Santa Barbara attempting to find redemption in playoffs

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Remember way back when, back when the Santa Barbara boys’ basketball program was ranked among the top 25 teams in The Times’ preseason poll? Seems like a distant memory, especially after the Dons finished in fourth place in the Channel League with a far-from-respectable 12-16 overall record.

Remarkably enough, Santa Barbara qualified for the postseason, although I can’t imagine Roberto Nelson & Co. wanted to back into the Southern Section playoffs like they did. There’s nothing this group can do about it now, not with a Division I-A wild-card game against Redondo looming on Wednesday at home.

It’s time for Santa Barbara to forget about the seven-game losing streak in late December and the setbacks in five of the final six games of the regular season. In fact, this is the final opportunity for the Dons to redeem themselves, a chance to put together a couple of wins and prove they were worthy of the recognition when all this began in late November.

-- Sean Ceglinsky