The JV Dons faced off against cross town rivals Miramonte Friday evening at Chris Huber Memorial Gymnasium. The Dons came into this one looking to snap a two game losing streak, both very close games, and to claw back to .500 on the season.
Interim Coach Jack Hemmenway took over the squad late this week and he was assisted by Freshman Coach Eric Thomas on the bench. Starters were Junior Connor Hession, Sophomores Maddox Malm and JB Frolich, and Freshmen Gavin Dodge and Josh Elerts.
The Dons got off to a dominant start in the first. JB cracked the seal with a triple and Maddox dropped a dime to Gavin to go up 5-0. The D was engaged in creating turnovers and Conor had a nice block. Josh backed his man down for two then Maddox added a coast to coast nice lefty finish. Josh and Sam Bishop both added a pair of free throws and those two connected for a Josh bucket to give us a very nice 15-3 advantage going into the second.
After a quick Miramonte steal and fastbreak layup, Gavin threw a deep pass to Preston Hilsabeck who made an acrobatic grab and dished it back to the cutting Gavin for two. Another give and go, this time Gavin to Jake and back again for the Gavin three-ball, 20-8. Then Maddox found Cameron Hood, making his return back from an injury, for a pretty top of the key three. We would have won the second quarter but Miramonte hit a desperation three off the glass at the buzzer to make it 23-13 going into the locker room.
Lots of give and go’s in this game and the third opened with another from Maddox and Gavin who set Maddox up from deep to put us up 26-13. Miramonte responded, scoring the next seven to close the gap 26-20. Alex Butler and Josh both split free throws setting up what was definitely the wildest possession of the night. With a little over a minute to go, the Dons worked the ball around masterfully looking like the Golden State Warriors for a moment, as Drew McKenzie got the first shot off. He missed and what followed next was a raw display of heart and desire as we got six shots up culminating in a Josh “cleanup on aisle 5” special to extend the lead to 30-20. Drew also threw his own little block party with two at the end of the quarter as we maintained our halftime lead…30-20 Dons.
The fourth opened with a turnover and fastbreak layup by Miramonte to close the gap and the score was 30-23 with 7 left to play. That’s where Maddox blew the game wide open, going on an 8-0 scoring outburst over the next 85 seconds. It started with a beautiful midrange jumper right in his defender’s face followed by a huge block on the other end. The sniper then hit back to back dagger three’s from virtually the same spot, much to the delight of the crowd and the Varsity brethren looking on. Preston found Josh on a nice look who missed but got his own board (patent pending) and we had a commanding 40-23 lead. Everyone made plays! Liam Gallacher came in to immediately make his presence felt with three steals in three minutes! Liam found Cole Gwaltney for a bucket. Cole found Jake Elerts and Dylan Rocca had a nice put back to get us to 47-25. Miramonte added some three’s at the end to make the final a little closer than this one really felt, 47-33.
As a team, the Dons shot 11/27 (41%) from 2FG, 6/21 (29%) from deep, 17/48 (35%) overall and 7/11 (64%) from the line. 34 rebounds, 7 blocks, 6 steals, 18 turnovers against 11 assists. I must say 11 assists on 17 made buckets is, without a doubt, the highest ratio on the year demonstrating just how well we played together as a team in this contest and indeed Warriors-like. Maddox led the way with 13 points on 3/6 from deep and 5/9 overall plus 4 rebounds and +/- of +14 Josh was critical in this one as well with a team high +24 to go along with 11 points on 4/6, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Gavin added 7 points and 8 boards.
The Dons move to 7-7 on the season and 3-2 in league play. Up next just the biggest game of the year Tuesday 1/24 against our nemesis Campolindo (9-1, 5-0 in league per MaxPreps).
To watch the recording of the game, click here: https://www.youtube.com/live/1JdTv1HHuw0?feature=share
GO DONS!