A slow start didn’t faze the Santa Barbara High boys basketball team in the opening round of the CIF-SS Division 3A playoffs.
The Dons found their footing in the second quarter and pulled away from visiting Viewpoint of Calabasas for a 72-48 victory on Wednesday night. The 26-point margin of victory would have been hard to imagine early in the game.
“I told them pregame, ‘hey in the first quarter of a playoff game it is going to be close, but we’re better than them. Our defense is going to wear them down and our offense is going to eventually click,’” said Santa Barbara high head coach Greg Zuffelato. “It took until the second half.”
The Dons led 6-4 when standout Luke Zuffelato picked up his second foul with 4:45 remaining in the first quarter. Zuffelato remained in the game, but his foul trouble seemed to contribute to the Dons lack of rhythm and Viewpoint tied the game at 10-10 on a three-pointer by Wesley Waddles with 2:30 remaining in the first quarter.
The Patriots increased their lead to 13-10 on a driving layup by Aeneas Grullon at the 7:40 mark of the second quarter, which turned out to be their largest lead of the game. D.J. Wilson immediately responded for Santa Barbara with a three-pointer that tied the score at 13-13
Santa Barbara took the lead for good, 17-16, on an offensive rebound and put-back by freshman Cayleb Miller, who scored all seven of his points in the second quarter.
“I told him during warmups that nobody can guard you because {Wesley Waddles} has to guard Luke,” Zuffelato said. “Now you have 6’6” Cayleb against their next tallest guy who is like 6’2” or something like that.”
A three-pointer by Tobin Shyrock in the final minute of the first half increased the Santa Barbara lead to 28-19. The Dons opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run capped off by a Waylon Finkle three-pointer off a slick pass from Shyrock that extended the Santa Barbara lead to 38-19 midway through the third quarter.
Santa Barbara outscored Viewpoint 27-7 overall in the third quarter to take a 57-26 lead into the final period.
Luke Zuffelato finished with a team-high 17 points to lead a balanced attack as ten Santa Barbara players reached the scoring column. Grullon led Calabasas with a game-high 19 points.
The Dons advance to the second round of the CIF-SS Division 3A playoff and will travel to West Torrance for a second round matchup on Friday.
Carpinteria, 69; Laguna Blanca 33
The all Santa Barbara county matchup belonged to the Warriors from the very beginning as Carpinteria outscored Laguna Blanca 21-3 in the first quarter and cruised to victory.
North Torrance, 48; San Marcos 35
The Royals struggled offensively with only nine points in the first half and were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Calvary Chapel Santa Ana, 73; Cate. 44
A rough second quarter doomed the Rams as they were outscored 25-9 to break open a tight game..
“Thank you to our seniors Tyler Martinez, Shawn Cordeiro, Julian Lee, and Kristian Scurtis for their dedication to their teammates and Cate School,” said Cate coach Andy Gil.