Easing into a back to back game one night after defeating Concord High School, the Dons took on the Washington Huskies, one of the earliest established California public high schools dating back to 1891. These Huskies donned in orange and black, were clearly a team of panache and finesse. Their warmups left the fans feeling slightly on edge that this was going to be a formidable contest.

The game started somewhat by what the playbook predicted, Washington getting the tip, putting up the first points of the game and after sharing some back and forth 3’s – Dons 3 by Noah Bloch on an assist from Theo Stoll – the game was tied 7-7 with 4:22 left in the first period.

As thrilling as it is to have a dominate game filled by offensive prowess that racks up countless 3’s, double-digit assists, and fast-breaks that spin your head, along with wholesome defense, and thunderous rebounds, all of which this game had, sometimes the sweetest victory is marked by a full team effort. 

The joy of these Dons is that every game is a full team effort. The Dons bench is the most exciting in the league, their excitement for the game is palpable. Sometimes the roll of the bench isn’t just to fire up the starters but also to take the floor and show your opponents that the 6^th man is 10 players deep.

Scouting reports said that 6’ 6” senior #23 Alex Martin from Washington was the man to shut down. Although Martin did put up a lot of points, from the first minute of the game Jack Bayless got into Martin’s head and it helped set the tone for the entire game.

The first period marked a lot of action by the usual suspects – Theo running the floor with steals, assists, great play making, Tate Nelson with his poise and finesse, Jake Davis dominate in middle on both ends of the court, Jack constantly all in putting up shots, creating turnovers, committing smart fouls and serving up sweet assists to none other than Noah Block who hit 3s and constantly kept the defense thinking. The starters played hard defense but one of the highlights was seeing the bench swing into action. Justin Zegarowski and Nathan Bennet jumped into the game without skipping a beat and by the end of the first period the Dons were up 15-12.

A lot can be said about a starting 5, but often the unwritten highlights come from deep benches. The second period saw continued action by Nathan Bennett, Landon Santos, Brady Quinn, Zubin Acuna, and Colin Norstad. One of the highlights, igniting the Dons stands, was when Zubin took on an offensive charge. It sent Acuna to the floor but he quickly jumped to his feet having stopped a 2 point play and creating a turnover. Noah continued his streak of making 4 point plays but the most intriguing stat is that by the end of the half the Dons bench kept their scoring on pace with first period and also shut down Washington’s offense. The half ended with the Dons up 30-14.

The 3^rd period saw both teams committing a lot of fouls, though the Dons led that stat putting the Huskies into bonus early in the half. The 3^rd period also continued to see good action from a variety of players. Tyler Murphy and Jordan Brown got into the action, Tyler both making some smart fouls as well as drawing fouls and sinking free throws from the line and Jordan feeding Tyler for a pretty under the basket reverse layup. The Huskies kept the game alive hitting at 3 at the end of the 3^rd period going into the 4^th with the Dons leading 48-34.

The 4^th period was a sweet way to solidify the victory. The Huskies made a lot of 3 attempts and spent a lot of time on the free throw line, and the Dons continued to utilize the deep bench bringing in Taran Krishan, Levi Rudin, joining Landon, Norstad and Brady to hold off the Huskies. Brady finished the game draining a 3 and the Dons closed out the win with a score of 63-50.