Santa Barbara Tops Irvine, 57-55, in Double Overtime

The Santa Barbara High School basketball team outscored Irvine, 4-2, in the second overtime for a 57-55 victory in a Division I-A quarterfinal game Friday night at the Carpinteria High gym.

Irvine trailed, 25-23, at halftime, and the Vaqueros outscored Santa Barbara, 18-12 in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 51 at the end of regulation. It was tied, 53-53, at the end of the first overtime.

Santa Barbara (24-5) advances to the semifinals against Saugus, a 56-52 overtime winner over Thousand Oaks in the quarterfinals.

Santa Barbara used a tough man-to-man defense to shut down John Molle, Irvine’s high-scoring forward, who is headed to San Diego State on a basketball scholarship.

Molle, a senior who averages 28.1 points, finished with 17 points.

Brian Boothroyd added 10 points for Irvine.

Matt Purdy, the son of Santa Barbara Coach Bob Purdy, scored 15 points to lead Santa Barbara.

Purdy, a four-year starter who averages 26 points, is headed to Northwestern on a basketball scholarship next season.

Adam Sjovld scored 15 points and Alexy Dvortcsak had 11 points for Santa Barbara.