Burlison on Basketball

Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

Santa Barbara, Ontario Christian head east for wins

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SPRINGFIELD, MA – The high school team that had the longest trip to the HoopHall Classic got maximum value out of its nearly -2,600 -mile trek Friday afternoon.

The Santa Barbara High Dons got a combined 42 points out of seniors Diesel Lowe and Luke Zuffelato, and a strong second half, to knock off Ridgefield (CT), 66-52, in Springfield College’s Blake Arena.

The event runs thru Monday evening and includes games involving nine other western-based boys programs, among those the No.’s 1 (Roosevelt of Eastvale), 3 (St. John Bosco), 4 (Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks) and 13 (Sierra Canyon) teams in the current BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 30.

Santa Maria’s St. Joseph, which has played in three California State Open Division tournaments with Tounde Yessoufou in its lineup (and was runner-up to Harvard-Westlake in the 2023 title game in Sacramento), joins St John Bosco and Sierra Canyon in action Saturday.

Roosevelt (22-1), top-ranked in the MaxPreps national high school Top 25, faces No. 4 Gonzaga College Prep of Washington, DC (15-2 before a Friday night game with Arlington, VA, O’Connell) Monday morning at 11 o’clock, ET.

Saturday, St. Joseph (17-1) faces Atlanta Holy Innocents Episcopal (13-20 at 10:30 a.m., ET; St. John Bosco (15 in the national ratings/18-2) plays Chantilly, VA, Paul VI (17/12-3) and Sierra Canyon (15-3) takes on Loganville, GA, Grayson (6/17-1) at 4 o’clock.

In a high-profile girls’ game played here Friday afternoon, Ontario Christian (23-1) – California’s top-ranked team – toppled New York’s defending state champion Middle village Christ the King (13-4), 87-75.

Zuffelato – with quite the hoops bloodlines running through him – was selected his game’s Most Outstanding Player after adding 20 points to go with his eight rebounds, five assists two blocks, two steals and zero turnovers without leaving the floor.

The 6-foot-5 Zuffelato – twice an all-CIF Southern Section selection – was offered a scholarship by Iona Head Coach Tobin Anderson after the game.

But Zuffelato – coached by his father, Greg Zuffelato, and with a grandfather, Bob Zuffelato, who is one of the most revered scouts, personnel directors and general managers in NBA history – isn’t focused on where he might be attending class, and playing basketball, a year from now.

“A lot of that is out of my control,” he said afterward. “I just have to keep playing as hard and as well as I can.”

What is much more in his – and his teammates’ – control is how well the Dons (17-5) continue to play in their final six Channel League games (they are a half-game in front of Oxnard and San Marcos in the standings) and into the post-season.

Zuffelato (who hit buzzer-beating, Social Media-buzzing, shots to knock off Sierra Canyon and Tucson High Magnet school in a three-day stretch two weeks ago) thinks he and his buddies are capable of an even deeper run in February than a year ago.

And he’d like to extend that run into March, too.

They lost to Bosco Tech (59-57) – despite his 34 points – in a Southern Section 3A semifinal before going to San Diego County and losing to San Marcos (85-81/he had a 46-bangert in that one) in a first-round Southern Regional D-III contest.

And, with the addition of the 6-2 Lowe (a transfer from St. Joseph averaging about 12 ppg), the Dons have another player scoring 20-plus in any giving game, especially if the defense is too dialed into shadowing Zuffelato.

Chemistry? The test tubes are overflowing . . .

“There are about 11 of us who have been together for a long time,” Zuffelato.

But, like pretty much all the CIF Southern Section programs – other than the usual suspects, already dialed in for Open slots or top 3 or 4 D-I seeds – the new computer-driven playoff format leaves the Dons to only guess at what division title they will be in pursuit of next month.

“Before (aka, “the old days”), you knew what division you were going to be in, before the season started, and you could plan – and scout – accordingly,” said Greg Zuffelato.

“Now, we just have to keep looking at the computer ratings (released by the Southern Section each of the past three Mondays) and see where we end up.”

*Ontario Christian – with only a 59-34 loss to San Jose Mitty on Dec. 21 denting its on-court resumed – had too many quality players, at both ends of the court, for the team from New York to keep up with Friday.

Foremost among those for Coach Aundre Cummings’ crew were dazzling sophomore point guard Kaleena Smith (26 points, 12 assists and five steals) and tenacious freshman forward Tatianna Griffin (26 points, eight rebounds and six steals).

Coach Bob Mackey of Christ the King has a list of proteges that includes one of the women’s game’s five or six-best ever players in Sue Bird.

And Mackey must be quite the teacher relative to footwork and post play, as his best player demonstrated succinctly Friday.

Six-five Olivia Vukosa – considered one of the five or six best prospects in the national class of 2026 – was near-solely responsible from keeping the score from getting too out of hand.

Vukosa – a third generation Croatian who starred for that country’s 17-under team over the summer – scored 25 points (including two 3s) with nine rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots.

*The Ontario Christian Knights avenged that loss on Jan. 4 when they beat Mitty, 61-44.

But there is an * attached to that result, as Mitty’s best player – one of the sport’s top juniors, McKenna Woliczko – suffered a season-ending, torn ACL in the second quarter.

And there is no doubting that her absence impacted the outcome of their 53-40 loss to Washington, DC, Sidwell Friends Friday afternoon.

Six-two junior Jordyn Jackson led Sidwell Friends (12-1) with 20 points and nine rebounds.

Two contests involving four high-profile prep school programs followed the two girls games:

*Mt. Pleasant (UT) Wasatch Academy 59, Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy 58: Junior guard Katrelle Harmon’s 3-pointer from the right corner provided the final – and tying and winning – points with 33 seconds to go.

The teams combined for two turnovers – and a couple of missed free throws by the game’s leading scorer, Mariano Manciel (28 points), of Wasatch – the rest of the way before Darius Cuff’s 40-footer beat the buzzer but didn’t go thru the rim to secure the win for the club from Utah.

Cuff, a 6-3 guard who bound for the University of Arkansas, scored 18 points for IMG but missed 15 of 24 shots from the field – including all eight attempts from behind the arc.

*Montverde (FL) Academy 78, Mouth of Wilson (VA) Oak Hill Academy 52: Six-seven Hudson Greer – whose father, Josh Greer, starred at Esperanza High in Fullerton and started at Saint Mary’s – was one of four Eagles to score in double figures with 14 points (all in the first half, including three 3s) to go with five rebounds.

Greer, who lived in Irvine until moving with his family to Austin, TX, as an eighth grader, signed with Creighton in November.

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