Ivette Gil scored 25 points in the opening round of the CIF Division 3AAA playoffs for the Santa Barbara High girls basketball team, but the Dons were outmatched by Rio Mesa and lost 64-50.
Santa Barbara finished even with Dos Pueblos for third place in the Channel League and lost a tie-breaking playoff match. The Dons made it to the postseason through an at-large bid and drew a difficult first-round matchup at No.4 Rio Mesa.
The team did not make things easier on itself and allowed the home team to open up a 25-point lead at halftime. The Dons showed incredible resiliency after the break and outscored Rio Mesa 19-3 in the third quarter to climb back into the game.
Unfortunately, the impressive third-quarter run was not enough and the Dons’ season ended in Oxnard.
Santa Barbara finished the year with a 15-13 overall record.
“I thought that the girls really worked and when we were able to follow our gameplan, we were very, very competitive,” head coach Andrew Butcher said about his team.
