Santa Barbara High turned up the defensive pressure and pulled away from Dos Pueblos, 55-37, to complete an perfect 10-0 Channel League season in girls basketball on Wednesday night at Sovine Gym
The Dons held the Chargers to five points in the second quarter to build a 29-17 lead and were never threatened again.
“We played pretty well, especially in the second and fourth quarter,” said Santa Barbara coach Andrew Butcher. “Our defense was really good at times.”
The Dons held DP standouts Lily Mires and Ashley Gerken to four points apiece. Miracle Millinghaus was the Chargers’ leading scorer with nine points and Mikala Butzke had six.
“Our seniors Mireya Gil, Maya Banks and Trina Regalado all played outstanding defense. That was that key for us, holding DP down in scoring,” said Butcher.
Athena Saragoza led the Santa Barbara offense with 27 points, including five three-pointers.
“Athena had a very solid game offensively and defensively,” said Butcher.
Regalado added 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Dons were tough on the boards. Banks and Jaeda Spence each grabbed 12 rebounds and the team 46.
Santa Barbara also got a boost with the return to Caia Trimble from injury. She had five assists and four steals.
“She was a stabilizing factor for us,” said Butcher.
The coach praised the play of his seniors, including Maria Aragon.
The Dons will enter next week’s CIF-SS playoffs with an overall record of 17-9.
“We’re real happy to go undefeated in league,” said Butcher. “DP is always a tough team. They have some good scorers, good shooters and they play outstanding zone defense, so we’re happy to able to score 55 points.”
Dos Pueblos (14-10, 4-6) hopes to get into the playoffs as an at-large team.
The playoff pairings will be released Sunday.