In a tense, down-to-the wire boys basketball battle between Channel League leaders, Santa Barbara High got the ball in the right player’s hands for a good look at a game-winning three-pointer.
With the crowd holding its breath, Luke Zuffelato’s last-second 22-footer for the win bounced off the rim and left the Dons on the short end of a 47-45 decision against Oxnard at J.R. Richards Gym on Friday night.
It was the first league loss for Santa Barbara (3-1 and 11-7 overall) while Oxnard, the defending champion, improves to 4-0 and 14-4.
The Dons got a big break to set up Zuffelato’s game-winning attempt as Oxnard missed two free throws with 6.7 seconds.
“We had it set up for (Luke) off the inbound; we thought (the Oxnard player would make the second free throw),” said Santa Barbara coach Greg Zuffelato. “But that’s exactly what we were trying to get. That look right there is what he makes so many times.
“We got the look we needed, but, you know, they don’t always go in.”
Zuffelato led all scorers with 25 points. He made a pair of threes in the first quarter but didn’t make one the rest of the night.
The fact Santa Barbara put itself in position to win the game is a credit to its fighting spirit against a tough opponent.
Oxnard gets teams out of sync with a tenacious man defense and a relentless 2-2-1 full-court press. The Yellow Jackets used those ingredients and the clutch shooting of Nathaniel Gomez (15 points), Marcos Ramirez (12) and Matthew Samaan (11) to build at 27-17 lead at halftime.
They expanded the advantage to 32-19 after converting a turnover into a transition layup by Orlando Perez early in the third quarter.
Santa Barbara turned things around after point guard Tobin Shyrock was shaken up after a collision with an Oxnard player. He was assisted off the court.
In his absence, the Dons outscored the Yellow Jackets 11-2 over the last 5 minutes of the quarter and cut the deficit to 34-30. Zuffelato ignited the run with an assist to Finn Whipps and then started attacking the rim. He converted an and-1 play in the low post and knocked down four straight free throws to make it a four-point game.
“We know they’re good; they’ve had our number for a long time,” said coach Zuffelato of Oxnard. “We played a little tight (in the first half) because they’ve been taking care of us for a number of years in a row.
“I was really proud of our guys in the second half. We held them to seven in the third quarter.
“We made a few adjustments. They were doubling Luke everywhere he caught the ball, so we were trying to catch the ball in the middle of the floor more and it worked some. But they’re really aggressive and play really hard.”
Shyrock returned to the game in the fourth quarter and made an immediate impact. He fed DJ Wilson for a three-pointer to make it a one-point game, 34-33, with 7:06 to go.
After a missed three-pointer, Oxnard committed three fouls within 10 second, the last one being a shooting foul that put Zuffelato at the line. He knocked down both free throws to give Santa Barbara its first lead of the game, 35-34, at the 6:08 mark.
Will Harman scored inside to make it 37-34, but Oxnard’s Samaan answered with a game-tying trey.
The teams went back and forth. After Shyrock chased down a long offensive rebound, he found Wilson for his second three-pointer of the period and a 40-37 lead.
The Yellow Jackets never flinched as David Giron buried a three to tie the score.
Whipps batted away an Oxnard pass in the key and Zuffelato turned it into a driving layup for a 42-40 Santa Barbara lead with 2:55 to play.
Gomez nailed his third three-pointer of the game to put the Yellow Jackets back in front.
Harman scored on a drive for Santa Barbara’s last lead, 44-43, with 2:18 to go.
The Dons played great defense on Oxnard’s next possession, and with five seconds left on the shot clock, Yellow Jackets coach Jeff Staniland called a time out.
The play he drew up worked to perfection as Gomez scored on a drive for a 45-44 led with 1:38 left.
Zuffelato missed on a drive and fell over a fallen Oxnard player in a battle for the rebound, but no foul was called.
With only two team fouls in the period, the Dons fouled three times to put Oxnard on the free-throw line for two shots. Gomez sank both for a 47-44 lead with 23.5 seconds to go.
Zuffelato missed a contested three-pointer, but Whipps grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 7.8 seconds on the clock. He made the second free throw, and the Dons fouled Samaan with 6.7 seconds.
Both free throws were missed, giving Santa Barbara one last chance in the first-place battle.
“That’s a league championship game … that’s a playoff game. That’s what we want,” said coach Zuffelato of the intense competition. “It’s fun.
“I’m proud of (the guys) for not caving in. We were down 10, down 12 and we just kept on fighting. That’s a hard-fought game and it’s gonna make us better.”
