San Marcos boys basketball gritted its way to a 63-52 victory over crosstown rival Santa Barbara High in front of a sold-out Thunderhut crowd on Friday night.
The Royals (15-6, 6-2 Channel League) boasted a stifling defense all night and got contributions from up and down its roster to give the Dons (13-8, 7-1 CL) their first league loss of the season.
“Before the game, we said ‘Let’s just leave zero in the tank today,’” San Marcos head coach Matt Jordan said. “I think it was the culmination of the two years since I’ve been here of the guys really buying into what we’re about, and the culture of giving everything they have.
“I think you saw the emotion and kind of that payoff at the end. It was a really special moment for those kids. I’m so happy for my guys, for the players. They’re the ones who are doing it all. They’re the ones who have bought into what we tried to preach, and I’m just really happy for the team.”
The victory was San Marcos’ first over Santa Barbara in the Jordan era, with the last win against the Dons coming in the 2022-23 season.
“Before the game, we talked about pride and having pride in every possession, and we did that,” San Marcos senior Koji Hefner said. “It’s just the dream, right? You always think about beating Santa Barbara, beating your rivals, and getting it done on the last game is just a surreal feeling.”
The two sides exchanged blows in the opening quarter, with the Dons beginning the game on a 9-2 run fueled by a put-back layup and a pair of assists by Cayleb Miller to take the air out of the gym.
However, the Royals quickly got their home faithful back on their feet with an 8-0 run capped off by a driving layup from Brody Green to take a 10-9 lead with 3:08 left in the quarter.
Santa Barbara then reset and rattled off five unanswered points before a Koji Hefner layup to bring the Dons’ lead to 15-12 at the end of one.
“The plan, what we talked about all week, was everything to the rim,” Sata Barbara High head coach Greg Zufeflato said of the first-quarter success. “We scored all these baskets to the rim, and all of a sudden, we decided to shoot a lot of threes.”
The majority of the second quarter was a back-and-forth affair, as a pair of free throws by Santa Barbara’s Levi Oakes tied the game at 20-20 with 2:36 left in the half.
The Royals then caught fire on the offensive end with back-to-back crafty layups by Sergio Landeros and Green before a pair of three-pointers by Aidan Conlan to send the crowd into a frenzy and give his team a 30-20 lead.
“We haven’t been shooting the ball well this year,” Jordan said of the second-quarter run. “It felt really good to finally see if you go down and I think our confidence really skyrocketed.”
The San Marcos crowd was a factor all game long, as the student section provided plenty of energy in a packed house.
“[The energy] was amazing,” Hefner said. “The student section showed up and showed out. We couldn’t have done it without every single person he was building.”
Oakes, who led the Dons with 18 points, nailed a long ball just before the final buzzer sounded to cut the San Marcos lead to 30-23 at halftime.
The Dons came out of the break with plenty of energy, cutting the deficit down to one point by making it 33-32 with an Owen Horn layup at the 3:27 mark.
However, the Royals answered back with a clutch three-pointer by Lincoln Gengo, which sparked a 9-1 run to end the quarter that included threes from Hefner and Green to take a strong 42-33 win into the fourth.
The senior trio of Hefner, Green and Gengo led the San Marcos attack in the win with 18, 16 and 14 points, respectively. Hefner also hauled in nine rebounds and dished out seven assists, while Green had four assists and four rebounds. Gengo provided four clutch three-pointers for the Royals.
“We don’t win the game without [Gengo] tonight. He was incredible. He’s an absolute dog,” Jordan said. It was awesome to see the other guys. We know Brody, Koji and Aidan are probably going to come every night, but Lincoln and [Sergio Landeros] and Logan Patterson off the bench (contributed).
“We had guys make really big contributions and in big games, that’s what you need. You need other guys to step up, and that’s what happened.”
The San Marcos defense dominated all night long, generating turnover after turnover while running a 1-3-1 zone defensive scheme.
“To be an effective zone in high school, you have to have buy-in, because a lot of zones in high school are just soft and lazy, to be completely honest,” Jordan said. “I think our zone is more dictating to the offense than the offense dictates us. I think we try to put you in a position, not the other way around. It’s a testament to what we work on every day.”
“It didn’t look like it, but all we did in practice was work on our 1-3-1 offense,” Zuffelato said. “We didn’t execute well, and [San Marcos] did a heck of a job. Their activity and their movement just created so many problems.”
The Royals maintained their relatively comfortable lead throughout the fourth quarter, consistently answering any Santa Barbara High bucket with a score of their own.
The closest the game got in the fourth was a six-point margin, but the Royals remained in control and knocked down their free throws down the stretch to pull out the win.
“It’s a great game to play, because it’s a playoff-level game,” Zuffelato said. “You win that, and maybe you think you’re ready. Losing this game, I think, humbles us and also refines us for the playoffs.”
San Marcos will look to keep it rolling at home against Pacifica on Wednesday, while the Dons will be on the road against Pacifica on Wednesday.