Dos Pueblos expected a tougher battle and it got one Wednesday when Santa Barbara visited Sovine Gym for a Channel League boys basketball game.
The Chargers, a 17-point winner in their first meeting, couldn’t shake loose from the scrappy Dons until the fourth quarter and squeaked out a 43-37 victory. It took some free throws by Isaac Gomez down the stretch to secure the win.
Gomez scored nine of his 11 points in the second half to help DP (10-7, 3-2) rally from a five-point deficit.
Santa Barbara (2-16, 0-6) did a good job containing DP’s leading scorer Jay Larinan, who burned it for 22 points in the first meeting. On Wednesday, he scored 11 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and had five assists.
With point guard Pablo Mirando sidelined with an illness, Larinan took on some of the responsibility of running the offense.
Santa Barbara’s offense was much better than the first game. The Dons, behind the play of Kyle Aronson and Daniel Marshall, went on a 10-0 run in the second quarter to take a 25-20 halftime lead.
Gomez’s three-point play in the third quarter sparked a 13-4 DP run to put the Chargers ahead to stay.
DP held Santa Barbara to one basket in the fourth quarter and made 6 of 7 free throws to seal the win.
Gomez scored 11 points as did Robert Cid. Santa Barbara got 10 points from Marshall and eight a piece from Caleb Hale and Sam Cohen.
