Santa Ynez Pulls Away From Bishop Diego on Day One of the Jim Bashore Classic

Santa Ynez point guard Nate Rogers scored 23 points as the Pirates pulled away late for a 77-57 victory over Bishop Diego on the first day of the Jim Bashore Classic at Carpinteria High.

Bishop Diego cut its deficit to 59-51 on a Buddy Melgoza three-pointer with 6:10 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Santa Ynez closed the game on a 18-6 run to secure the victory.

“He’s a point guard. I’d like to be able to just let him call the game,” said Santa Ynez coach Ray Vasquez of Rogers. “I think he understand what we’re trying to do and he gets people right where they need to be.”

The Cardinals opened the game with back-to-back three-pointers by Kai Morphy and Connor Street to take a 6-0 lead, but Santa Ynez quickly gained control of the game with a full-court press and took a 9-6 lead on a basket inside by Ryan Rennick off an inbounds play midway through the first quarter.

A Siggy Porter layup extended the Santa Ynez lead to 20-12 with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter.

Despite struggling with turnovers, Bishop Diego was productive from three-point range throughout the game. Sean Chambers opened the second quarter with a three-pointer, cutting the Bishop Diego deficit to 20-16.

A three-point play by Marcus Chan brought the Cardinals within 22-19 with 5:36 remaining in the second quarter, but Santa Ynez responded with a 15-2 run led by Rennick, who scored eight points during the stretch giving the Pirates a 37-22 lead.

Rennick finished with 16 points, but left the game with a leg injury early in the third quarter after a fast-break dunk attempt.

Rogers attacked the rim in transition and finished a contested layup, increasing the Santa Ynez lead to 47-31 at the 6:40 mark of the third quarter. However, a three-point play by Morphy shrunk the Bishop Diego deficit to 51-40 with 2:04 remaining in the third quarter.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Melgoza cut the Bishop Diego deficit to 59-51, but that as close as the Cardinals would come.

Bishop Diego’s top three scores were the freshman Morphy, who finished with 15 points and sophomores Melgoza and Street who finished with 12 and nine points respectively.

“We always look forward to playing some tough competition,” said Bishop Diego coach James Coronado. “We have tough competition in our league with St. Bonaventure so it’s always good to get some of the non-league games against tough teams to prepare us for league.”

Santa Ynez improved to 7-5 on the season with the victory and Bishop Diego dropped to 3-4.

Jim Bashore Classic Day One Scores

Hueneme 70 Foothill Tech 60

Thacher 65 Fillmore 29

Santa Barbara 89 Channel Islands 38

Santa Maria 55 Nordhoff 50

Carpinteria 74 Atascadero 70