Sophomore Athena Saragoza shot Santa Barbara High to the Channel League girls basketball championship, making 6-of-7 from the three-point line to score 33 points in a 70-49 victory over Lompoc at J.R. Richards Gym.
The Dons (17-10, 8-2 Channel League) shot 9-for-13 overall from three, with Caia Trimble making 3-for-5 while contributing 14 points. She also had eight assists.
“Athena’s threes came mostly off the catch,” coach Andrew Butcher said. “It was just really good ball movement, of getting the ball at the right time.
“They’re very strong in the post, but we were about to play really good team defense in the second half.”
Santa Barbara, which led 39-26 at halftime, limited the Braves to eight points in the third quarter.
Lompoc drops behind Santa Ynez into third place in the final regular-season standings.
CABRILLO 49, SAN MARCOS 30
The Royals trailed by just three points late in the third quarter but were shut out the rest of the way in their final game of the season.
Juliet Dodson led San Marcos with nine points.
“I’m proud of the legacy the senior girls are leaving behind,” coach Chris Hantgin said. “They are an outstanding group of young women who were dedicated to their team and were competitive throughout the season.
“The younger ones coming up next year are going to have to work extremely hard to match this groups work ethic.”
SANTA YNEZ 48, DOS PUEBLOS 25
The Pirates clinched second place in the Channel League, a game behind the Dons, after racing out to a 20-11 lead in the first quarter.
DP finishes its season with records of 10-13 overall and 1-9 in league.
BOYS BASKETBALL
CATE 64, THACHER 61
Ethan Ng scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half to lead the Rams past the Toads at Sprague Gym, setting up a Frontier League championship showdown on Friday at 7 p.m. at Villanova.
Cate (11-3, 6-1 Frontier) jumped out to a 13-2 lead but Thacher rallied to tie the game.
Freshman Mason Oetgen added 14 points for the Rams while Khadim Pouye contributed 10.
SANTA CLARA 64, BISHOP DIEGO 38
Connor Streett scored 10 points and Kai Morphy added nine for the Cardinals in their season-ending loss.
GIRLS WATER POLO
DOS PUEBLOS 10, SAN MARCOS 7
Sophie Leggett’s goal with 3:23 remaining in the third period put the Chargers ahead for good en route to their comeback victory in the championship game of the Channel League Tournament at the Lompoc Aquatics Center.
Leggett finished with four goals and four steals for DP (21-8), which is ranked No. 3 in Division 1 of the CIF-Southern Section. Abbi Hill added three goals while Kelly Meckelborg chipped in with two, which included the game-tying goal with 3:56 left in the third period.
Sabina Shackelford scored the Chargers’ other goal while Kayla Peacock had three assists. Goalkeeper Anna Cable had five saves and three steals.
Cassidy Miller led San Marcos with three goals, Fiona Kuesis scored two, and Hannah Meyer and Claire Kronen added one apiece.
“We battled all game and it was a great atmosphere,” Royals coach Chuckie Roth said. “We will learn a lot from this and take our improvements.”
Riley Christen had six saves for San Marcos, ranked No. 5 in Division 1.
SANTA BARBARA 16, CABRILL0 2
The Dons’ future was put on display as they notched the 500th win in the program’s history while finishing third at the Channel League Tournament in Lompoc.
Freshman Sophie Johnson scored six goals while two of her classmates – Makenna Wright and Allie Bartholomew – also made an impact for Santa Barbara (18-12). Wright scored three goals with a pair of assists while Bartholomew made five steals while also scoring a goal.
Sophomores Bella Obado (one goal, three assists, and four steals) and Dela Bucy (one goal and three assists) also asserted themselves.
