Santa Barbara High boys basketball pulled away in the final minutes to defend home court and secure a 59-50 win over crosstown rival San Marcos on Thursday inside J.R. Richards Gym.
The Dons (4-5, 2-0 Channel League) now sit tied atop the Channel League standings with Ventura as the last undefeated teams in league action. Meanwhile, San Marcos snapped a seven-game winning streak, falling to 7-2 overall and 2-1 in league play.
“At the beginning of the year, we get together and we pick one word that describes our season, and this year it was relentless,” Santa Barbara High head coach Greg Zuffelato said. “I felt like this was the first time this year that we lived that out. We were really disciplined.”
After a defensive slugfest for the first three quarters, San Marcos’ Sergio Landeros got a layup to go off an assist from Koji Hefner to tie the game at 33-33 with 7:40 left on the clock.
The Dons immediately responded with six quick points on two layups and a pair of free throws to go back up 39-33. A Landeros layup was once again answered by Santa Barbara when Levi Oakes hit a jumper and Cayleb Miller was fouled to put the Dons in the bonus with 3:34 left.
“We know we had the advantage inside, we have so much height and length,” Zuffelato said of getting into the paint and drawing fouls. “We tried to figure out who the smallest guy was, post him up, and play inside out, and the guys did it. That was great, they executed and I was proud of them.”
San Marcos caught a break a few possessions later when Santa Barbara was called for a technical foul. Aidan Conlan knocked down both free throws and hit a layup on the next possession to cut the deficit to 45-41 at the 2:19 mark.
Oakes responded again with a strong driving layup, and San Marcos resorted to fouling and sending the Dons to the free-throw line. While the game seemed on its way to being over, Koji Hefner silenced the crowd by burying a three-pointer and drawing a foul to cut it down to 50-45.
However, Zuffelato called a timeout and the Dons reset as Blake Lee knocked down a shot on the next possession and they hit their free throws down the stretch to pull away for the 59-50 rivalry win.
Oakes, a junior transfer from Moorpark, was critical for Santa Barbara down the stretch, scoring nine of his game-high 20 points in his first crosstown rivalry action.
“We want the ball in his hands as much as possible,” Zuffelato said. “He’s a veteran, third-year varsity player, really mature… I had total confidence in getting him the ball and letting him create.”
“It was definitely new to me,” Oakes said of the rivalry. “Great fans on both sides and it was fun to play in. This is what I live for.”
The Santa Barbara home crowd was energized from the opening tip-off, and the Dons’ defense on the court responded.
After three early free throws from San Marcos’ Brody Green, Santa Barbara High did not allow another point until there was less than a minute left in the opening quarter.
Meanwhile, the Dons’ offense built up a dominant 14-3 lead thanks in part to seven first-quarter points from Levi Oakes. The Royals ended the quarter on a quick 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 14-7 heading into the second.
“We’re great at starting games with great energy, we’re always ready, and it showed tonight,” Oakes said.
The Royals carried that energy into the second quarter, as Landeros generated several second chances with offensive rebounds and back-to-back buckets from Conlan cut the Dons’ lead to 18-17 with 3:40 left in the half. Landeros hauled in a team-high 10 rebounds.
However, the Dons regained control of the game with a 6-0 run capped off by an acrobatic layup from Oakes to extend the lead to 24-17. A layup by Green brought the score to 24-19 at halftime.
The defensive battle continued into the second half, as the two teams exchanged blows early in the third quarter.
Hefner gave the Royals a big momentum swing with three straight possessions where he knocked down a three-pointer, came up with a steal and hit a layup to cut the deficit to 30-29 with 1:59 left in the quarter. Hefer ended with a team-high 19 points.
The two sides went back and forth in the final two minutes of the quarter as Green drove to the cup and got a layup to fall to tie it at 31-31, but Santa Barbara’s Brent Sharpton hit a floater on the other end to take a 33-31 lead and set up an exciting fourth quarter.
“We do possession games (in practice) where everybody gets five possessions, and they’re like beating the crap out of each other, because of games like this,” Zuffelato said of the slugfest. “Most of our focus is on running, but everything’s out the window for rivalry games… I was really proud of how they adjusted.”
The Royals will compete in the Mission Prep Tournament this weekend, while the Dons will be off until their annual Holiday Classic next weekend in town.