Santiago Beats Pacifica to Earn Share of Title

Santiago ended a girls’ basketball drought that had lasted nearly a quarter century by defeating Pacifica, 58-46, in a Garden Grove League finale for both teams Thursday night at Pacifica.

Santiago (19-7, 10-2 in league) split with Pacifica (16-11, 10-2) and forged a tie for first place in the league. It was the Cavaliers’ first piece of a league title since 1975.

Stephanie Reupena had 17 points, Sega Asiata had 15 and Jasmine Buenrostro had 12 for Santiago, which also set a school record for victories in a season.

“It’s been a lot of years,” Santiago Coach Ron Heusser said. “But these kids have talked about it since the beginning. They thought they had a chance to win it and they did.”

Pacifica defeated Santiago, 63-62, last time the teams met.

“These girls played an absolutely great game,” Heusser said. “We thought it would be real hard to come in here and win on their court, but the girls did everything we asked them to.”

Pacifica, which trailed, 20-11 after one quarter, pulled to within 27-23 at halftime, but then went cold from the field.

The Mariners made only eight of 25 field-goal attempts (32%) in the second half. Diana Barreras made a three-point basket to pull Pacifica within 35-30 with 3:12 left in the third quarter, but the Mariners’ next field goal came on a fast-break layup by Barreras with 3:30 left in the game.

Santiago closed the third quarter with a 9-2 run and opened up a 54-34 lead with just under four minutes to play.

Barreras scored seven of her 14 points in the final 3:30 for Pacifica, which made five of nine shots during that span to stage a late rally. Dominique Valencia had 12 points for Pacifica.

In other Garden Grove League games:

La Quinta 58, Garden Grove 53--Nadiya Aziz (21 points) scored 11 points, including making six for seven free-throw attempts, to help La Quinta overcome a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Los Amigos 35, Rancho Alamitos 31--Karen Alvarez scored 19 points and had nine rebounds for host Los Amigos (9-14, 6-6), which qualified for the Southern Section playoffs.