Fast Start Sparks Santa Barbara Boys’ Basketball to 78-56 Victory Over Righetti in Season Opener

Luke Zuffelato opened his junior season with 32 points and the Santa Barbara High boys’ basketball team cruised to a 78-56 victory over Righetti on Tuesday night at J.R. Richards Gymnasium.

The Dons got off to a fast start, outscoring Righetti 18-3 to start the game and 26-9 in the first quarter. Defense has been a big point of emphasis for Santa Barbara in the offseason and it showed up in the game as the Dons feasted on Righetti turnovers on their way to easy transition opportunities offensively.

“We’ve been really focused on defense over the last 17 practices, which is what we’ve done, and there were some flashes of what we’ve worked on,” said Santa Barbara High first-year head coach Greg Zuffelato. “Not the whole game, but flashes.”

A Zuffellatto three-pointer gave Santa Barbara a 16-3 lead with 3:50 remaining in the first quarter. Finn Whipps followed with a layup in transition plus the foul, increasing the Santa barbara lead to 18-3 at the 3:24 mark of the first quarter.

Santa Barbara carried its momentum over into the second quarter as Zuffelato muscled away a defender in transition before pulling up for a three-pointer that put the Dons ahead 29-9 at the 7:15 mark of the second quarter.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Jacob Nelson and Alex Gonzalez cut the RIghetti deficit to 32-19 with 5:20 remaining in the first quarter. From there the teams continued to trade baskets going into halftime. 

A slick pass from Zuffelato to Tobin Shyrock, who drained a three-pointer with four seconds remaining in the first half, gave Santa Barbara a 41-27 lead.

Righetti made a nice run to open the second half and cut its deficit to 43-37 on a step-back three-pointer by Jay Tugade. However, Will Harman immediately responded with a transition layup off the made basket to spark an 11-0 Santa Barbara run.

“We got stagnant in the second half and then Will Harman came in and ran the floor,” Zuffelato said. “He got bucket, bucket, foul just running the floor. That’s how we want to play. Solid half-court man to man and then get out and go.”

Freshmen Cayleb Miller and Owen Horn received significant minutes for Santa Barbara and both made a positive impact. Horn scored 12 points on four three-pointers, three of which came in succession at the start of the fourth quarter. Miller scored five points and bothered Righetti defensively and on the boards with his 6’6” frame.

“That’s a perfect game for them to start. It’s not St. John Bosco or some of the tougher team’s we have coming up on our schedule,” Zuffelato said. “I was proud of them tonight. Caleb and Owen did a great job on the defensive end.”

Santa Barbara will travel to Royal for its next game on Friday. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.