The Varsity team opened up the Piedmont tournament against Archie Williams High School (formerly Sir Francis Drake High School) from San Anselmo. It was a nail-biter until the last minute of overtime. Bill Russell once said “Remember that basketball is a game of habits. If you make the other guy deviate from his habits, you’ve got him.” That’s how the Dons were able to edge out the Falcons, adjusting their play and forcing the Falcons to break out of their habits. For the Dons fans it was a bit nerve-racking, but made for an exciting game!
The Falcons opened the game firing four 3s in the first period and seemed to have an answer for every move the Dons were making. When Theo Stoll hit a long range 3 from the top of the key, the Falcons splashed yet another 3 of their own. With 2:28 left in the period the Dons were down 5-12. The Dons started to come back, Justin Zegarowski drove hard to the basket for 2, Theo hit another 3 and Jordan Brown had a free-throw, but the Falcons hit yet another 3 to end the 1st leading 18 to 11.
Opening the second period, the Dons started making adjustments, holding the Falcons to just one 3 and matching their scoring. Zubin Acuna had a big period, hitting a 3, following with a pretty floater and then taking a hard foul and swishing both free-throws.
Other exciting action saw Jack Bayless playing hard, drawing fouls, feeding Jake Davis underneath and driving to the rim but at the end of the half the Dons still trailed by 7 with a score of Falcons 32, Dons 25.
The 3rd period continued to be a tough back and forth battle. Theo and Jordan each had 3s and the Dons pulled down a lot of boards, but the Falcons kept hitting outside jumpers. The Dons drew a lot of fouls, putting the Falcons into foul trouble, but the Falcons continued to capitalize on turnovers. Justin pulled off some high flying for a nice layup and the Falcons answered with a drive of their own.
The Dons closed out the 3rd with another Jack to Jake feed under the basket and won the period by 1, slightly trimming the lead but still down 42-48 going into the 4th.
The 4th period was intense. It opened up with the Dons fouling an outside shooter who converted all three free-throws. Zubin answered back with a deep 3 on an assist from Jake. The Dons went on a mini run, Jake driving for a hard 2, Theo drawing fouls and converting, Jack making a 3 point play, and late in the 4th period we had the first tie of the game with a score of 55-55! The Falcons then hit a 3 but Jake responded with another bucket. The Falcons answered back and then Zubin hit a 3 from the corner and the game was tied again with a one minute left.
With 14.9 ticks on the clock the Falcons were inbounding under their basket. The Dons held tight defense, forcing a bad shot, Jack grabbed the board and the clock ran out of time sending the game into a four minute overtime.
The Dons dominated in OT, Jake had 6 points, Theo and Jordan converting three-throws and Jack with another big board. They held the Falcons to just one bucket in OT, going 11-2 and closing out the game with a big 71-62 victory to open up the tournament! Theo and Jake were the high scorers of the game, each with 18.
The next game of the tournament is Friday at 8:30pm at Piedmont High School, come out for a great Friday night!