Despite a strong second-half performance, the Santa Barbara boys basketball team fell 78-58 to St. Joseph on Tuesday in a non-league game at J.R. Richards Gym.
Senior forward Erik Strandburg and senior guard Miles Thompson both led the way for the Dons with 16 points apiece, while senior forward Andrew Douglas chipped in 8 points in the losing effort.
St. Joseph (3-0) had four players score in double figures, led by 6-foot-5 Jincho Rivera with 19 points. Steven Vasquez and 6-7 Samuel Bazunga each had 16 points and Angel Ortiz added 11.
Tuesday’s game was a tale of two halves for the Dons. Against a physically imposing St. Joseph opponent, Santa Barbara struggled mightily in the first half, turning the ball over repeatedly against the trap-heavy Knights’ defense.
“They’ve been playing as a club team over the state, and our guys just got back into the gym two weeks ago,” said Santa Barbara coach Corey Adam. “ That first half I think we were a little shell-shocked with their speed and size— that’s part of getting back into it.”
Without the ball-handling and shooting prowess of senior guard Jasper Johnson—who missed Tuesday’s game due to a prior commitment—the Dons struggled on the offensive end in the first half. Even when Santa Barbara got an open look, the shots just wouldn’t fall, with the team making only a single three-pointer in the half. At the end of 16 minutes, the Dons found themselves in danger of getting blown out, with the Knights leading 40-20.
But in the second half, Santa Barbara went blow-for-blow with the Knights. First and foremost, the Dons cut down on their turnovers—something Adam emphasized during halftime.
“We did a much better job of using the protective dribble and we started dribbling backwards with our heads up,” said Adam.
Santa Barbara also started to let fly from deep, with the Dons drilling seven of their eight total made three-pointers in the second half.
“We just told them to keep shooting the ball,” said Adam. “They’re good shooters, and we started moving the ball a bit better and finding open spots in the defense.
Perhaps the highlight of the game came for Santa Barbara at the end of the third quarter, when Strandburg spun and heaved up a 3-pointer that barely beat both the shot and game clock.
In conjunction with his team-leading 16 points, Strandberg excelled all night on the defensive end. Tasked with guarding much taller Knights players, the senior forward battled in the paint, drawing four offensive fouls in total, including two charges on fastbreaks.
“They had several D1 guys and Erik was competing with them,” said Adam.”I can’t say enough about his toughness and tenacity.”
Santa Barbara will look to bounce back on Saturday when it takes on Buena at 5 pm.
