The following Write-up is from Westcoastpreps.com who covered this game live:

Nothing is in the way of Acalanes girls basketball.

As players gathered around their head coach, Margaret Gartner, smiles came about everywhere on the court. Parents huddled nearby, thrilled and celebrating just how strong this team has been and all of its accomplishments thus far.

Acalanes added a banner to its storybook campaign, as the No. 23 Dons (21-2, 10-0 DFAL) clinched an outright Diablo Foothill Athletic League title with a 73-53 victory at Northgate (19-5, 8-3).

It marked Acalanes’ 19th consecutive win. 

“It’s been so special,” said Acalanes junior Emily Du. “We had a ton of freshmen coming in. We work so well together.”

The Dons earned the 20-point road win without star freshman point guard KK Lacanlale, one of the top players in the state, who consistently scored 15-plus points per game.

Early on, Northgate stormed out to a 11-2 lead in Lacanlale’s absence, but that’s when Acalanes figured everything out, going on a 13-1 run to end the first quarter to take a 15-12 lead. 

By halftime, it was 39-25, and Acalanes never let the lead dwindle under 14 past that point. 

“We’ve had practices and we’ve worked on if we can’t rely on KK because she’s a really big part of our team,” said Acalanes freshman guard Natalie Frechman. “We just worked on offense without her, and we still have her call us.”

Every shot Acalanes threw up went in, especially in the first half.

Twenty-four of its 39 first-half points came from long range, as the Dons were 8-of-13 (61.5%) at the three-point line through the first 16 minutes. Frechman had four threes, freshman Sophie Chinn had two, and sophomore Natalie Lyons and freshman Dulci Vail made one.

“A lot of moving around, a lot of screens,” Frechman said. “We pass the ball around a lot.”

At the head of the charge was Frechman, whose shooting was reminiscent of the nearby Golden State Warriors.

Frechman finished with a team-high 22 points and was 7-of-9 from long distance, equal to an absurd 77.8% clip. She hit four of her seven three-pointers in the first half to stretch the Acalanes lead to 14 before adding three more after halftime.

“She made every shot,” Chinn said. “She kept us in the game. She did great today.”

And Acalanes’ freshman class, like it has all year, produced in incredible ways.

Next to Frechman was Vail at 14 points, making two three-pointers, grabbing three offensive rebounds, registering one steal and forcing a jump ball. Meanwhile Chinn scored 12 points, hit two threes, got a steal and deflected a pass. 

“We all bond well,’ Frechman said. “We go and get lunch together. We cheer each other on at practices. We just spend a lot of quality time together, which gets us closer and lets us play better.”

Lyons, only a sophomore, scored 12 points and totaled two steals. Plus, she was a perfect 3-of-3 at the free throw line. 

Du scored 10 points, brought in four offensive rebounds, deflected two passes and blocked one shot. 

Sophomore Jenna Steele converted one three in the third quarter, along with a steal and offensive rebound, while junior guard Isabella Aris-Dumas had two points, one steal and forced two jump balls.

“I think it’s just our teamwork and practices,” Frechman said. “We’re always encouraging each other and our coaches are always encouraging us to do better. We always put in more work than we need to.”