a 52-49 advantage.
Ivette Gil scored to make it 52-51, and the Dons had a chance at another possession, but they couldn’t come up with a loose ball. Buena’s Smith was fouled and hit both her free throws for a 54-51 lead with 2:23 to go. Smith then stole the ball and Keani Albanez hit a free throw to make it a four point lead with 42.8 seconds to go.
Santa Barbara’s Tess Emerson missed a short jumper and Albanez was fouled again. She made both free throws to put the Bulldogs ahead 57-51.
After Sylvia Hoover hit a 10-foot jumper for the Dons, Albanez clinched the win for Buena with another free throw.
“They’re a tough team and they made the plays to win the game down the stretch,” said Butcher of the Bulldogs.
“Both teams played hard overall; it’s a tough one to lose on either side, said Buena coach David Guenther.
Guenther was especially delighted with the play of Smith, who scored 11 points and hit three 3-pointers.
“She’s our freshman and she wasn’t afraid to take the shot,” Guenther said. “Her threes were huge for us and backbreakers for Santa Barbara, and they really got our momentum and our confidence going.”
Santa Barbara handled Buena’s vaunted press in the first quarter and built an 11-point lead. Albanez and Taylor McGuire, the Bulldogs’ stars, helped close the deficit, and Smith buried her first 3-pointer to cap a 12-2 run that gave them a 24-23 lead.
“In the second quarter, we didn’t handle their trap for a good six minutes,” said Butcher.
The Dons regrouped and went up by eight, 38-30, on a nice combination play between Emerson and Hoover.
But Buena would battle back as Xayna Anderson sparked a 9-3 run with a 3-pointer and a layup to help bring the Bulldogs within two going into the final quarter.
Albanez scored 17 points, McGuire added 15 and Smith 11 to lead Buena.
The Dons got 17 points from Emerson, Gil tallied 16 and Zoe Echternacht added 14.
