Santa Barbara Falls Short at the Buzzer in 59-57 Semifinal Loss to Don Bosco Tech

Rosemead Calif – Tobin Shyrock’s desperation three-pointer as time expired was blocked and Santa Barbara dropped a heartbreaker to Don Bosco Tech, 59-57, in the CIF-SS Division 3A semifinals on Friday night. 

With the loss, the Dons’ dream of the CIF Southern Section Division 3A championship came to an end but the chase for the first State Championship in program history remains alive as all teams that reach the semifinals of CIF advance to the state tournament.

“That’s a very gritty team we played and so are we,” said Santa Barbara High coach Greg Zuffelato. “It was a great battle with tough minded players.”

Luke Zuffelato led all scorers with 34 points, but Santa Barbara could not match the depth of offensive options that Don Bosco tech brought to the table.

Senior Ryan Osborne finished with a team-high 21 points for  Don Bosco Tech. Juniors Darius Benitez and Jaden Erami scored 16 and eleven points respectively to put the Tigers over the top in a back and forth contest.

Don Bosco Tech jumped out to a 19-9 lead to start the game on a basket inside from Osborne  as Santa Barbara once again found itself in an uphill battle for the majority of the game.

A three-point play by Zuffelato at the 5:27 mark of the second quarter capped off a 8-2 Santa Barbara run and cut the Don’s deficit to 21-17.

A nice pass inside from Shyrock to Finn Whips trimmed the Santa Barbara deficit to 29-26 with 30 second remaining in the first half, but Don Bosco tech responded with a driving layup by Benitez just before the second quarter buzzer sounded that put the Tigers ahead 31-26.

It appeared that Santa Barbara might seize control of the game in the third quarter as the Dons tied the score at 37-37 with 1:05 remaining in the third quarter on a lob from Shyrock to Will Harmon, but the Tigers wouldn’t go away as a driving layup by Benitez increased their lead to 43-39 on the first possession of the fourth quarter.

Santa Barbara took its first lead of the game, 44-43, on a three-pointer by Zuffelato  with 6:45 remaining in the game. However, Don Bosco tech again responded with a 6-0 run capped off by a David Tadian three-pointer that gave the Tigers a 44-49 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

The Dons took control of the game with a 13-4 run over a three-minute span and a Zuffelato three-pointer put them ahead 57-53 with 1:40 remaining in the game. But Benitez made the shot of a game with a deep-three pointer on the ensuing Don Bosco tech possession to cut the Tigers’ deficit to 57-56 with 1:28 to play.

“This was as big a shift as there could possibly be,” said Zuffelato of the change of playing a big physical San Clemente team in the quarterfinals to a small and skilled Don Bosco tech team. “We tried to go through it in practice to prepare them, but it’s hard because you go from big giants to water bugs all over the place.”

A floater by Osborne with 33 second remaining put Don Bosco tech back ahead 58-57 with 33 second remaining.

After Santa Barbara failed to score on its ensuing possession, Benitez was fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws to put the Dons down 59-57 with 15.8 seconds remaining. Zuffelato tried to drive to the rim but was stymied on the play. He kicked it out to Shyrock, who was forced to create a shot with under five seconds remaining.

“I just told them that we just switched to a bigger goal, one that has never been done at Santa Barbara High and that’s a state championship,” said Greg Zuffelato of his team’s mindset going forward.