The San Marcos girls basketball team got Santa Barbara’s full attention when it hit a 3-pointer to pull to within 16-11 in the first quarter.
“They hit that three and we kind of woke up after that,” said Santa Barbara coach Andrew Butcher.
The Dons stepped up their defensive pressure and romped to a 73-18 victory in the Channel League opener on Tuesday at the Thunderhut.
“San Marcos played a real good first quarter and our pressure got to them after that,” said Butcher, whose team is ranked No. 4 in Division 2AA.
Amber Melgoza scored 41 points — her fifth 40-point game of the season — and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Dons (13-3, 1-0). Freshman point guard Cassandra Gordon scored a career-high 14 points and had four assists and Jada Howard added 10 points.
