Santa Barbara High needed a new a plan to contain San Marcos standout Scott Everman in their third meeting of the season. Everman torched the Dons with games of 21 and 20 points in two Royals victories.
On Friday night, the Dons found the solution: a box and one defense, with Max Henderson hounding the 6-6 Everman all over the court. Henderson held the Royals’ scoring leader to nine points, and Santa Barbara built an early lead never lost it, recording a 47-43 Channel League win in a jam-packed and rocking J.R. Richards Gym.
The result knocks San Marcos out of a first-place tie with Santa Barbara and Ventura. The Royals fall to 3-2 in league and 17-6 overall while the Dons improve to 4-1 and 21-4.
Henderson was in Everman’s face all night.
“The reason behind that was he’s killed us two games in a row,” Santa Barbara coach David Bregante said of the reason he used a box-and-one defense on Everman. “He’s a great player and we had to stop him. We couldn’t give up 20 points like we did in the first two games against us (the final of the Carpinteria Holiday Classic and the first league meeting at San Marcos). We had to put a stop to it somewhere.”
Bregante admitted his team doesn’t match up well against San Marcos. Henderson was a perfect example of that; he gave up seven inches of height against Everman.
Bolden Brace, who led the Dons with 20 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three steals, wasn’t surprised Henderson could contain the taller Everman.
“I think Max did a phenomenal job,” Brace said. “Matt Gilligan also came in and shut him down. (Everman) didn’t kill us. Max always plays hard on defense; he’s probably one of our hardest workers.”
San Marcos’ Ryan McCarthy, left, and Kele Mkpado block out Santa Barbara’s Nick Busch.
San Marcos coach Landon Boucher said the Dons’ defense made the difference in the game.
“They took Scott out of the game by playing a box and one the entire game and made it a 4-on-4 game. And we were unable to capitalize because we hadn’t seen that,” Boucher said. “We were unable to adjust, we were unable to put those open shots in. We found open shots, we were just one away. It was 35-37, we had five possessions and we went 0-for-5. They came down and hit some big shots.”
Henderson hit a 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter to give Santa Barbara a 37-30 lead. He and Brace played a two-man game before burying the shot.
But San Marcos picked up momentum at the start of the fourth quarter. Kele Mkpado scored on a reverse layup and then forced a turnover that led to a 3-pointer by Connor Everman from the right corner. That cut the Dons’ lead to 37-35.
The Royals’ defense stiffened but they couldn’t capitalize at the offensive end.
Tyson Miller, who buried four 3-pointers in 2 1/2 quarters and guarded Brace, didn’t make a shot the rest of the game and finished with a team-high 12 points.
“Early on, he was open and was able to hit. I think the fatigue by chasing Bolden around all night maybe took a toll on his offense late in the game,” said Boucher.
With the Dons clinging to a two-point lead, Brace made huge play with a pass. He hit Ben Clay cutting to the basket and Clay scored on a layup to give his team a four-point cushion, 39-35, with 2:46 to play.
“He’s one of the best players in southern California,” Bregante said of Brace. “That was a big play, a nice cut by Ben and the pass was beautiful. It was the play of the game.”
Said Brace: “When Ben cut and I made that pass I knew he was going to make it. And when he did, I think it really pushed us to the victory.
“It was amazing,” he said of the wild atmosphere in the gym. When the final buzzer sounded, he ran toward the student section giving the No. 1 sign as the students poured onto the court.
Peter Durak drives to the basket against Santa Barbara’s Ben Clay.
“I never had that much fun playing basketball in my life,” Brace said.
Following Clay’s clutch basket, Nick Busch knocked down a 3-pointer and had layup off a pass from Chris Wagonhurst to increase the lead to 44-35 with 1:17 left.
After struggling in the game at San Marcos two weeks ago, Busch was a key factor on Friday night. He hit three shots from behind the arc and finished with 14 points,
“He hit some big shots and made some big plays for us,” Bregante said. “For a kid who missed half the season, he’s come in and done an outstanding job.”
“They stepped up,” Boucher said of the Dons. “They made shots and we didn’t. They were able to get momentum early in their building.”
The Dons led 13-11 after the first quarter and 24-17 at halftime.
San Marcos point guard Ryan McCarthy buried a 3-pointer to make it 44-38, but Brace countered with a pair of free throws. McCarthy scored on a drive and Peter Durak hit a three but it wasn’t enough to catch the Dons.
SAN MARCOS—S. Everman 9, Miller 12, Mkpado 7, McCarthy 7, C. Everman 5, Durak 3.
SANTA BARBARA—Henderson 8, Brace 20 Busch 14, Clay 2, Wagonhurst 0, Fay 1, Gilligan 2.
San Marcos…11 6 13 13 — 43
Santa Barbara…13 11 13 10 — 47
3-pointers: SM: Miller 4. SB: Brace 3, Busch 3.
