Replay of this game can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9bx8srEZWE
This was the first home game in forty-eight days that was open to spectators other than immediate family and you could feel the added intensity and excitement to this cross-town rivals matchup right out of the gate.
After Campo scored on two free throws off a fast break right off the jump ball, Nico Ortman gave the Dons the lead with a huge three. Sam Bishop followed with another three as our defense was frustrating the Cougars early causing turnovers on three consecutive possessions. Braedon Christie added two free throws and two more points on a nice drive to the hoop. We were rolling up 10-2!
Campo responded with an layup off a well designed curl cut play and then their full court pressure started to yield easy opportunities. After a quick layup and a three, the Dons were only up one. Christie scored again and we held on to a 12-11 lead going into the second.
Campo hit their stride and ended up going on a 24-2 run at one point to put them up 26-12. Dylan Rocca hit a big three to stop the bleeding and Maddox Malm added another from deep on the next trip down. Avyn Morales had a follow up bucket to get us within 29-20 and that’s the closest we got for the rest of the evening. Score was 31-20 at half.
The Cougars continued to distance themselves putting together another 10-0 run that put them up 39-20. Drew McKenzie had a great block and then a finish on other end for some much needed points. Christie added a couple more free throws and we were down 42-24 going into the fourth.
Campo put the nail in the coffin with another 9-0 run to start. The Dons added a couple more highlights with Justin Tan smoking a three and Cole Gwaltney dropping a dime to Miles Blackhart down low. The final score was 64-29.
The energy when we jumped out to that early lead was electric in the building, definitely one of the high points of the season. Campo applied full court pressure and played aggressive man to man defense the entire game. Some ball fakes, pump fakes and back door cuts could have been the antidote but that’s something we haven’t seen much of all year. Campo’s defense and set plays on offense generated a lot of easy buckets while we really had to work hard for everything. They shot the ball well too and out dove us for loose balls (unofficially 9-1) so hats off to them for a great game.
The Dons were led by Christie with 8 while Ortman, Tan, Rocca, Bishop and Malm each added a three. Campo got 14 points from #12 and 9 from #25. Three pointers were pretty even but Campo had the edge 6-5. We were 4 for 6 from the line (67%) while the Cougars finished 6 for 10 (60%).
The Dons are now 6-13 and 2-7 in league play. Exciting last week of basketball ahead with three home games. Monday, February 7th against Miramonte, Wednesday February 9th against College Park and Friday, February 11th against Clayton Valley Charter. Come on out and support this team! GO DONS!!!!
