Santa Barbara High couldn’t overcome a slow start and the big three of top-seeded La Costa Canyon in the second-round game of the CIF Division 2 State Tournament on Saturday in San Diego.
LCC’s trio of Division 1-bound players — Brady Twombly, Tommy McCarthy and Travis Fuller — combined for 55 points, leading the Mavericks to a 69-44 victory over the Dons.
Northern Arizona commit Twombly led the Mavericks with 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Harvard-bound McCarthy had 18 and Brown-bound Fuller scored 17 points and hauled in 10 boards.
Junior Bolden Brace scored 21 points to lead the Dons, who finish the season with a 29-6 record.
Santa Barbara trailed 17-9 after the first quarter.
The Dons came out cold after a five-hour bus ride, in which the air conditioning went out in the bus halfway through the trip to San Diego, according to a parent of a player.
La Costa Canyon led 26-12 with 2:29 left in the second quarter. The Mavericks’ 6-5 Twombly knocked down 3s and the 6-7 Fuller did his damage inside.
Santa Barbara trailed 30-19 at halftime. Max Henderson hit a bucket with three seconds left in the half to give the Dons some momentum going into the break.
But LCC would regain control in the second half as McCarthy and Twombly hit threes and the Mavericks dominated the boards. They pushed the lead to 41-24 in the third quarter.
The Dons trailed 49-29 at the end of three quarters.
LCC kept its 20-point lead, 54-34, with six minutes to go in the game.
La Costa Canyon (24-7) will host No. 4 Lawndale on Tuesday.
