When the Santa Barbara High girls basketball team steps on the J.R. Richards Gym court for Tuesday night’s CIF State Division 3 Regional semifinal game against Mount Miguel of the San Diego Section, it will be looking at a taller opponent.
The Matadors field a team that includes players with heights of 6-2, 6-1, 5-11 and 5-10.
Santa Barbara’s tallest starter is 5-9 sophomore Amber Melgoza, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder.
But the top-seeded Dons (28-5) have experience going up against taller teams, playing teams like Ventura and Sierra Canyon.
Fourth-seeded Mount Miguel comes to Santa Barbara with a 27-5 record. It’s beaten Yorba Linda and Selma in the regionals.
Deijah Blanks, a 6-1 forward, scored 24 points in the win over Selma, while 5-7 point guard Kamree Harrison had 15 points, 5-10 Zaria Branch added 10 points and 5-11 Dejanay Pope grabbed 11 rebounds.
Mount Miguel was moved into the Open Division for the San Diego Section playoffs and advanced to the semifinals.
Santa Barbara is enjoying its best playoff run in program history. The CIF-Southern Section 3AA champions struggled in the first half last Saturday against La Cañada, but Melgoza scored 20 of her 26 points in the second half and Jada Howard knocked down 13 in the last 16 minutes to spark the team to the comeback win.
In the other semifinal on Tuesday, second-seeded Lakeside hosts No. 3 Santa Margarita.
Tuesday’s winners play for the regional title and a CIF State Finals berth on Saturday at Colony High in Ontario.
