San Marcos’ boys basketball team escaped the Sports Pavilion with a win on Friday night, barely beating an inspired squad from Santa Barbara High 46-44 to secure a Channel League victory.
“I think based on how we played I think our guys expected to win but Santa Barbara deserved to win that game,” said coach Jarrod Bradley. “It just came down to free throws for us, we were 13-for-17 from the line, and we’ve been doing that all year long and it’s been bailing us out.”
Santa Barbara's Daniel Marshall shoots over San Marcos' Bennie Kirkwood, left, Chad Ridenour and Christian Mkpado, right.
JP Dodson converted 7-of-9 free throws in the second half and recorded a team-high 14 points to help the Royals overcome the Dons, who have won only one game this season.
Santa Barbara’s Daniel Marshall led the Dons with 16 points and had a last-second 3-point attempt come up short that would have given Santa Barbara the victory.
“This is a tough one,” said Dons head coach Chris Hantgin. “The guys played their hearts out and executed really well. It was just a couple of bounces here and there.”
“I couldn’t be prouder of our effort,” he continued. “We had a chance to win or at least tie. That’s all you can ask for and hopefully we’ll grow from this experience.”
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Santa Barbara held its last lead at 39-37 after Andrew Adams drained a 3-pointer with 5:28 remaining.
Then Dodson hit two free throws and Johnny Manzo scored four straight points to give the Royals a 43-39 lead. Marshall got two back for the Dons coming off a high screen by Adams to connect on a 16-footer.
Manzo responded by putting San Marcos back up by four with just over a minute to go. It would prove critical for the Royals because Marshall sank a trey from the right corner with under 30 seconds, bringing Santa Barbara to within one point.
Dodson was immediately fouled on the inbounds, sending him to the line. The senior missed his first free throw but gathered himself and made the second.
‘”I kind of felt confident our team would pull it out even though it was a close game,” Dodson said.
Santa Barbara had the game’s last possession and a make on Marshall’s 3-pointer would have given them the win.
“It definitely speaks to how the team is building up,” said Adams, a senior on a team with no returning players from last season. “We’re just such a young team, each day we get exponentially better.”
“There’s so much talk about how ‘we’re supposed to win’ or ‘Santa Barbara’s not very good.’ And the reality is, when you get out there, everyone wants to win,” Bradley said.
Adams had 13 points for Santa Barbara to compliment Marshall while San Marcos spread it around with Chad Ridenour, Christian Mkpado, Bennie Kirkwood and Manzo combining for 27 points.
“Bennie Kirkwood was awesome tonight, he really saved us,” Bradley noted.
San Marcos improves to 16-4 overall and 4-1 in league. Santa Barbara is 1-21, 0-5. The Royals move into a tie with Ventura for first place after the Cougars lost to Dos Pueblos on Friday.
SAN MARCOS 46, SANTA BARBARA 44
SAN MARCOS – Dodson 14, Manzo 8, Kirkwood 6, Guild 2, Mkpado 6, Ridenour 7, White 3.
SANTA BARBARA – Marshall 16, Adams 13, Anderson 3, Mikles 2, Hedden 8, Martinez 2.
San Marcos 10 14 12 10 – 46
Santa Barbara 11 13 9 11 – 44
3-ptrs – SM 1 (Ridenour), SB 5 (Hedden 2, Marshall 2, Adams)
