The Frosh Dons added to their winning record by beating Los Lomas, 58 to 44. The Freshman Dons are now 6-0 in league.

“Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise.”- Kobe Bryant

The visiting Knights made the first, second and third baskets to start off the game, which gave the Dons some pressure and challenges. The Knights ended the first quarter with a four point lead, 9 to 13. During the second quarter, the Dons experienced something they have never felt their entire season, a big deficit of 12 points. Ughh! This is not the norm for this team. This was the opportunity for the Dons to rise!

“If you do not believe in yourself no one will do it for you.” -Kobe Bryant

Slowly but surely the wind changed, and the Dons were determined to give the Knights something to sweat over during the second quarter Jack Bayless drove in 6 points, Landon Best-Santos tossed in 4 points and Coco Gannon, Justin Zegarowaski and Bennett Dodge each had a bucket to tie it up 25 -25 at halftime.

“The most important thing is you must put everybody on notice that you’re here and you are for real.”-Kobe Bryant

Coming into the third quarter, Miller Smith decided to get real and tossed in two 3-pointers. The Dons started to play with more confidence, play together, play with intelligence, and left their mental errors in locker room at halftime. The Dons were getting ball reversals, making extra passes, taking great not good shots, feeding the post and most of all, took over the lead and never looked back. They beat the Knights and collected their win.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.”-Kobe Bryant

And, before we leave let’s talk about the high scorer of the game, Jack Bayless. Jack has the best game face and that is a fact. His demeanor is always focused to win, no fear, no pressure… just pure confident swagger. Defend with pride, jump for rebounds, take charge, pressure the handler, pass, run, shoot, score, and trust yourself, I think that is what Jack must have looping in his head when he is wearing his Don jersey. Is he a robot? Did he just spin and plow through four Knights and do a lay-up? Are the Warriors really scouting Jack? Did he just score four baskets in a row? And, what does his mother feed him for breakfast? It is hard to describe the talents of Jack Bayless, so just come watch him play, it’s easier to see him, than explain him and man is it fun to watch! Jack ended the game with 26 points.

Scoring Summary: Jack Bayless (26), Landon Best-Santos (11), Miller Smith (9), Bennett Dodge (6), Coco Gannon (4) and Justin Zegarowski (2)

“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” – Kobe Bryant

Freshman Dons: League 6-0 Overall 19-2

Wednesday, Jan 29: The Dons travel to Miramonte for conference game at 4pm

Friday, Jan 31: The Dons welcome Clayton Valley for a conference game at 4pm

Congratulations to all the WINS tonight for the Dons Basketball Family! JV and Varsity Girls & JV and Varsity Boys with the Freshman team… it is a total of 5 victories! It’s a good, good, good day to be a DON!