Gabriela Jaquez scrapped for 37 points and hit three free throws in the last seconds to give the Camarillo girls basketball team a 52-50 win over St. Joseph in an intense, physical Gold Division semifinal game in the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions on Wednesday night at J.R. Richards Gym.
The 12-0 Scorpions will play Chaminade for the Gold Division championship on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Chaminade advanced to the final with a 64-40 win over Palisades Charter in the other semifinal.
In consolation play, Elle Stone hit a clutch three-pointer in the final seconds to give Santa Barbara a 55-52 win over Ventura.
Righetti ran away from Maranatha, 73-40 in the other consolation semifinal.
Santa Barbara and Righetti will square off for the consolation title at 1 p.m.
St. Joseph and Palisades play at 4 p.m. in the third-place game.
Maranatha and Ventura meet in the seventh-place game at 11:30 a.m. at San Marcos High.
Camarillo 52, St. Joseph 50
Jaquez and St. Joseph’s Avary Cain put on a show in the fourth quarter. The UCLA-bound Jaquez scored 17 points in the final eight minutes, while Cain, a sophomore, tallied 14 points.
After Cain made the first of her trio of three-pointers in the quarter to give the Knights a 41-38 lead, Jaquez answered with a free throw, a fast-break layup and a three-point play off Anika Carey assists to put the Scorpions on top, 44-41 with 3:16 left.
Cain scored on a drive and Jaquez came back with a tough bank shot against tight defensive pressure to make 46-43.
Cain then hit back-to-back three-pointers to put the Knights ahead, 49-46.
Jaquez answered with a game-tying three.
Cain drew a foul and made one of two free throws to put St. Joseph up by one, 50-49.
The Scorpions put the ball in Jaquez’s hands and she attacked the basket and drew a foul. She made both free throws for a 51-50 lead.
St. Joseph lost control of the ball and fouled Jaquez, who made one of two free throws for the win.
Cain finished with 25 points.
Chaminade 64, Palisades 40
The Eagles outscored Palisades 23-10 in the third quarter to break the game open and improve to 9-3.
Jessa Thurman scored 17 points and Kayla Cabaccang had 14 to lead Chaminade.
Righetti 73, Maranatha 40
Eva Delgado and Madi Cutliff each scored 18 points and Martha Durazo added 15 as the Warriors improved to 8-2.
Emmy Stout scored 14 for Maranatha.
Santa Barbara 55, Ventura 52
Elle Stone hit a clutch three-pointer off a kick-out from Caia Trimble for the eventual game-winning shot for the Dons.
Stone scored 24 points on 11 of 22 shooting, grabbed six rebounds, had five steals, tw blocked shots and three assists.
She also contained Ventura’s center, 6-foot-3 Amaya Fuentes, in the second half as the Dons went to a box-and-one defense.
“Elle was on their big girl and did an outstanding job defending her in the second half,” said coach Andrew Butcher.
Lauren Robles made 4 of 8 on three-pointers and scored 14 points and Trimble had 13 points and eight assists.
Fuentes scored 20 points for Ventura, Emily Rea had 14 and Tiernan Phillips added 13.
GREEN DIVISION
Mira Costa will play Orange Lutheran in the championship game on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Santa Barbara High.
Mira Costa routed Aliso Niguel, 60-21, while OLU beat Nipomo, 61-41, in the semifinals.
Aliso Niguel and Nipomo meet in the third-place game at 2:30 p.m. at Santa Barbara.
San Marcos defeated Newbury Park in the consolation semifinals, 42-32, and will play Oxnard in the consolation final at 11:30 a.m. at Santa Barbara. Oxnard routed San Luis Obispo, 66-34.