Santa Barbara Holiday Classic Day Two Roundup: Sierra Canyon Defeats Santa Barbara 85-41

A packed J.R. Richards gymnasium was buzzing for Santa Barbara High’s matchup with star studded Sierra Canyon on day two of the Santa Barbara Holiday Classic.

Despite individual moments of brilliance by Santa Barbara, the visiting Trail Blazers captured an 85-41 victory.

“Every game is one step closer to our goal and this is part of the process,” said Santa Barbara coach Greg Zuffelato. “We want to face a team like that because all of the stuff that we don’t do well shows up in big ways here.”

Senior Justin Pippen was the star of stars for Sierra Canyon as he finished with a game-high 27 points. His father, NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, was in attendance courtside. 

After Bryce Cofield scored inside to open the scoring, Santa Barbara took its only lead of the game, 3-2, following a contested transition layup plus the foul by Luke Zuffelato with just over seven minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Sierra Canyon responded with an 18-0 run, capped off by a steal and three-point play by Jayden Alexander that increased the Trailblazers lead to 20-3 with just under one minute to play in the first quarter.

The Dons picked up their play early in the second quarter as Luke Zuffelato ripped off five quick points, cutting the Santa Barbara deficit to 22-13 on a stepback three-pointer at the 6:40 mark.

Zuffelato finished with a team-high 19 points, despite a rough shooting night overall as the focus of the Sierra Canyon defense.

Tonight {Zuffelato} is so good we were just trying to limit the amount of shots he got and make sure everything was contested,” said Sierra Canyon coach Andre Chevalier. “We didn’t do a great job of rebounding in the first or second half.”

A Sierra Canyon offensive rebound and put-back in the closing moments of the second quarter and increased the lead to 39-21 at halftime.

The Trailblazers went on to outscore Santa Barbara 27-12 in the third quarter as Pippen continued his onslaught with nine points in the period. The Sierra Canyon pressure and trapping gained effectiveness as the game went on and the Trailblazers took a 66-33 lead into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter featured a running clock. 

“Getting trapped by 6’8”, 6’5”, 6’6” athletes is tough,” Zuffelato said of his team’s reaction to Sierra Canyon’s pressure.

Senior Waylon Finkle was a bright spot for Santa Barbara. He scored nine points on three three-pointers.Tobin Shyrock chipped in five points.

Santa Barbara will host Santa Paula on day three of the tournament beginning at 5:30. Sierra Canyon will matchup with Oak Park at 7 p.m.

Oak Park, 71; Lompoc, 33

The Eagles improved to 2-0 at the Santa Barbara Holiday Classic with a convincing victory over Lompoc.  Jadon Holmes finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Ade Daramola added 12 points and five rebounds.

Sierra Pacific, 73; Dos Pueblos, 54

The Chargers couldn’t overcome a rough second quarter in which they were outscored by Sierra Pacific 23-9 after the game was tied at 18 apiece at the end of the first quarter.

Nevin Pitkin led the way for Sierra Pacific with 19 points. Justin Stock finished with a team-high 18 points for Dos Pueblos.

Newbury Park, 67; Righetti, 58

The Panthers scored 22 fourth quarter points to pull away late from Righetti. Senior Blake Jones scored a game-high 24 points. Jay Tugade led Righetti with a team-high 15 points.

Chatsworth, 95; Burroughs 76

Alijah Arenas poured in 43 points, including several spectacular dunks. The Chancelors pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring Burroughs 26-14 during the period.