San Marcos broke into the win column in Channel League play with a 51-46 girls basketball victory over Santa Ynez at the Thunderhut on Monday.

“Very proud of this group. With all the close games we have had, they deserved this win,” said coach Aaron Solis.

The Royals (1-8 in league) improved to 15-10 overall, the most victories for the program since the 2006-07 season.

Ariel Plourde scored 15 points to lead the Royals and Ashley Day had 13, with 11 coming in the second half.

“In the third, we got a couple of huge threes from freshmen Oceanna Bauer and Michelle Arellanes, but then Ashley found her shot, getting inside the key against taller players for four buckets and going 3-4 fro the charity stripe,” said Solis. ” It was great to see the ball go through the hoop for the team on Senior Night.”

Defensively, the Royals made it tough for Santa Ynez standout Grace Padilla. She finished with 18 points, with 11 of them coming on free throws.

“We made her work for everything. Fran (Pereira) and Ashley did a great job trying to contain her and make her work for her points.”

— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.