It was a good day for the local boys basketball teams at Santa Barbara High’s Holiday Classic as Santa Barbara, Carpinteria and Bishop Diego all posted first-round victories on Friday at J.R. Richards Gym.
Carpinteria started the day with a 53-37 win over Hueneme, as the Warriors three guards of Omar Miranda, Rayshaun Moore and Bryson Frazer combined for 43 points.
Bishop Diego got 24 points from Will Busch and turned back second-seeded Flintridge Prep, 49-44.
Isaiah Tapia and Bolden Brace put on a 3-point shooting show to lead Santa Barbara over Laguna Hills, 78-64. Tapia knocked down 6 of 10 and Brace was a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the arc.
Santa Barbara will next face Carpinteria in a quarterfinal game at 7:30 p.m. Bishop plays at 4:30 against Newbury Park, which rolled over San Marino, 68-47, in the first round.
Other first-round winners were Lompoc, Santa Maria, Channel Islands and Camarillo.
Tapia and Chris Wagonhurst helped Santa Barbara jump out to a 14-3 lead in the first quarter, and the Dons weren’t seriously threatened the rest of the way. Wagonhurst hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Dons a 28-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The lead increased to 48-30 at halftime as Tapia and Brace scored from long distance. Tapia led the 9-1 Dons with 20 points, while Brace finished with 18. Jack Baker, who was playing with a sore back from a fall in practice, had 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Wagonhurst tossed in 11 points.
“We shot the ball well,” Santa Barbara coach David Bregante said. “When we shoot the ball well, we’re hard to beat. We got a lot of guys who can shoot the ball. That’s what we got to do because we’re not very big and we’re not very athletic.”
Tapia credited his teammates for finding him for the shots.
“I couldn’t do it without my teammates. They were passing the ball and moving it around. We got a lot of good shots.,” he said. “It was all of us, it was a team effort. That’s how you win games.”
Logan Hedde scored 13 points, Alex Schlack added 11 and John Meinhardt tallied 10 for Laguna Hills (3-9).
BISHOP DIEGO 49, FLINTRIDGE PREP 44
Will Busch’s active play inside enabled him to receive the ball in good spots and he cashed in on most of his opportunities. Busch often received passes from forwards Thomas Lash and younger brother Nick Busch.
“We only have those three big guys, so in practice they get to work a lot together. And when they’re in their groove, they do a pretty good job of getting passes to the open man inside,” said Bishop coach Dean Prophet.
The game was tight throughout. Bishop built a 39-33 lead early in the fourth quarter only to see Flintridge Prep answer with six straight points to tie the score. The Rebels (2-4) were playing without star player and Stanford commit Robert Cartwright. He’s sidelined with tendonitis in his Achilles tendon.
“They didn’t have their best player but lots of times when you’re playing teams without their best player, the other players play better,” said Prophet. “They had a good first half. We finally got some stops put together in that third quarter to give us a little separation, which was nice.”
Lash powered his way for a basket and Will Busch drove inside for another score to give the Cardinals a 43-39 advantage with 1:53 to go. Flintridge Prep responded with a 3-pointer by Stefen Chraghchian to pull the Rebels to within one.
Scott Tsangeos scored 14 points and Chraghchian had 10 to lead Flintridge Prep.
Bishop (7-3) kept its poise. Lash passed to Will Busch for a short jumper to put the Cardinals up by three (45-42) with 53 seconds to play.
Kyle Hamane followed with a driving layup to make it 45-44 with 35 seconds left.
Flintridge Prep had three fouls to give before putting Bishop on the free-throw line. When the Cardinals finally went to the foul stripe, Sam Kwock and Grant Sexton each knocked down two free throws to clinch the victory.
CARPINTERIA 53, HUENEME 37
Omar Miranda scored 17 points, Bryson Frazer added 15 and Rayshaun Moore chipped in 11 to pace the Warriors, who led 15-8 after the first quarter and never trailed for the rest of the game.
In other action, Jacob Alonzo scored 27 points and Diego Gonzalez tallied eight points in the fourth quarter to lead Camarillo over Chatsworth 84-70. Michael Morrissey had 29 for Chatsworth.
Newbury Park raced out to a 25-7 lead in the first quarter in beating San Marino, 68-47. Tyler Cartaino scored eight of his 10 points in the opening quarter.
Lompoc’s Nate Taylor made 9 of 9 free throws and scored 13 points and Torey Sims scored 13 points to lead the Braves over Nordhoff, 64-57.
