The shooting was off target, but the Santa Barbara High’s girls basketball team did enough to beat Camarillo, 54-40, for its eighth straight win on Wednesday night at J.R. Richards Gym.
Amber Melgoza scored 15 of her game-high 27 points in the second quarter to help the Dons take a 26-22 lead at halftime in their home opener. They slowly pulled away in the second half.
“We shot 19 for 62, which was by far our worst shooting game,” Santa Barbara coach Andrew Butcher said. “When you play a defensive team, you have to have patience and we did not have it. I feel fortunate to come away with a win.”
Jada Howard scored 10 points and played a strong game on the boards, grabbing 12 rebounds. Melgoza had 10 boards. The Dons also got good play off the bench from sophomore Sophia Torres. She scored six points.
“She hit some big baskets and gave some good minutes,” said Butcher.
Butcher said Camarillo did a good job playing its game.
“They executed their offense. I told their coach they played a better basketball game than we did.”
The Dons will look to clean things up in practice before they begin play in their Tournament of Champions on Friday against CIFCentral Section Division 1 power Hanford. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. At halftime of the game, Santa Barbara will retire the jersey of former prep All-American Kristin Knapp Cole.
