JV hoops squared off against the San Rafael Bulldogs in the Seventh Place game Saturday morning at Chris Huber Memorial Gymnasium. The Dons rolled out a starting lineup of Gavin Dodge, Josh Elerts, Nico Ortman, Alex Butler and Connor Hession. It was an ominous start as the Dons dug an 11-2 early hole after turning the ball over on 5 of their first 7 possessions. A Josh block led to a Butler jumper on the other end to open the scoring. Preston Hilsabeck and Jake Elerts came in with just over three minutes left and immediately paid dividends with Preston finding Jake for a three and then brother Josh finding Jake again for another one from deep trimming the lead to 12-8. Ortman’s fourth turnover of the quarter led to an easy Bulldog fastbreak layup before JB Frolich, who had a team high +20 plus/minus rating in this game, added a putback to put the Dons down just 4 at 14-10. The Dons had 8 turnovers in the period but would only have 6 more the entire night…whew!
Dons started the second with a lineup of all Super Sophomores – Cole Gwaltney, Dylan Rocca, Sam Bishop, Avyn Morales and JB Frolich who turned up the defensive intensity and got the entire bench engaged. A Gwaltney steal fired things up and led to a Frolich three to narrow the deficit to 16-13. Bishop started making his presence felt on D and was fouled on a drive converting both to make it 16-15 Bulldogs. A Morales steal and Bishop hustle play on the other end came up short as Morales was unable to convert the free throws but you could feel the momentum shifting. Frolich joined the party with a steal and Morales made a nifty spin move that led to a Rocca putback. The Dons D continued to frustrate the Bulldogs with another Morales steal and Liam Gallacher followed up on the other end to even the score at 19. Morales then corralled a loose ball off a Frolich deflection that led to a Morales jumper assisted by Rocca to give the Dons their first lead at 21-19. Another Morales bucket put the Dons up 4 before multiple turnovers capped off an ugly end to the quarter and we trailed 25-23 at the break.
The same starting lineup for the game came out in the third. Hession was fouled making 1/2 and Butler had a pretty left finish to put us down 1. #0 for the Bulldogs took over hitting multiple three’s as the lead grew to 34-26 before Freshmen Dodge and Josh Elerts started to take over on offense. Josh found Dodge for a baseline jumper but Dodge then fouled #0 on a 3 who made 2 and the Bulldogs were up 36-28. Josh went to work in the post backing down his defenders for back to back buckets, the second one on a nice pick and roll with Hilsabeck. Another 3 from #0 was followed by a Dodge layup on a dribble handoff from Josh. Josh continued his dirty work down low on the next three possessions, getting fouled on one hitting 1/2, then with the and-1 finish with seconds remaining to put the Dons down 3 at 41-38 to end the third.
After a Dons travelling violation on the opening possession, the Bulldogs started to pull away with two fairly easy buckets in the paint forcing the Dons to call timeout with 6:47 to play down 45-38. The Bulldogs added two free throws and the Dons found themselves down 9 with 5 minutes left. Hood checked in and immediately buried a three on an assist from Gallacher for his first JV bucket, cutting the lead to 47-41. Dodge and Josh checked in on the next dead ball with 4:25 left and this final grouping along with Hood, Frolich and Morales would stage a heroic late game comeback. Morales had a huge block and then forced an airball on the Bulldogs next possession as another opponent didn’t want to end up on a rejection highlight reel somewhere. Dodge, cool as the other side of the pillow, came down and nailed a big three to cut the lead to 3 with 3 minutes to play. Josh found Dodge on a nice back door cut off an inbounds play and he deposited both putting the Dons down 1 with just over two to play. After back to back turnovers by both teams, San Rafael got a layup putting them up 49-46. Hood got fouled on a baseline drive the next time down and hit both getting us back to down one with a little over one minute left.
Dodge then made the Play of the Game, jumping the passing lane for a steal and taking it coast to coast for the Dons first lead since the second quarter, 50-49 with 53 seconds left as the Bulldogs called time and the bench erupted. The Bulldogs frantically brought the ball down running a nice give and go but missing the layup. Needing to run clock, Hood drove and was blocked but the ball went out of bounds to the Dons with 30 seconds remaining. Morales fumbled the inbounds pass but Josh was able to recover it and Frolich was eventually fouled with 17 seconds left connecting on 1/2, Dons up 51-49. The Bulldogs got the ball in the front court and called another timeout with 11 seconds left to draw up a play. I imagine most people in the gym were thinking it’s going to #0 again. Sure enough, #0 inbounded the ball on the sideline and then sprinted across the lane as they tried to free him up with a crushing screen on Dodge in the lane but Morales read the play deflecting the pass and Josh was there to secure the ball drawing the foul with 4 seconds left on the clock. With ice water in his veins, Josh went to the line and took us home draining both for the 53-49 final.
The story in this one was mostly turnovers and free throws. After a tough start, the Dons only had 6 turnovers in the final three quarters. The Dons buried 10/14 free throws in the second which proved to be precious points in this one. We also shot well from deep, connecting on 5/10 (50%). We saw glimpses of really tough defense especially with that final group that brought us back in the last 4+ minutes of play. I thought the Freshmen handled themselves remarkably well down the stretch, making big plays and knocking down clutch free throws. Dodge led the way with 11 points and Josh had 10. Josh, Frolich and Rocca each pulled down 4 boards while Morales had 3 steals. We were 13/34 from 2 (38%), 12/19 from the FT line (63%), and 18/44 overall FG (41%).
Campolindo won the tournament, prevailing 67-50 over Berkeley. Piedmont squeaked by Cardinal Newman in the third place game 57-53 and Branson beat Redwood 50-44 to finish fifth. A very special thanks to all the parents and families who volunteered to make the Rhodes Tournament a smashing success. I heard the Coach’s Lounge was a big hit!
Morales, Morales, Morales! Big Congratulations to Avyn for winning the coveted John Rhodes Award! His heart and passion for the game is definitely what this special award is all about.
The Dons move to 2-2 (.500) on the young season and get some time off before facing Concord at home on Friday, December 16th at 5:30pm as Coach Jones faces his former team. Thank you everyone for all your loyal support and GO DONS!!!
