Coach Thomas rolled with the same five that finished the Las Lomas game, rewarding the group for their hard work and impressive play to close out that game. After going down 5-0, the regular starters came in and Avyn Morales got us on the board with an impressive layup with some “english” on it off the glass. Drew McKenzie was attacking the boards early and added a bucket down low as we trailed 8-4 at the end of the first.
Braedon Christie scored to open the second and added two free throws to tie the game at 8. Maddox Malm hit a smooth lefty bank shot off an assist from McKenzie to tie us again at 10. We continued to dissect their zone nicely as Brody Darin found Malm who dished it to Christie in the middle for our first lead of the game at 12-10. We went into the locker room at half tied again at 12.
We all know Acalanes is a second half team and we poured it on in the third as Morales started to take over the game. He first found Christie for the and-1 down low. Morales then added back-to-back threes that grew the lead to 21-14. Christie found Miles Blackhart for another bucket and Blackhart then added two free throws to put us up 25-17 going into the fourth.
What looked like a potential joyride into the victory circle quickly went south as just two minutes into the quarter the lead evaporated to one on countless Acalanes turnovers. Morales found the nearest phone booth to put his Superman cape back on nailing a three to put us up 28-24 at one point. However, after an Arroyo three and free throw, the score was tied at 28 and we headed into overtime.
Morales got us on the board with a reverse layup on a nice assist from McKenzie off the press break but Arroyo countered with a deep three to go up one. Morales answered right back with another three, his fourth of the game, to put us back up 33-31. After Arroyo missed three consecutive shots from deep, Morales got a steal and was fouled on a breakaway layup with about twenty seconds left. With the home fans doing their best to distract him, Morales iced the game hitting both free throws to send us home with a 35-31 win.
The “Good” Dons were led by Morales who had 18 points with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block. Christie added 9 and Blackhart 4. The “Bad” Dons (Arroyo) were led by Josh (#3) with 12 and Seb (#5) with 6. It was a sloppy game for both teams as Acalanes had 29 turnovers. The team showed true grit in pulling it out, extending our OT record to 2-0 and we are now 3-1 on games decided by 4 points or less. Our best performance of the year at the line arguably won us the game as we were 7 for 8 (88%).
The Dons move to 6-12 on the year and 2-6 in league play, snapping their five game losing streak. Next up cross town rival Campolindo, Friday, February 4th at home at 4pm. GO DONS!!!!
