The 6-5 JV Dons faced off against them 10-5 Ugly Eagles in a Friday the 13th THRILLER!
The Dons sent Freshmen Gavin Dodge and Josh Elerts along with Sophomores Maddox Malm, Drew McKenzie and JB Frolich into battle at the tip. A Maddox to Gavin to JB connection opened the scoring. JB added a nice baseline finish and Maddox banked in a three for a 7-3 advantage. JB made a nice block and Maddox hit a floater to put us up 9-6. Nico Ortman added a nice drive to cap the scoring for the quarter and it was 12 all at the end of one.
The Dons gave up an easy offensive rebound early before a Gavin to Sam Bishop to Drew press break tied us again at 14. Maddox scored on a nice drive, Sam hit a three and Alex Butler had a nice lefty finish to put us up 22-17. Sam had 5 steals in the half and made two free throws to get us to 24 as we held a three point lead going into the locker room. Maddox led the way at the half with 7 points and 5 boards.
Clayton hit a quick three to tie it at 24 followed by two back-to-back turnovers that led to fastbreak layups putting us down 24-28. The Eagles got it up to 6 before Alex answered, converting two at the line and then Maddox had a nice steal finding Gavin to get us back within two 28-30. Maddox and Josh both had blocks on the same possession and JB chipped in two from the stripe plus another nice baseline bucket to put us back up 32-30. #14 on Clayton then took over the game scoring 8 points in a row to put the Eagles up six 32-38 going into what is typically considered the fourth and final period.
Fasten your seatbelts, this writeup is really just getting started!
Gavin went on a nice scoring run that started with a nice take to the basket, then a three on a nice assist from Maddox, 1/2 at the line, and a sweet baseline J courtesy of Sam that got us to within two 40-42. Maddox then found Conor for a bucket, added a gorgeous runner off the glass and buried a three to put us down one 47-48 with just over a minute to go! The Dons got the ball back after a defensive stop and called timeout with 55 seconds left setting up a huge Gavin corner three to put us up 50-48…OMG! But Clayton managed to break through our D and tie it up with a layup. The Dons called another timeout with seconds left to go for the win. Alex ended up getting fouled and went to the line for a one-and-one with 10 seconds to play. He missed the front end and Maddox tipped the rebound back out to Alex. Alex found Gavin who gave it right back to him and Alex drove to the basket but was unable to score or get a foul call. The ball caromed back out to Dodge who threw up a mid-range shot that glanced off the rim. Clayton tipped it out right to Maddox who quickly gathered and fired up a buzzer beater from three that just missed off the front rim as the whole building took a collective breath…this one was not over yet. Watch final seconds from Q4 here: https://youtu.be/ahJSj_ez6mo
The Eagles took the lead in OT before Maddox had an epic dish from the corner to a sprinting Dodge down the lane to tie it at 52. The Eagles added two free throws on a questionable call to go up 52-54. After a timeout with 43 seconds to go, Maddox rifled another pass from the corner to Conor underneath the basket but it went through his hands and ended up being recovered by Alex. Sorry I don’t remember exactly what transpired next but we didn’t score and Clayton got the ball back but we were able to turn them over setting up a timeout with 18.9 seconds to go down two. Gavin brought the ball up and found Maddox who gave it to Alex for a drive from the left side. It looked like he may have been fouled but the ball went out of bounds off Clayton with 6 seconds to play. Out of timeouts, Alex got it into Gavin who looked for Maddox again in the corner but he as doubled and unable to receive the pass. The Dons just came up short 52-54 in an instant classic. Watch final OT seconds here: https://youtu.be/ccCMAye9sAw
As a team we shot 14/36 from 2 (39%), 5/15 from 3 (33%), 19/51 overall (37%) and 9/13 from the line (69%) with 36 rebounds, 9 assists and 21 turnovers. Another solid game from Gavin who went wire to wire again and had 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and team high +9 for +/-. Maddox had a double-double with 12 points, 3 assists and team highs of 10 boards and efficiency rating +18.
Next up for the Dons (6-6 overall, 2-1 in league) two home games next week on Wednesday against Northgate and Friday against Miramonte. GO DONS!!!