Santa Barbara High boys basketball’s season came to an end with an 87-61 loss at the hands of top-seeded Crean Lutheran in the CIF-SS Div. 1 playoff opener on Wednesday in Irvine.
“I challenged them to leave everything on the floor tonight and I know the score doesn’t reflect it, but we battled and fought as hard as we could,” Santa Barbara High head coach Greg Zuffelato said. “I was very proud of how hard they worked.
“This young team had big shoes to fill after a historic season last year and they have worked so hard to get us to where we ended the season, which was back in Division 1, which no one could ever have predicted after losing 14 seniors. This is a special group of young athletes, and they’re all back next year.”
Santa Barbara High rounds out the season with an overall record of 19-9, including the program’s third straight Channel League title.
The Dons battled throughout the first quarter against the powerhouse Saints, keeping the game within single digits for most of it. However, Crean Lutheran pulled away for a 26-13 lead heading into the second.
The Saints continued to use their size in the second quarter, extending that advantage to 41-26 by halftime.
Santa Barbara High made a run out of the break to cut the deficit to 13, but Crean Lutheran’s Chadrack Mpoyi used his 6-foot-11 frame to pour in 30 points and help his team pull away for the win in the second half.
As for the Dons, Brent Sharpton led the way with 14 points, while Cayleb Miller and Levi Oakes followed with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Providence 54, NOVA Academy 31 (Div. 9)
The Patriots defended their home court with a win over NOVA Academy in the first round of the CIF-SS Div. 9 playoffs on Wednesday.
“This was a defense-heavy game. Our boys worked hard for this win. Their grit on defense led to our open shots on offense,” Providence head coach Ian Reed said. “Credit to Nova, they didn’t give up and took advantage of our defense when we played sloppily.
“We missed some layups, missed some open shots. Still, we didn’t get deflated. I’m proud of my boys for working even harder to finish shots and lock down on defense.”
Josh Pacheco and Micah Song led the way in the rebounding category with eight and seven boards, respectively. Meanwhile, the Patriots swiped 16 steals on the day.
“We have some work to do and things to fine-tune, but we’ll be ready for our next matchup on Friday. All glory to God for the chance to compete in the playoffs,” Reed said.
Providence will be on the road against Santa Ana Valley High on Friday at 7 p.m.