Trailing 24-27 after the first quarter Saturday, Santa Barbara Breakers head coach Curt Pickering delivered a fiery speech to his players, imploring them to pick up their defensive intensity or to sit next to him on the bench.
They took his words to heart.
Outscoring the visiting Ventura County Jets 25-15 in the second quarter and taking a 49-42 lead into the break, the defending champion Breakers advanced to Sunday’s West Coast Basketball League title game with a 112-97 win at San Marcos High School.
After being locked in a tight battle with Ventura throughout the first quarter, the Breakers asserted themselves on the defensive end to break away from the pesky Jets.
“In the first quarter it was back and forth, we were trading baskets and they had the lead,” Pickering said. “We were playing with fire, especially considering the explosiveness of this Ventura team.”
Santa Barbara opened the third quarter on a 14-0 run that broke the game open and assured the Breakers of a third consecutive championship game appearance – the first coming in the International Basketball League during the team’s inaugural season in 2007.
The decisive stretch was punctuated by a Tim Taylor three-pointer from the corner that gave the Breakers a 60-42 early in the third quarter.
The Breakers’ two big men, Jeremy Vague and Mark Dawson, led the charge offensively with 19 and 18 points respectively. Santa Barbara’s willingness to get the ball inside was the key to the surge offensively in the second half.
“When our big men dominate inside it just opens it up for everybody else,” said Taylor.
Last week, the Jets rallied from a 21-point fourth quarter deficit against the Pasadena Slam to advance to the WCBL semifinals. This prompted Pickering to leave his starters in the game for the majority of the second half despite his team’s large lead.
Vague went down with a stomach injury midway through the fourth quarter, but he was able to walk off the court under his own power and is expected to play in the final.
The championship game between the Breakers and the Newport Beach Surf is Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Thunderhut.
