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Dons dominated by Gondos
DENNIS BATEMAN, NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
December 27,
2007 12:00 AM
When one thinks
of a Gondolier, the most likely thought is a quaint image of a brimmed
Italian man leisurely propelling his boat through a Venetian canal.
For Santa
Barbara basketball fans, their thoughts will likely be of an aggressive
Venice basketball team that knocked the host Dons off-balance and kept them
that way in a one-sided 75-59 opening-round victory at the Santa Barbara
Holiday Classic on Wednesday.
Dos Pueblos also suffered an opening-day loss, falling
52-48 to Santa Monica.
San Marcos,
meanwhile, ran its winning streak to 10 games by blowing out Costa Mesa
75-29 in a Green Division opener. In the Gold Division, Bishop Diego lost
to West Torrance 72-37.
Santa
Barbara (7-7) hoped for a better start after
losing four straight in the San Fernando Valley Tournament last week. But
the Dons had to go without starting forward Willie Reese-Jordan, who failed
to show up for the game. Santa
Barbara coach Chris Hantgin
said that he did not know his whereabouts.
"They're
disappointed in the loss, because they obviously wanted to do well," Hantgin said of the game. "I thought we'd be more healthy and that didn't happen, and I think we
missed Willie today."
The Gondos, as Venice High's sports teams are popularly
known, swarmed the Dons from the opening tipoff and never trailed in the
game. Leading by three points after the opening period, Venice
steadily built its advantage and thwarted Santa Barbara's efforts to get back in
the game.
"We're a
small, scrappy team, and we brought our pressure defense today," said
Gondoliers head coach Josh Herscher. "That's
how we've made plays all year, and Todd was hot for us today,"
Isaiah Todd, a
5-foot-8 junior forward, sparked Venice
with 28 points, including five 3-pointers.
Hantgin admitted that
Todd's performance surprised the Dons.
"I didn't
remember Todd being a big star for Venice,"
Hantgin said.
Jordan Borucki added 13 points for the Gondos.
The Holiday
Classic featured the return of Roberto Nelson to the Dons' lineup. The star
junior guard had an effective day, with team highs in points (19), rebounds
(6), and assists (4). But he reinjured his shoulder in the fourth quarter
and his status for today's game against Dos Pueblos was uncertain.
Marques Morten scored 14 points for the Dons and Spencer Thomas
added 10 in the game. Hantgin also praised the
play of Alex Bartlett, who has led Santa
Barbara in minutes played this year.
While Venice moves on to play defending champion Santa Monica today at 7 p.m., Santa Barbara moves into the consolation
bracket with an 11:30 a.m. matchup against rival Dos Pueblos.
Green Division
games will be played today at Santa Barbara High, while Gold Division games
will be held at San Marcos.
GREEN DIVISION
SANTA MONICA 52, DOS PUEBLOS 48
In a
back-and-forth matchup, the Chargers built an eight-point lead, but
couldn't hold off the Vikings, who went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line
in the fourth quarter to gain the first-round victory at the Thunderhut.
"Games are
won and lost at the free-throw line, and this was a prime example of
that," said DP head coach Joe Zamora, whose team finished only
8-for-17 from the stripe.
Sean Park led
Dos Pueblos with 24 points, and was praised by Zamora for his all-around play.
"Sean had a
really good game at the post, and made some great perimeter shots,"
said Zamora,
who also praised the efforts of Ryan Beall and
Robert Vickers.
Jamen Fearon and Edward Willis both scored 16 points for the
Vikings.
SAN MARCOS 75, COSTA MESA 29
Nick Marquez had
18 of his 20 points in the first half, and Frank Nordine
had 12 points and 12 rebounds as the Royals routed the Mustangs. Scott Moll
added 12 points for San Marcos,
which led 41-15 at halftime at the Thunderhut.
"We were
able to do pretty much whatever we wanted to do," said Royals head
coach Jarrod Bradley, who pulled his starters for most of the second half.
Nicky Molina
scored 12 points for the winless Mustangs (0-9). San
Marcos (10-2) will face Oxnard
today at 5:30 p.m. at Santa
Barbara.
PACIFIC PALISADES 69
BURBANK BURROUGHS 41
Irvin Kintaudi scored a game-high 21 points to lead the
Dolphins to a 38-14 halftime lead en route to the first-round win. Pacific
Palisades will play Corona del Mar at 4 p.m. today.
OXNARD 62, AGOURA 47
Ryan Islas' 19
points spurred the Yellowjackets to the
first-round victory.
Ben Ricard's 22 points led the Chargers in a losing effort.
CORONA DEL MAR 65, SAUGUS
42
Joe Eberhard's 16 points helped boost the Sea Kings to a
first-round victory over the Centurions.
CLOVIS WEST 68, MIRA
COSTA 63
The Golden
Eagles took wing to victory with 16-point efforts from Ethan Larson and
Elliott Berry. Mira Costa was led by Mike Miller's 19 points. Clovis West
will play Upland
today at 8:30 p.m.
UPLAND 72, CURTIS (WA)
42
The Highlanders
got 26 points from Kevin Bradshaw to overpower the Vikings, who came to the
tournament from University
Place, Wash.
GOLD DIVISION
WEST TORRANCE 72, BISHOP
DIEGO 37
David Renick scored 18 points to account for nearly half of
the Cardinals' scoring, but Bishop was no match for the Warriors.
"We were
only down 32-21 in the first half, and David gave us really balanced
play," said head coach Ray Vazquez.
West Torrance
will play South Pasadena
today at 7:30 p.m., while Bishop Diego plays St. Margaret's at 3 p.m.
OAK PARK 65, SANTA
BARBARA JV 17
Bobby Hillard's 20 points were more than enough for the
Eagles to overwhelm the JV Dons, who stepped up to fill in after Bell Gardens backed
out of the tournament.
SOUTH
PASADENA 62, ST. MARGARET'S 47
South
Pasadena's Anthony Reynoso
scored 18 points to lead the Tigers over the Tartans in the opening round.
EAST
BAKERSFIELD 49, NORTHWOOD 41
Frank Wright
scored 17 points for the Blades, who will play Oak Park today at 6 p.m.
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