California basketball blue blood Mater Dei knocked off by Santa Barbara in quarterfinals

It took clutch 3-point making and a little bit of magic for Santa Barbara to take down juggernaut Mater Dei Tuesday night.

Santa Barbara High knocks off Mater Dei in the CIF-SS Division 1 quarterfinals. / Tarek Fattal

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA — Santa Barbara’s Luke Zuffelato is good. The UC Santa Barbara commit can do it all. He can score. He can defend multiple positions. He can create for his teammates. He can make big shots.

But he also possesses something a lot of basketball players hope to muster up at any point in their careers: magic.

It’s really the only word to describe what transpired Tuesday night as Santa Barbara hosted Southern California high school basketall juggernaut Mater Dei — a blue blood, if you will — in a win-or-go-home playoff game.

It was like Duke or Kansas coming to town to play a surging mid-major. You know what happens during March Madness, right? Magic.

Santa Barbara’s Diesel Lowe hit a 3-pointer with four seconds left to force overtime and Zuffelato hit a key 3-pointer that banked in with 15 seconds remaining en route to a 75-70 overtime victory against Mater Dei in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals.

The Dons will play at Mira Costa in the semifinals on Saturday.

Zuffelato had a game-high 28 points. Lowe added 14, DJ Wilson had 12 points and Owen Horn scored 11 for Santa Barbara. Blake Davidson led Mater Dei with 19 points, DeMarcus Henry had 16 and standout junior Luke Barnett was held to 13 points.

Santa Barbara made 16 3-pointers in the game.

“Since these guys were in third grade, we’ve been shooting,” Santa Barbara coach Greg Zuffelato said. “We shoot 6 or 7 times a week. They do it on their own. These guys have shot thousands and thousands of shots.”

The bank 3-pointer in overtime was what solified that magic for Luke Zuffelato — he’s got it. The senior guard dazzled the internet with two buzzer beaters earlier this season. The bigger of the two came at home on December 30 when his halfcourt shot banked in with no time left to down another juggernaut program in Sierra Canyon, 75-74.

Maybe, it’s more than magic.

“When it goes in the air, just giving it to God and hoping it goes in,” Luke said with a chuckle. “I just trust in myself that whenever the ball leaves my hands it has a chance of going in.”

Santa Barbara hasn’t been in the Division 1 playoffs since 2000. And on the other hand, record books will have to be scowered to find out when was the last time the Monarchs didn’t participate in the CIF State playoffs.

After being at the helm for more than four decades, you’d think Mater Dei head coach Gary McKnight has seen it all. Not quite.

“Been the coach for 43 years, we’ve never had to come to Santa Barbara for a playoff game,” Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight said.

Mater Dei’s season is over. Santa Barbara’s win earns them an automatic bid to the CIF State playoffs.

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