With 2:07 left in Tuesday’s CIF-SS Div. 3A quarterfinal matchup, San Clemente’s Will Whidden threw down a strong dunk to extend his team’s lead to 59-51 over Santa Barbara High.
The No. 1-seeded Tritons seemingly held all of the momentum and were on their way to a victory. However, the Dons had other plans.
Following empty possessions for both squads, Santa Barbara’s Waylon Finkel hit Finn Whipps in the paint, who got his layup to go plus the foul to cut the San Clemente lead to 59-54 with 1:44 left.
On the ensuing possession, the Dons full-court press defense suffocated the Tritons and forced a turnover, giving the ball back to Santa Barbara High.
The Dons took advantage of the turnover, as Winkel dished the ball out to Luke Zuffelato, who buried a deep three-pointer to bring the score to 59-57 with 1:27 on the clock and prompt a San Clemente timeout.
The Tritons worked the ball into the paint but came up empty, and Whipps came down with a strong rebound and all of a sudden, the Dons had the chance to tie the game or take the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter.
Santa Barbara turned to Zuffelato, as they have all season long, and he did not disappoint.
With the shot clock winding down, the junior sensation knocked down a 30-foot three-pointer with a hand in his face to give his team the lead and send the crowd inside JR Richards Gym into a frenzy.
With 22 seconds left, San Clemente looked to push the ball up the court for a quick score, but Zuffelato was having none of that, as he picked the pocket of a Triton defender for a steal.
He was then fouled, where he hit one free throw to bring the score to 61-59 in favor of the Dons with 11 seconds to go.
The Tritons’ Porter Hansen, who scored 25 points, got a shot off before the end of regulation, but it was off target and Santa Barbara High pulled out the thrilling upset victory.
“I just trusted myself, knew my game and knew all the work that I put in was going to pay off,” Luke Zuffelato said about his game-winner. “We just know how to win, earlier on (in the season) we lost some games and we figured out how to win down the stretch.”
JR Richards Gym was rocking from the opening tip, and it culminated with the Santa Barbara High student section mobbing the Dons after the dramatic win.
“This is one of the best environments I’ve ever played in,” Santa Barbara coach Greg Zuffelato said. “Everyone was into it, it was loud. The whole town was out, DP, SM, supporting us, it’s such a great community of basketball.”
With the victory, Luke Zuffelato, who ended with a game-high 37 points, and the Dons will now face off against Don Bosco Tech on Friday on the road at 7 p.m.
The game was hard fought throughout, but it wasn’t until the final minutes that Santa Barbara High was finally able to get the best of the Tritons.
The Dons took a 6-5 lead in the opening two minutes of the game off a DJ Wilson three-pointer, but San Clemente then rattled off an 8-0 run to take a lead, which they held until Luke Zuffelato’s late three-pointer.
Despite playing from behind for the vast majority of the game, Santa Barbara High stayed in it, cutting the lead to one possession multiple times.
At the end of the first quarter, San Clemente held onto a 21-17 lead thanks to Luke Zuffelato knocking down a one-handed three-pointer at the buzzer.
After a three-pointer from the Tritons, Luke Zuffelato rattled off a 6-0 run of his own to bring the lead down to 24-23.
However, San Clemente shut down that run and ripped off a dominant 13-0 stretch to separate themselves to the tune of a 37-23 advantage.
The Dons continued to show their fight, as Whipps knocked down two free throws with five seconds left in the half.
Will Harman then intercepted the inbounds pass and kicked it out to Wilson, who drained a three-pointer to cut the Triton lead down to 37-28 heading into halftime.
Aside from 11 points from Luke Zuffelato, the Dons struggled to score in the third quarter, which resulted in a 53-40 San Clemente lead with one quarter to go.
However, this was a familiar position for Santa Barbara High, who have battled back to win several key games throughout the season.
“I told them at the end of the third, we’re down 13 and I’m like ‘we are in this, you guys have come back more times all year,’” Greg Zuffelato said. “We’re a second-half team, they didn’t give up, they kept fighting… That’s their character.”
It started on the defensive end for the Dons, as they held San Clemente scoreless for the first 3:30 of the fourth quarter.
“We watched so much film on [San Clemente]. They lost to Dana Hills three times and what Dana Hills did to them was put pressure on them full court and run,” Greg Zuffelato said. “Sometimes it takes a while for us to trigger and figure it out, but the guys were like ‘we’re not losing this game.’”
Meanwhile, Luke Zuffelato knocked down five free throws and Wilson buried a pair of clutch three-pointers to chip away at the Triton lead until it stood at 53-51.
“Luke is so good, he creates opportunities for me so I’m really happy I get to play with him,” Wilson said.
After bringing the lead down to two points, San Clemente went on a quick 6-0 run that was capped off by Whidden’s dunk.
From there, the Santa Barbara High’s heart and hustle came out and combined with the cold-blooded shotmaking ability of Luke Zuffelato, the Dons punched their ticket to the semifinals.
Santa Barbara had to battle amongst the trees all game long, as San Clemente boasted multiple players 6-foot-4 or taller. However, that didn’t stop the Dons from producing down low.
“We have a lot of heart, we fight,” Wilson, who had 12 points on four three-pointers, said. “We might have mismatches but we’re just going to battle, be physical and hopefully come out with a win.”
Luke Zuffelato took on several defenders at the rim multiple times, and Whipps put in work in the paint to the tune of seven points and 10 rebounds.
“In the fourth quarter, when it mattered, we got the rebounds,” Greg Zuffelato said. “This team is tough, they’re tough and have great character… It’s just character, toughness and heart.”
The Dons will take that character, toughness and heart into a matchup against Don Bosco Tech, who went 10-0 to win the Santa Fe League during the regular season.
