A hot start and a big-time scoring performance from Luke Zuffelato propelled Santa Barbara High boys basketball to a 99-78 win over Chatsworth on Saturday.
Zuffelato’s 41-point game put an exclamation point on the four-day Santa Barbara Holiday Classic inside JR Richards Gym.
The Dons were tasked with defending Chatsworth’s Alijah Arenas, one of the highest-ranked sophomores in the nation.
Although Arenas ended with 44 points, Zuffelato and Santa Barbara High consistently answered his offensive attack with a scoring barrage of their own.
“Besides Sierra Canyon, this is one of our bigger matchups against Alijah Arenas and I felt I held my ground against him,” Zuffelato said. “If I was guarding [Arenas] 1-on-1, it might have been a different story but we were double and triple teaming him.
“We did everything we could, he’s a great player but we came out on top. I knew he was going to get his buckets but I tried to limit how many he shot.”
The game got off to a fast start, with both offenses finding plenty of success with the Dons holding a 14-13 lead midway through the quarter.
The rest of the first quarter was pure dominance from Santa Barbara High, as the defense shut out Chatsworth and the offense exploded for 20 more points, including a trio of three-pointers from Zuffelato and two long-range buckets by Owen Horn.
Much of that offensive success can be attributed to the playmaking of Tobin Shyrock, who collected four assists in the first quarter.
Heading into the second, the Dons led 34-13.
That momentum from the first quarter carried over to the second, as the Santa Barbara High offense continued to knock down threes left and right until they led 55-33 at halftime.
“That’s not an accident, these guys work so hard,” Dons coach Greg Zuffelato said. “We do shooting workouts in the morning pretty much year-round. They put in the time and effort.”
With Luke Zuffelato leading the charge, the Dons offensive onslaught continued in the second half, keeping the lead around 20 throughout. The junior forward ended with 10 three-pointers in his 41-point effort.
“Luke’s been making 400 shots a day since August to get ready for something like this,” Greg Zuffelato said. “Usually in the fourth game of a tournament, your legs are gone and shooting is usually pretty poor.
“Luke has been doing it since he was a little kid playing eight to 10 games a weekend playing club basketball.”
When all was said and done, the team combined for 23 total three-pointers, accounting for 69 of their 99 points. The lone other Don in double figures was Owen Horn, who buried five threes for 15 points in the game.
“I might have had a lot of points but it was the whole team that kept us in the game,” Luke Zuffelato said.
A strong defensive scheme allowed the Dons to limit the Chatsworth scoring attack to Arenas, and although he did his part, it wasn’t enough to overcome Santa Barbara High.
“The biggest difference is that we controlled Alijah,” Greg Zuffelato said. “That was all coach (Chris) Hantgin, he came with a diamond and one defense that they never figured out.
“Arenas had to work to get a shot off and that was because we had two guys on him.”
The victory brought the Santa Barbara Holiday classic to a close after four days of strong competition with some elite talent.
“We have pretty high goals for the year, and a game like this is a playoff game,” Greg Zuffelato said. “It’s great practice for playing at a high level.”
The Dons (11-6, 3-0 Channel League) will jump back into league action on Friday against Oxnard.
Dos Pueblos 77, Lompoc 45
The Chargers wrapped up their SB Holiday Classic with a blowout victory over Lompoc.
Dos Pueblos got out to a furious start, outscoring the Braves 30-9 in the first quarter and never looking back from there en route to the 32-point win.
“We came out focused with a lot of energy on both ends of the court,” Chargers coach Joe Zamora said. “We were able to attack their zone and our defense did a better job today.
“We also did a good job rebounding on the defensive end. I asked other guys to step up today and they responded to the challenge.”
Justin Stock poured in 21 points while Matthew Zamora chipped in 18 of his own. Rounding out the double-digit scorers were Allister Linden and Shane Grant with 10 points apiece.