Santa Barbara’s running game was cut off at the pass, and the Dons girls basketball team was denied a shot at playing in the Gold Division final of the Tournament of Champions.
Bishop Montgomery made the adjustments to slow down Santa Barbara’s attack in the second half and blew open the game in the third quarter en route to a 63-44 win in the second semifinal Friday at J.R. Richards Gym.
The second-seeded Knights will play No. 1 seed Orange Lutheran in Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. championship game at Santa Barbara.
Orange Lutheran advanced to the final by beating Ventura 50-41 in the first semifinal game.
Ventura and Santa Barbara, Channel League rivals, will meet in the third-place game at 5:45 p.m.
In other action involving local teams, Dos Pueblos was outscored 15-3 in the first quarter and lost to St. Bonaventure, 51-30, in the consolation semifinals. The Chargers play Bell-Jeff in the 11th-place game.
In the tournament’s Green Division, San Marcos defeated Santa Ynez, 37-32.
The high scorer of the day was Ashley Ontiveros of Rio Mesa. She scored 25 points in a 61-39 win over Bell-Jeff. Amy Ornelas of Righetti had 23 points in a 55-47 loss to Peninsula.
Bishop Montgomery 63, Santa Barbara 44
The Knights (8-1) disrupted long outlet passes up the wings to slow the Dons’ transition game in the second half.
Offensively, they got big performance from sophomore Nao Shiota, who took over running the team when their leading scorer, freshman guard Sophie Song, picked up her third foul early in the third quarter.
Shiota did a good job directing the Bishop Montgomery attack and providing some points. She sparked a 17-6 run at the start of the third quarter with an assist to Chelsea Lidy followed by three straight baskets, including a 3-pointer.
Also having a good night for the Knights was Dani Lee, one of the team’s three seniors. She made four 3-pointers and scored a team-high 16 points.
After a slow start, Santa Barbara (8-3) picked up the tempo in the first half, turning the game into a track meet. The Dons roared back from an 11-2 deficit and pulled to within one, 19-18, on a layup by Alyssa Cosio off a beautiful pass from point guard Melissa Lemus midway through the second quarter.
The Dons trailed by six at halftime (26-20) and had to be feeling good about things.
But Bishop Montgomery stepped up its play in the second half and took over the game. It outscored Santa Barbara 20-8 in the third quarter and expanded its lead to 20 points (46-26) after Lee’s fourth 3-pointer.
Ivette Gil was the only Don to score in double figures with 19 points, 13 of which came off free throws. Dessy Coleman was held to eight points and Lemus finished with six.
Orange Lutheran 50, Ventura 41
Jessica Salottolo knocked down three 3-pointer in the first period and the Lancers played tough defense in racing out to a 20-5 lead.
Ventura made a run early in the third quarter and pulled to within four, 31-27, on a 3-pointer by Haley Litten.
Defense enabled Orange Lutheran to regain the momentum. Salottolo made a couple of steals that resulted in baskets, helping the Lancers take a 41-30 lead into the fourth quarter.
Orange Lutheran put the game out of reach on back-to-back 3-pointers by Sarah Stumme and Abbey Goodsell. That gave the Lancers a 49-34 lead with 4:42 left in the game.
Salottolo led all scorers with 19 points, while Goodsell added 12.
Marki Meyer scored 14 points and Haley Graham had 11 for Ventura.
