Kyle Aronson drives around his defender towards the baseline.
Santa Barbara's Brendan Faye takes a jump shot over an Arlington defender on Monday.
Santa Barbara overcame a rough start and battled Arlington down to the final seconds before coming up short, 43-38, in a pool-play basketball game at the Holiday Classic on Monday at J.R. Richards Gym.
The Dons trailed 19-8 after the first quarter, as Arlington’s Mason Biddle pumped in three long-range 3 pointers and scored 15 of his game-high 24 points.
“Part of it is we didn’t know anything about them,” Santa Barbara coach Chris Hantgin said about defending Arlington. “(Biddle) hit some deep threes, which we’re like, ‘OK, we’re going to give you a couple of those.’ He’s a good player and (Daniel Hopkins) he’s also solid. We struggled containing them.
“Offensively, we were careless with the ball in the first half, but we competed,” he added. “I thought our kids competed really well. We made some plays. We just got to tighten up the defense a little better in the fourth quarter.”
Santa Barbara worked its way back into the game.
Trailing 36-25 entering the fourth quarter, the Dons went on a 7-0 run to cut the margin to 36-32.
Emilio Gonzalez made a steal and Brendan Fay followed with a bucket, and Fay hit two free throws to pull Santa Barbara within one, 39-38, with 1:44 left.
Hopkins drove past a defender and hit a floater to put Arlington up 41-38.
Santa Barbara had chances down the stretch but it couldn’t convert its shots.
Hopkins made two free throws in the final seconds to secure the win.
The Dons (2-8) play Northwood at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Northwood lost to Agoura 49-43 in Monday’s other pool-play game. Agoura takes on Arlington at noon.
In bracket play:
Ocean View 67, West Torrance 56
Billy Keller poured in 23 points and 6-10 center Conor Clifford added 11 to lead CIF runner-up Ocean View.
Rashad Cobb and Dominique Griffin each scored 11 for West.
Ocean View meets Leuzinger at 4:30 p.m.
Leuzinger 61, Troy 45
Eric Childress tossed in 16 points to pace the Olympians. Mo Jamma had 11 for Troy, which plays West Torrance at 1:30 p.m.
Clovis West 66, Burroughs 33
Clovis West raced out to 21-2 lead in the first quarter and cruised to the win. Santa Clara-bound Denzel Johnson scored 16 points for the Golden Eagles.
Clovis West plays San Marcos at 6 p.m. Tuesday, while Burroughs meets Oxnard.
