Santa Barbara High boys basketball fell at the hands of powerhouse Sierra Canyon by a score of 85-41 on Thursday.
The Trailblazers, ranked No. 8 in California and No. 70 in the nation, outmuscled the Dons throughout to continue their strong showing at the Santa Barbara Holiday Classic.
“Every game is one step closer to our goal, and this is part of the process,” Santa Barbara High coach Greg Zuffelato said. “We want to face a team like that because all the stuff that we don’t do well shows up in big ways here.
“We’ll break the film down, the good and the bad, and say ‘Here’s what we need to do to improve.’”
It was a packed house inside JR Richards Gym, with almost every seat being filled, two of which were filled by NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen and radio host and actor Big Boy.
“This is a good thing for all of the basketball community,” Zuffelato said of the turnout. “It builds our program, we’re doing the best job we can possibly do hosting and making sure these guys want to come back.
“Our goal is to bring this type of talent and basketball every Christmas.”
The former Chicago Bull’s son, Justin Pippen, turned in a big performance for Sierra Canyon, pouring in a game-high 27 points en route to the win.
After Sierra Canyon’s Bryce Cofield, who finished with 15 points, began the game with a driving layup, Santa Barbara’s Luke Zuffelato fought through contact and got the and-one layup to fall, sending the gym into a frenzy.
Zuffelato nailed the free throw to give the Dons the lead.
However, that was the last lead they held all night as Sierra Canyon proceeded to score 15 straight points and led 20-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Santa Barbara continued to turn to Zuffelato on the offensive end, as the junior scored all of the team’s first 13 points.
While the Trailblazers maintained a solid lead throughout the first half, the Dons turned in a strong effort defensively to hold one of the state’s top teams to 39 points at halftime.
“We really had our game plan of switching our screens, fronting the post and I think it threw them off at first,” coach Greg Zuffelato said. “Their adjustments at halftime fixed some of that.
“We were doing the same thing, they just made adjustments that exposed what we were doing.”
The halftime adjustments most definitely worked out for Sierra Canyon, as they outscored the Dons 45-20 across the final two quarters to cruise to the 44-point victory.
“Even though it ended up being a blowout, I was proud of their effort and proud of how they fought,” coach Greg Zuffelato said. “Now we get to take all those things that we did wrong and build on it.”
Luke Zuffelato was the lone Don to finish in double figures with 19 points. Waylon Finkel was the team’s second-highest scorer with nine points coming off of a trio of three-pointers.
Finkel, who is coming off a torn ACL, has earned his way back into the Santa Barbara High starting lineup as of late.
“[Waylon’s] just getting there, it just takes a long time, he didn’t play for seven months,” coach Greg Zuffelato said. “This is huge for him because he’s a very good three-point shooter and that hasn’t happened yet.
“That will build confidence for him tomorrow, the next day and next week.”
Continuing the SB Holiday Classic on Friday, the Dons will take on Santa Paula at 5:30 p.m. while Sierra Canyon is slated to play Oak Park at 7 p.m.
Sierra Pacific 73, Dos Pueblos 54
The Chargers dropped their day-two matchup to Sierra Pacific by double digits.
After a tight first quarter that ended with the game tied up at 18-18, Dos Pueblos was held to eight points in the second quarter and Sierra Pacific carried a 41-27 lead into halftime.
“Today we had a hard time scoring,” Chargers coach Joe Zamora said. “We missed a lot of shots we usually make and Sierra Pacific capitalized on our misses.
“Early on they got more 50/50 balls which gave them momentum and offensive attempts.”
The momentum from the second quarter carried into the second half, where Dos Pueblos was outscored 32-27.
The Chargers got another solid scoring night from Justin Stock, who led the team with 18 points. From the point guard position, Matthew Zamora poured in 14.