Santa Barbara High’s girls basketball team outscored Oaks Christian 19-4 in the fourth quarter and won its second pool-play game at the Gold Coast Tournament, 49-41, at Rio Mesa on Thursday night.
The Dons (5-1) got a big game from point guard Dezzy Coleman, who scored 13 points and had eight assists, four rebounds and four steals.
“She really held us together because things weren’t looking good for the first three quarters,” Santa Barbara coach Andrew Butcher said of Coleman.
Santa Barbara was down 41-39 and scored the final 10 points of the game.
Amber Melgoza scored 16 points to lead the Dons in scoring. She also had six rebounds. Jocelyn Petalan added six points, six rebounds and four steals. “She plays really hard,” said Butcher.
The coach praised the play of Lillian Ponce, who came off the bench to grab six rebounds and played tough defense on Oaks Christian’s standout guard.
“She did the best job on the other team’s star,” Butcher said of Ponce. “She helped to wear the other girl out. Her rebounds and defense were big contributions to our success.”
Santa Barbara completes pool play today at 4 p.m. against St. Joseph at 4 p.m. at San Marcos.
