Santa Barbara High boys basketball exerted its dominance early and never looked back en route to a 70-34 victory over Pacifica on Tuesday inside JR Richards Gym.
The 36-point win marked the beginning of Channel League play for the Dons (4-3, 1-0 Channel League).
“We wanted to make a statement of how intense we can play,” Santa Barbara head coach Greg Zuffelato said. “We really played good team basketball.”
It was a wire-to-wire victory, as the Dons jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and held the Tritons without a point for the first three minutes of the game.
The bucket scored by Pacifica at the 4:41 mark ended up being the lone score of the quarter for the visitors, as Santa Barbara High found itself up 17-2 after the first eight minutes.
“I didn’t set a point total or anything but Coach Hantgin and I just challenged them (defensively),” Zuffelato said. “We did a good job on their shooters because in other games that I watched, they make a lot of threes.”
That solid defense continued into the second quarter, as the Dons allowed just nine points there and held a commanding 34-11 lead at halftime.
“Our focus was to stop penetration and allow no open threes and I think they executed that part,” Zuffelato said.
In that dominant first half, Luke Zuffelato led the team offensively with 12 points. However, Finn Whipps may have had the biggest impact of any Don in the first two quarters, collecting 12 rebounds to go along with seven points.
Whipps’ dominance in the paint continued in the second half, as he ended the night with 14 points and 20 rebounds.
“He wanted a 30-rebound, zero-point game, but he got both (points and rebounds) tonight,” Greg Zuffelato laughed. “He works hard, and it’s great to see something like that for him.
“He never takes time off of practice, he just works, works, works so it was fun.”
The rest of the offense followed Whipps’ effort in the second half, outscoring Pacifica 36-23 in the final two quarters and 17-5 in the fourth quarter.
Luke Zuffelato turned in a great all-around performance, collecting 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Will Harmon also chipped in nine points and seven rebounds in the win.
The Dons will hit the road for a non-league contest against Oaks Christian on Friday.
San Marcos 68, Rio Mesa 47
The Royals opened their Channel League season on a high note, taking home a 22-point road victory over Rio Mesa.
Joe Pasternack was electric on the offensive end with 26 points to lead San Marcos. Following up Pasternack’s offensive effort was Micah Jacobi with 13 points.
Meanwhile, the sophomore duo of Koji Hefner and Brody Green combined for 12 assists to facilitate the offense.
Luke Crawford and Shane Kadlec each contributed big plays in the win as well.
“We jumped out to a fast start, it was nice to see some shots go down early,” Royals coach James Kinzler said. “I’m mostly really proud of our defensive intensity and our willingness to share the ball.
“Great to get our first league win and take a step in the right direction. Our work in process continues.”
San Marcos (5-2, 1-0) will take on Chaminade on Friday.
Ventura 51, Dos Pueblos 41
A slow start to the first half doomed the Chargers in a league-opening loss to Ventura.
After being outscored 28-12 in the first half, Dos Pueblos turned it around and outscored the Cougars 29-20 in the final two quarters. However, it was too little, too late for the comeback effort.
“Our first road league game was a challenge,” Dos Pueblos coach Joe Zamora said. “We were not able to win the game but I was proud of our guys for not giving up.”
Leading the offensive charger were Micah Goss and Justin Stock, pouring in 13 and 12 points, respectively. Christian Perez also played well from the guard position.
The Chargers (2-3, 0-1) have a matchup with Point Loma on Friday.
Cate 57, Thacher 43
The Rams took down Thacher convincingly in non-league action on Tuesday.
Shawn Cordero sparked the Cate offense early with five quick points in the opening quarter to take a lead. From there, the Rams never lost the lead en route to the win.
In the second half, Thacher made some pushes at a comeback. However, they were thwarted by Yael Mendez, who hit multiple three-pointers that put an end to runs.
Marcus Scudder was big on the offensive end once again, accumulating a game-high 25 points. Meanwhile, Tyler Martinez chipped in eight points.
Cate will take on Bishop Diego on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Oaks Christian 78, Bishop Diego 33
The Cardinals struggled defensively in a lopsided non-league loss to Oaks Christian.
“They were better than us tonight,” Bishop Diego coach James Coronado said. “We got hit in the mouth and I really felt after a few minutes, we started to fight back but the group we had in there got a little winded and we lost our fight.
“But we are not going to back down, we want games like this so we can prepare ourselves for the kind of team and season we want at the end. We just have to stay the course and believe in ourselves.”
Eddie Perez and Crew Sjovold each turned in seven points for the Cardinals offense.
“I think we have what it takes to compete but we have to believe….believe in ourselves, believe in our team and believe in the program,” Coronado said.
