In all his years of coaching girls basketball at Santa Barbara High, Andrew Butcher never had a player score 40 points in back-to-back games.
Until this season.
Amber Melgoza accomplished the feat on Saturday in the championship game of the Gold Coast Classic. The junior followed up her 45-point game on Friday with a 42-point performance, leading the Dons to a 72-59 win over host Rio Mesa on Saturday.
“It’s pretty crazy, I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Butcher, who noted that Melgoza shot over 50 percent from the floor.
In the four Gold Coast Tournament games, she scored 34, 37, 45 and 42 points. She was named the tournament MVP.
Melgoza also grabbed nine rebounds and had six steals against Rio Mesa.
“They did everything they could to stop her and she still scored 42,” said Butcher.
Jada Howard also played a strong game for the Dons. She scored 18 points grabbed seven rebounds and had four steals. Kimberly Gebhardt added six points and seven rebounds.
Santa Barbara (7-0) returns home on Wednesday to play Camarillo.
