Like a racehorse breaking out of the starting gate, the Dos Pueblos boys basketball charged at Santa Barbara with a pressing defense and high-octane transition game and galloped to a 54-37 Channel League win Wednesday night at J.R. Richards Gym.
Led by the 22 points from 6-4 senior Jay Larinan, Dos Pueblos attacked the basket from the start and did most of its damage inside.
“It was huge,” Larinan said of getting off to a fast start. “We needed a quick start to get our confidence for the rest of the game.”
The athletic Larinan slashed inside for baskets, raced down court for layups after rebounds of Santa Barbara missed shots or turnovers.
“I just attacked the basket,” he said. “That’s what coach wanted me to do, so that’s what I did.”
Larinan also had 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.
“Jay has been a three-year starter for DP and he has the ability to score, defend, and finish. I knew he would be ready to play tonight,” said DP coach Joe Zamora.
The Chargers’ attack was so dominating it didn’t need to shoot a 3-point basket.
“Normally, we shoot a couple of threes, but tonight the lanes to the basket were open.”
Said Zamora, “We wanted our players to attack the basket and score at the free-throw line rather than depend on 3’s. We shot 52 percent from the field tonight.”
After Emilio Gonzalez scored on a nice feed from Andy Busch to give Santa Barbara a 2-1 lead in the first minute of the game, Dos Pueblos went on a 12-0 run, using its high pressure defense to force turnovers, which it converted into transition layups.
“I was really happy how the guys responded early to the challenge to get us off right,” said Zamora.
The quarter ended with the Chargers ahead 17-4.
“With Jay, Pablo (Miranda), enough leadership on Dos Pueblos, they were able to establish the tempo that they wanted,” Santa Barbara coach Chris Hantgin said. “We talked about them taking it to us inside and that’s pretty much what happened.
“It was kind of a good slap in the face.”
The Dons played without starting guard Daniel Marshall, who was sidelined by an illness.
Santa Barbara settled down and did a better job protecting the basketball in the second quarter. Busch and Sebastian Molina scored back-to-back baskets to pull the Dons to within nine, 20-11.
“After the first quarter, I thought we competed pretty well,” Hantgin said. “We’re still having a hard time scoring. We have to figure that out a bit, but it’s just part of the process. We got to keep learning.”
Dos Pueblos reasserted itself in the third quarter and blew the game open with an 11-0 run to go ahead 37-15. The run was highlighted by a steal and acrobatic layup by Larinan, who was fouled and completed the three-point play.
Isaac Gomez added nine points for the Chargers (7-6, 1-1), who had nine players score in the game.
Sam Cohen scored 11 points and Caleb Hale added seven to lead the Dons (2-13, 0-2).
