Santa Barbara High boys basketball fell to tournament host Clovis North by a score of 79-76 on Friday in the semifinals of the Valley Children’s Tip-Off Invitational.
“We played a fantastic game against a very, very good team,” Santa Barbara High head coach Greg Zuffelato said. “We love coming to this tournament because we know we’ll play against the hardest-working team we’ll face all year, Clovis North.
“They are so difficult to play against, but we played poised and never backed down. The game was back and forth and we almost came away with the victory.”
The Dons got out to a strong start, leading 19-12 after the first quarter. However, Clovis North bounced back and used its strong full-court defense to cut that lead to two points heading into halftime.
Clovis North carried the momentum from there, taking the lead in the third quarter and not surrendering down the stretch to secure the win.
While Blake Lee led the Dons in scoring 18 points, freshman Mikah Narva had his breakout game with a career-high 12 points to go along with strong defense. Brent Sharpton, Owen Horn and Levi Oaks all scored 14 points as well.
Lee also shined on the defensive end, holding Idaho State commit McKae Amundsen to just 13 points, 10 below his average.
Santa Barbara High will compete for third place against Bullard on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Villa Park 55, Dos Pueblos 50
The Chargers suffered their first loss of the season to Villa Park on Friday inside Sovine Gym.
The first half was tightly contested, with Dos Pueblos clinging onto a 26-22 lead at halftime. However, Villa Park got to the free throw line with efficiency in the third and outscored the Chargers 20-9 to take a 42-35 lead into the fourth.
Villa Park fended off any comeback efforts in the final quarter to steal the win on the road.
Wyatt Gardiner paced the Dos Pueblos offense with 21 points, while Caleb Damron and Iyad Ahmad-Reda put in work on the glass.
The Chargers (2-1) will be on the road for their Channel League opener against Oxnard on Monday.
“It came down to the fact that we had too many turnovers and foul trouble hurt us,” Dos Pueblos head coach Joe Zamora said. “It was our first loss and it was a good loss for us which we will learn a lot from. It’s good preparation to get ready for Oxnard.”