The Santa Barbara High boys’ basketball team rode a wave of momentum in the fourth quarter to an 84-70 victory over Anaheim Canyon in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs.
Locked in a tight game with the season on the line, Carter Battle poked the ball away from Anaheim Canyon standout Brandon Benjamin and tossed an alley-oop to Luke Zuffelato for a thunderous finish.
“That was the turning point. We got that chemistry off the court so I was like if I throw it up there I think he’s going to get it and he went and got it,” said Battle of his lob to Zuffelato that came with Santa Barbara leading 63-61 at the 5:18 mark of the fourth quarter. “That really turned us up and got us going.”
The two teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 55 apiece and Canyon took a 61-58 lead with just over six minutes remaining on a basket inside by Pierce Haugen. Facing elimination the Dons ripped off a 15-1 run over a four-minute span, capped off by a Diesel Lowe floater that increased their lead to 73-62 with 2:10 remaining in the game.
“It was just our heart at that point. All of our seniors, we didn’t want to go out in a way, like not playing hard enough,” said Battle of the fourth quarter surge. “We were just going to put it all out on the floor and see what happens.”
Santa Barbara struggled to contain Benjamin, a University of San Diego commit, in the first half. Benjamin scored 18 of his 30 points in the first half and the Comanches got a major boost when Staf Yilmazturk banked in a deep three-pointer as the second quarter buzzer sounded increasing their lead to 38-32.
The Dons methodically battled back and cut their deficit to 41-40 on a three-pointer by Zuffelato with 6:10 remaining in the third quarter.
Santa Barbara took its first lead of the second half, 55-53, on a driving layup by Lowe with just under a minute remaining in the third quarter. However, Canyon immediately responded with a transition layup to even the score at 55-55.
One of the keys to Santa Barbara’s fourth quarter run was the switch to have Batte guard Benjamin. He was able to create turnovers, which shifted the Santa Barbara High offense into high gear.
“Brandon Benjamin is a fantastic player, but we wore him out a little bit and then in the second half we switched to Carter,” said Santa Barbara High coach Greg Zuffelato. “He was playing upright because he was tired and Carter was able to get his hand in there and kept taking the ball from him.”
Luke Zuffelato led all scorers with 38 points. He scored 28 points in the second half. A big chunk of his damage came from the free throw line where he knocked down all 14 of his attempts.
Lowe added 12 points. Battle and D.J. Wilson chipped in eleven points apiece.
Santa Barbara will host perennial powerhouse Mater Dei in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.
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