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Jaeda Spence’s Double-Double, Athena Saragoza’s 23 Points Lead Santa Barbara to First-Round Rout
Athena Saragoza fires up a shot for Santa Barbara in its CIF 2AA Division first-round win over Mira Costa. Saragoza scored 23 points. (Gary Kim / Noozhawk photo) By Brandon Victor, Noozhawk Correspondent
May 27, 2021
| 10:24 p.m.
Jaeda Spence’s 18-point, 12-rebound double-double led the Santa Barbara girls basketball team to a blowout 69-43 victory over Mira Costa on Thursday in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 2AA playoffs at J.R. Richards Gym.
In a game that Dons coach Andrew Butcher described as “near-perfect,” Santa Barbara’s discipline, rebounding,and defense allowed the team to easily knock off the Mustangs. With the victory, the Dons move to 11-2 on the season while Mira Costa ends the season at 13-7.
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A sizable portion of those 20 assists came in transition, especially in the first half. Early in the game, San Marcos opted to full-court press the Dons, but the ball-handling and speed of Saragoza and Caia Trimble allowed Santa Barbara to break the press rather easily.
“We talked before the game that we really wanted to keep the guards out of foul trouble,” said Butcher. “We have two super talented guards, and when we have them on the floor it’s hard to press us”.
To its credit, San Marcos’ relentless defense did seem to fluster Santa Barbara in the first half, as the Dons committed nine turnovers in the half.