Buena Holds Off 2 Santa Barbara Rallies for Victory

For the most part, Buena High basketball Coach Glen Hannah is the calm and collected type. And it seemed only natural that Hannah should find more comfort after his team jumped to an 18-point lead in the first half, as the Bulldogs did Wednesday night in a Channel League game against visiting Santa Barbara.

But Hannah knew the Dons would dawn, and they did. Santa Barbara climbed over the horizon on two occasions, pulling within seven points in the third quarter and within nine in the fourth.

Yet each time Buena answered with a run of its own en route to an 86-71 victory.

Buena (10-4, 4-0 in league play) outscored Santa Barbara, 25-9, in the first 10 minutes. Although the Dons (10-4, 2-2) hit only four of their first 21 field-goal attempts, Hannah was uneasy.

“It was a great run for us, but I kept waiting for (Santa Barbara) to get it going,” Hannah said. “They are too good of a team to lay down and die.”

Santa Barbara played without starting guard Teodor Russinov, a 6-foot-5 junior who leads the team with a 21-point scoring average but whose eligibility is under scrutiny by the Southern Section. Yet the Dons rallied behind senior guard Adam Sjovold (25 points), who hit three consecutive baskets to cut Santa Barbara’s deficit to 46-39 with 5 minutes 34 seconds left in the third quarter.

Buena answered behind senior guard Lance Fay (32 points), who buried consecutive three-point baskets to get the Bulldogs out of Hannah’s doghouse. Buena’s lead again climbed to 18 points, but Santa Barbara pulled to within nine, 78-69, with 1:08 left.

Buena’s starters returned to the floor and the Bulldogs hit six of seven free throws in the final minute. The Bulldogs were 22 of 28 from the line, including 14 of 18 in the fourth quarter.

Buena capped its final 8-2 run with an offensive rebound and follow-up shot by senior center Andy Saint, who finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds--including six offensive rebounds.

Senior guard Nick Houchin had 18 points and Fay added 10 assists and five steals for Buena, which avenged a loss to Santa Barbara in the semifinal round of the Ventura tournament in December.

“Our kids really haven’t played a bad game in league,” Hannah said. “We’ve gotten some good production off the bench and have rebounded well.”

Santa Barbara, which struggled without Russinov, finished seven of 17 (41%) from the line and 32 of 73 (44%) from the field.

“We’re in a state of confusion without Teodor,” Santa Barbara Coach Bob Purdy said. “It’s thrown us completely out of whack.”