Round Table Luncheon: Local Teams Preview Eventful Week Following Winter Break

Local coaches and athletes made their return to the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon for the first time in 2024 on Monday at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.

The area’s basketball, soccer and water polo teams recapped the matchups from the three-week winter break and previewed what is shaping up to be an eventful week in Santa Barbara sports in the coming days.

On the basketball front, there will be several Channel League rivalry matchups, headlined by the crosstown showdown between Santa Barbara High and San Marcos.

For the boys, Luke Zuffelato and the Dons will play host to head coach James Kinzler’s Royals on Wednesday at 7 p.m. inside JR Richards Gym.

Meanwhile, the girls matchup between San Marcos and Santa Barbara will be on Thursday inside the Thunderhut at 7 p.m.

As for soccer, Santa Barbara High is facing off against both Dos Pueblos and San Marcos in both boys and girls rivalry battles.

The Dons and Royals face off on Tuesday with the boys playing at 6:30 p.m. at San Marcos while the girls kick off at 5 p.m. at Peabody Stadium.

On Thursday, the Chargers will host Santa Barbara High in both girls and boys soccer beginning at 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., respectively.

Later in the week, all three local Channel League schools will host the high-powered Girls Water Polo Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.

The tournament will be filled with the top teams in California, with 21 total teams planning to compete.

The games will begin on Thursday with the play-in round, when Dos Pueblos will take on Mira Costa at 3 p.m. at Elings Aquatic Center and Santa Barbara will play host to Los Alamitos at 4 p.m.

San Marcos’ first action of the tournament will be on Friday at 11 a.m. on Dos Pueblos’ campus. The championship matchup for the tournament is scheduled for Saturday at 4:05 p.m. at Santa Barbara High.

Also on Saturday will be a boys basketball rivalry showdown in Carpinteria between Cate High and Carpinteria High at 6 p.m. Cate’s girls team will be hosting Bishop Diego at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday as well.

Student-athletes in attendance, by order of presentation:

Dos Pueblos Boys Basketball: Allister Linden, Shane Grant

Santa Barbara Girls Basketball: Ella Popovich, Alex Arnold, Adamari Ruiz

San Marcos Girls Basketball: Natasha Stapf, Carley Nielsen, Lily Ruvalcaba

San Marcos Boys Basketball: Shane Kadlec, Luke Crawford

San Marcos Boys Soccer: Favian Rosales, Javier Elias, Robert Rosales

Carpinteria Girls Water Polo: Allison Banks, Caden Lamere

Carpinteria Girls Basketball: JJ Frias, Marcel Rodriguez

Carpinteria Girls Soccer: Vivian Huskins, Evelyn Lara

Bishop Diego Girls Soccer: Abigail Garcia, Sofia Regan

Santa Barbara Girls Water Polo: Rose Nelley

Santa Barbara Boys Basketball: Luke Zuffelato, Will Harmon, Waylon Finkel