By CLAIRE CRUZ | SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Santa Maria got a chance at redemption when they faced the Lady Bulldogs in the Lyford Holiday Classic championship game Saturday afternoon.
After losing to Lyford in the tournament last year, the Lady Cougars were determined to come out on top this time, and they did in a dominant 49-20 win.
“The ladies put it together, they did exactly what we needed,” Santa Maria head coach Albert Briones said. “We’re starting to show our maturity and our teamwork out there. We’ve been under the radar, which is good, but we’re going into district play and this is exactly how we wanted to go.”
Santa Maria’s defenders got to the ball like flies to honey. The Lady Bulldogs rarely got an uncontested shot, and when they missed it was a tough task to come down with an offensive rebound despite having a height advantage. Santa Maria is a “gang rebounding” team, and there was plenty of blue in the area anytime a ball was up for grabs.
The Lady Cougars smothered Lyford shots as they were leaving the shooters hands and forced a lot of poor passes with their stifling coverage. They held Lyford to just five points in the first half, which it scored after long droughts. Lyford’s only two points in the second quarter didn’t come until the 3:45 mark in the frame.
“We’re implementing more pressure on the ball. That’s just our style, we want to play fast because we have the kids to do it,” Briones said. “I was very happy with our interior defense, how we were able to manage a bigger, physical team in the paint.”
The Lady Cougars leaned on their speed to score a bulk of their points. They often fed the ball down court after a steal or rebound and were almost perfect on quick break layups. Yazmin Cantu, who was selected to the All-Tournament Team, led Santa Maria with 23 points.
Senior point guard Byanca Cantu was named the Tournament MVP and dropped 15 points. Briones said she showed a lot of growth throughout the weekend and led the team well with her solid passing and aggressive play.
“[This win] means we improved as a team and that we can do even more in the future,” Byanca Cantu said. “We’re like a family, we have a great bond and we know each other and that helps. I definitely feel like I’ve improved from working hard in the summer and I’m glad all this work paid off.”
Lyford couldn’t buy a basket throughout the contest and struggled against Santa Maria’s press. The Lady Bulldogs played better in the second half, but overall it was a sloppy performance against a strong defensive opponent.
“It’s unfortunate, it’s the championship game of our tournament and you want to win, but we’ll use this as a learning experience,” Lyford head coach Teresa Gutierrez said. “We laid an egg, but Santa Maria’s tough all the way around and give them credit, they deserve it.”