This was the third meeting or rubber match between the two teams with Northgate prevailing by 14 in the Dougherty Valley Holiday Tournament and the Dons winning by 1 at home earlier this month. This was the first time both teams played with their full rosters and the two Northgate players I thought got promoted to JV last time were back again adding to the challenge.
Coach Thomas shook up the starting lineup inserting Miles Blackhart, coming off his best game of the season at Miramonte, along with Brody Darin again at point. Both played well and Blackhart opened the scoring for the Dons with a baseline bucket to tie the game at 2. Next Braedon Christie found Avyn Morales for a bucket down low to make it 7-4 Broncos. Dylan Rocca came in midway through the quarter scoring twice, once on a pass from Morales and then on a follow up as the Dons were down at the end of the quarter 13-8.
The Broncos opened the quarter on a 9-0 run to make the score 22-8 as the Dons struggled with turnovers and defensive rebounding. Three’s by Morales and Christie stopped the bleeding as the Dons got it back to 23-17 at one point. Northgate responded with a big three off another offensive rebound and added a spicy fast break floater from Andrew (#2) to give them a 28-17 halftime lead.
The Broncos continued to pour it on pushing the lead up to 35-18 in the third as they continued to control the glass and generate easier fast break scoring opportunities. However, midway through the quarter the Dons found a rhythm and made a charge for the ages with a 12-0 run of their own. It started with Morales and Christie free throws, then a Christie and-1 and a Sam Bishop 3 to put us down 35-28 headed into the final stanza.
Bishop added two more on a barnstorming move to the hoop to get us to within 5 at 35-30. Northgate was finally able to stop the run and it was our Achilles’ heel all night that did the Dons in as the Broncos scored on three fast break layups plus some free throws had the Broncos up 14 at 44-30. Morales and Christie added free throws of their own and Rocca hit a beautiful top of the key three but the Dons couldn’t pull off the miracle comeback. Your final score was 48-36.
This was a different looking Dons team then we saw in the frustrating loss to Miramonte. Coach Thomas had a heart to heart with the team at the next practice that really helped clear the air. We competed hard and didn’t give up when we faced a 17 point deficit at one point. The Broncos were in half court trap most the game and we had trouble penetrating it to get good looks on offense, often times overdribbling versus making quicker passes to swing the ball. Defensive rebounding continues to plague the Dons on this tough road trip and unofficially we were probably outscored by 20+ on fast break points.
The Dons were led by Christie with 10, Morales with 9 and Rocca with 7. The Broncos had a fairly balanced scoring attack but Andrew (#2) stood out with 11 points and Adan (#15) had 10. We outscored the Broncos on three’s 5-3 and we were 9 for 16 from the stripe while Northgate was 11 for 18.
The Dons fall to 5-11 on the season and 2-5 in league play, having lost four in a row and five of their last six. Next up is the rematch at Las Lomas on Monday, January 31st and a non-league game at Arroyo in San Lorenzo on Tuesday, February 1st. The Dons will finally get to return home to the friendly confines of Huber Arena on Friday, February 4th for a rematch against crosstown rivals Campolindo. All games start at 4pm. GO DONS!!!!