Wins at Buena in girls basketball have always been tough to come for Santa Barbara High. So, to beat the Bulldogs in their house, and by 20 points, is quite an accomplishment.
The Dons pulled off the stunning lopsided victory Tuesday night in a battle of second-place teams in the Channel League and top-10 teams in the CIF. Santa Barbara blew open a close game in the second half and won 81-61.
Amber Melgoza scored 37 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but it was the contributions of others that made the difference. Jocelin Petatan had her biggest scoring night of the season with 16 points and Jada Howard played an all-around game, scoring 14 points, grabbing 9 rebounds and dishing out six assists. Kimberly Gebhardt grabbed 11 rebounds and had four steals and Lili Ponce handed out four assists, had five rebounds and three steals.
Those efforts enabled Santa Barbara to outscore the Bulldogs 40-24 in the second half. The score was 41-37 at halftime.
“We played hard,” assistant coach Jess Martinez said. “We worked our half-court press and that did it for us.”
Santa Barbara (16-4), ranked fifth in CIF Division 2AA, finishes the first round of league play at 3-1. Buena, second-ranked in Division 2A, falls to 2-2 in league.
The Dons play host to San Marcos on Thursday and then take on Harvard Westlake at the Ventura Showcase on Saturday.
