A mistake-filled second half doomed the Santa Barbara High School boys basketball team from capturing an upset bid, as the Dons fell to St. John Bosco, 61-34, Friday night at J.R. Richards Gymnasium.
With its fifth straight loss against high-level competition, Santa Barbara falls to 3-7. St. John Bosco, a member of the powerful Trinity League, ranked No. 64 in the state and No. 22 in CIF-SS Div. 1, improved to 9-2.
The Dons trailed by just one at the end of the first half, thanks to a fiery run.
The Braves took over from there.
In the third quarter, St. John Bosco’s defense was relentless, forcing seven Santa Barbara turnovers and overall outpacing the Dons 24-2 in the frame. The home team’s lone basket came with just over one minute left in the quarter.
“Their intensity level really amped up in that second half,” Santa Barbara coach Corey Adam told Noozhawk after the game. “I think they were a little pissed off that we were within one point at the half. Two guys that didn’t start the game started the second half, so I think that was a big part of it, but they have three (NCAA) Division 1 guys.
“I am still proud of my guys, they fought and represented themselves well.”
The Braves were quick in transition, allowing them to capitalize on those seven turnovers with six makes. Their defense forced 11 turnovers in the second half, outscoring Santa Barbara 36-10.
“Their pressure really got to us in the second half, too many turnovers,” Adam said.
“We were trying to be too perfect and sometimes when you try to be too perfect instead of playing free, you end up turning it over.”
Though the second half got a bit messy, Santa Barbara played hard throughout.
The Dons fell behind 5-0 to start, but two baskets from sophomore forward Mikey Denver, including one make from deep, tied the score. Both of his baskets came off nice passes from senior guard Tucker Dillbeck.
Denver led Santa Barbara with 11 points, and was the only Dons player to reach double digits.
“Mikey Denver is really starting to play,” Adam said. “He is learning to play more physically. There were some plays tonight where he just went flying in there like he was the biggest guy on the court and he wasn’t, but he tried to be and he represented himself.”
The Braves’ height played a factor, especially in the first quarter as the team pulled down five offensive rebounds, allowing them to outscore Santa Barbara 9-2 the rest of the way and take a 14-7 lead after the first frame.
Freshman guard Luke Zuffelato started the second quarter the right way for the Dons, scoring on a nice drive to the basket to cut the lead back to five.
Zuffelato finished with nine points and added six boards.
But the Braves used another quick 6-2 run to extend their lead to nine.
Trailing 22-14, the Dons started to get their going on offense. They went on a 10-0 run in a three-minute span to shock St. John Bosco and take a 24-22 lead with 1:45 to go in the second quarter.
The run included makes from Zuffelato, Denver and the go-ahead basket came from a deep three-pointer by sophomore guard Tobin Shyrock as he was falling down .
“I just told the boys to keep playing free, there was really no pressure on us,” Adam said.
“No one gave us a chance, but we believe in ourselves, we believe in each other and you got to play the game still and we played a really good first half.”
St. John Bosco’s 6-foot-7 Christian Estrada converted an and-1 opportunity with just under a minute left to give his team the 25-24 halftime lead.
The Braves’ Elzie Harrington, a 6-foot-4 freshman guard, led all scorers with 17 points, including multiple makes from 3-point range, while Estrada finished with 14 points.
“That’s probably going to be the biggest team we’re going to face the rest of the year, so the way we competed and battled was great. We were aggressive and didn’t look afraid, so you have to respect that,” Adam said.
“We recognize how much cleaner we have to be in our cuts and we have to move better without the ball and not be so stagnant.”