Justine Katz Breaks Dos Pueblos High Girls’ Basketball Records for Points and Three-Pointers on Senior Night

Senior Night is typically an occasion for student athletes to reflect on their athletic careers and cherish moments with teammates and family members, but Justine Katz seized the opportunity to claim multiple school records.

Katz broke the Dos Pueblos High School girls’ basketball records for points, with 38, and three-pointers, with 11, in a 79-60 victory over rival Santa Barbara on Tuesday night at Sovine Gym.

The previous records were 32 points by Camila Casanueva and seven three-pointers by Leila Chisholm.

“This whole year, I’ve been just wanting to beat that scoring record. It’s been kind of one of my main goals this year,” Katz said. “I’ve been waiting for a game when I could feel it and feel confident. I guess this was the game.”

The Chargers dominated early with defense as they held Santa Barbara to four first-quarter points. A three-pointer by Lauren Robles with seven seconds remaining in the first quarter gave Dos Pueblos a 17-4 lead.

Remarkably, Katz did not score at all in the first quarter, but her eight second-quarter points helped Dos Pueblos maintain its lead. Katz drained a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining in the first half that put the Chargers ahead 32-16. However, Aleena Padilla responded with a mid-range jumper as the halftime buzzer sounded, cutting the Dons’ deficit to 32-18 and giving them momentum going into halftime.

The third quarter was one of the better stretches of the season for Santa Barbara as the Dons slowly climbed their way back into the game. Dayzia Mendoza led the charge with 10 points in the period, including two three-pointers, but Santa Barbara did the majority of its damage on the interior. 

A basket inside by Chloe Adams with just under a minute remaining in the third quarter cut the Santa Barbara deficit to 48-41.

“A month ago, we wouldn’t have even thought that we could compete with one of the better teams in the Channel League,” said Santa Barbara High coach Andrew Butcher. “I’m really proud of how far we’ve come.”

The Dos Pueblos lead dwindled to 51-43 with time running down in the third quarter, and Robles connected on a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to give the Chargers a 54-43 lead going in the final stanza.

From there, Katz put the game away with three consecutive three-pointers to open the fourth quarter, the last of which gave Dos Pueblos a 62-43 lead with 6:20 remaining in the game.

Overall, Katz converted six three-pointers in the fourth quarter as Dos Pueblos scored 25 points in the period to pull away.

Mendoza led Santa Barbara with 23 points, including five three-pointers. Padilla chipped in 13 points.

Dos Pueblos (16-7 overall, 7-3 Channel League) will travel to San Marcos on Thursday. Santa Barbara (5-14 overall, 2-8 Channel League) will host Oxnard.