Santa Barbara High’s girls basketball team has won 11 straight games while claiming a CIF Southern Section title and a CIF SoCal Regional title. The Dons will go for 12 straight in tomorrow’s CIF State Championship in Sacramento.
It’s hard for a high school basketball team to replicate an arena setting for a game.
Santa Barbara coach Andrew Butcher did the best he could before his Dons traveled to Sacramento to play Modesto Christian for the CIF State Division 3 girls basketball title at Sleep Train Area on Friday at 2 p.m.
The venue is where the NBA Sacramento Kings play, and historically high school teams have struggled shooting there in state finals because of the vast open space behind the baskets.
Friday’s game will be streamed live by Time Warner at 2 p.m. HERE
In their final practice at home before heading to the state capital, Butcher took his team to the outdoor courts at the high school and repositioned one of the portable baskets with a glass backboard, so the girls could get accustomed to shooting with a spacious backdrop.
“The only background will be the Riviera … that’s pretty nice,” said Butcher.
Like the scene from the movie “Hoosiers,” when the Hickory High team enters the big arena before the Indiana state championship game and the Gene Hackman character (coach Norman Dale) pulls out a measuring tape to show the players the free-throw line is still 15 feet away from the basket and the basket is 10-foot high, Butcher is doing a similar tactic, making sure his players are well prepared.
“Every one of these (postseason playoff) games, we don’t know what the outcome will be but the kids have been prepared,” Butcher said. “They’ve gone in happy and they put out their best effort. And I don’t expect anything less on Friday. If the other team is better, they’re better, but I don’t think we’re going to limit ourselves. That’s what we’ve done well with this year.”
The Dons will be facing a solid and deep Modesto Christian team. The Crusaders, who are making their third trip to the state finals in 12 years, rallied from a 17-point deficit late in the third quarter and beat top-seeded Redding-Enterprise in the NorCal Regional final last week. [VIEW CIF D3 STATE BRACKET HERE]
“They’re bigger than us, stronger than us and faster than us,” Butcher said.
But that’s nothing new for the Dons. Amber Melgoza, Desirea Coleman, Jada Howard, Jocelin Petatan, Kimberly Gebhardt and the reserves have taken on and beaten taller and quicker teams during their playoff run.
“That’s what we’re used to playing, so we’re excited,” said Butcher of the challenge.
The Crusaders are led by 5-11 senior Lexi Tubbs, who averages close to 17 points a game.
“She plays the point, she plays the wing; she’s a real good 3-point shooter,” Butcher said.
Sophomore Stephanie Moore is a 5-10 guard who likes to attack the basket and shoots well from the outside, 5-11 senior Jasmine Hampton handles the role of rebounder and 5-4 Ashley Lucas is a quick junior point guard. She is returning to the lineup after being sidelined with an ankle injury.
Coach Robb Spencer also uses several players off the bench.
“They got a lot of depth,” Butcher noted.
Modesto Christian is the best team the Dons will face in the postseason.
“This team is better defensively and they are bigger,” Butcher said. “They’ll pressure us a lot better than the other teams, so we have to work on that a lot. That will be an issue.”
Modesto Christian is a perennial power in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section. Spencer has coached the school to six section titles and three regional crowns. The boys team is also successful, with 16 section titles, four regional titles and two state championships.
“They’re kind of the Mater Dei of the Central Valley their coach told me,” Butcher said.
The Crusaders set a goal to play for a state championship.
“It’s where they thought they would be, and here they are,” Butcher said. “And this is where we thought we wouldn’t be, and here we are.”
He said defense and composure will be keys for his team.
“We just want to play good defense. If the kids don’t get caught up in (the magnitude of the game), we have a good chance. If it starts getting in their heads that this is the biggest game of the century, some crazy thing, we don’t need that pressure.”
The Dons have been rock solid during this magical and historical playoff run.
They’ll be looking to put together another stellar effort under the big top.
Good luck Dons. Bring the state title home to Santa Barbara. From a former DP girls basketball dad who is rooting for SB.