Santa Barbara Finds its Pace in Victory Over Lompoc

Jackson Hamilton poured in 26 points and the Santa Barbara High boys basketball team improved to 3-0 in Channel League play with a 94-58 victory over Lompoc on Tuesday night at J. R. Richards Gymnasium.

After a slow start, Santa Barbara mounted an 11-2 run to take a 25-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“The tempo was perfect for us. I thought we were a little bit more aggressive and I thought we rebounded a little better,” said Santa Barbara coach Dave Bregante. “The pace was really good. We shot the ball fairly well and I thought we had a good game.”

A three pointer by Hamilton increased the Dons’ lead to 36-18 with just over five minutes remaining in the second quarter.

Bryce Warrecker put the Dons ahead 48-22 at the 2:05 mark of the second quarter with a basket in transition. Back-to-back layups by Hamilton extended the Santa Barbara lead to 55-24 with 30 seconds remaining in the first half.

“It was our team getting steals and getting on the run that made up most of my buckets,” Hamilton said. “I was feeling my shot. Even though it was only two threes I feel like I could have made more.”

Lompoc’s Dominic Ballasteros drained a three-pointer just before halftime to cut the Braves’ deficit to 55-27. A big chunk of Lompoc’s offensive production came from beyond the arc as the Braves connected on nine three-pointers throughout the game.

“I think everybody on their home court is going to be really tough,” Bregante said. “I could see how Lompoc could give a lot of teams a bad time at home. They’ve got size and they shot the ball well today.”

Santa Barbara emptied its bench in the second half as eleven players reached the scoring column. Bryce Warrecker finished with 22 points and Aiden Douglas chipped in 12 points.

The Dons (18-3 overall, 3-0 Channel League) moved up to No. 3 in the most recent CIF-SS Division 3A poll.