Santa Barbara got off to a strong start on Thursday night but Marlborough had a stronger finish as the Mustangs rode a 28-7 second-half advantage to a 49-33 win at Santa Barbara in a CIF 2AA girls basketball opener.
Athena Saragoza led the Channel League champion Dons (17-10) with 17 points. She hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the corner to end the first quarter, then drilled two straight triples to open the second period and the Dons enjoyed their biggest lead at 18-9.
No. 2 seed Marlborough, the No. 3 entry from the Mission League, improved to 20-6.
The Dons led 26-21 at halftime, then went nearly 13 minutes without a field goal. Catherine Or scored eight of her 14 points in the third quarter, which the Mustangs dominated 18-2 to take a 39-28 lead.
SBHS didn’t make a second-half field goal until Maya Banks scored a layup with 3:15 to play and the Dons on the wrong end of a 41-30 tally.
Parker Montgomery led the Mustangs with 18 points.
“They cranked up their defensive pressure in the second half,” said Dons coach Andy Butcher. “I told the kids if we failed tonight, it’s because we failed as coaches. The effort was there and we didn’t have them ready for that kind of defensive pressure. Defensively, we had a few lapses in the third quarter and that made it tough to come back.
“They’re a strong team and their defense is excellent. Athena was good early but when people started getting in her face and face-guarding her, there’s things available and her teammates are supposed to help her out with swings and back picks but we didn’t have the team comfortable enough to execute those things in the game.”
The Mustangs opened the third stanza on a 12-1 run and took a 33-27 lead on a triple from the right corner by Bria Balthazar. Balthazar had two 3’s in the third period and scored all eight of her points in the second half.
“It was a big thing of nerves in the first half,” said Marlborough coach Chris Rodgers. “We have five freshmen and you can never practice a playoff game. Our veterans who have been here before knew what to expect and even they seemed a little jumpy. We had to calm them down and weather their storm.
“We knew they had two great guards and we needed to stay in front and we didn’t do a good job in the first half. In the second half, I challenged them to do a better job and hopefully that would make the difference.”
Maya Banks had four points and 12 rebounds for the Dons. Saragoza grabbed seven rebounds and made 3-8 from long distance.
“We had some great senior leadership but there’s also a great group coming back (including Saragoza and sophomores Caia Trimble and Jaeda Spence),” said Butcher. “That’s the trick, to keep trying to climb the mountain and figure out your strenths and weaknesses and having enough discipline to work on the things you’re not good at. Every kid in the country wants to go out and shoot 3-point shots for two hours. That’s not going to make you better.
“We accomplished some good things this year. They played so hard and they’re not feeling great in the room right now. I just feel so bad that I as a coach and our staff didn’t have them ready for that defensive pressure.”