Santa Barbara stuns top seed San Clemente with late comeback in CIF-SS D3A Quarterfinals
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Dons saved their best for last.
Santa Barbara High School star junior Luke Zuffelato drilled a 30-foot three-pointer with under 30 seconds left to complete a 13-point fourth quarter comeback as the Dons upset top-seed San Clemente in a CIF-Southern Section Division 3A quarterfinal home game.
The Dons will bring a 13-game win streak into Friday's semifinal game at Don Bosco Tech in Rosemead.
Santa Barbara trailed 59-51 with 2:05 to play but ended the game on a 10-0 run to set off a wild celebration at JR Gymnasium.
With 1:18 left Zuffelato made a three-pointer to bring the Dons to within 59-57.
With under 30 seconds left and the shot clock winding down, Zuffelato launched his biggest shot of his career and the parking lot range three-pointer put Santa Barbara up 60-59.
He then stole the ball and was fouled where he hit one of two free throws giving him a game-high 37 points.
San Clemente advanced the ball to half court and had 8 seconds left.
Tritons star Porter Hansen who had a team-high 25 points, shot a three-pointer in heavy traffic and it was well off the mark and the Dons had completed the comeback.
The Dons opened the fourth quarter on an 11-0 run as junior DJ Wilson made consecutive three-pointers.
Wilson also ended the first half with a buzzer-beating three pointer as the Dons trailed 37-28 at the break.
Wilson finished with 12 points on four three-pointers.
The first quarter ended with a bang as Hansen sank a three-pointer with seven seconds left only to see Zuffelato beat the clock with a three-pointer of his own and it was game on!
The Dons were down 21-17 heading into the second quarter and got down 36-23 but they kept coming back and found a way to get over the mountain and extend their season.