On Friday, the Dons hosted the Miramonte Matadors. Both schools were sporting large and fired up student sections and the Acalanes cheerleaders were in the house so it was a great environment for some hoops. Theo Stoll led off the scoring with a twisting reverse layup, and after a stop added a FT on a drive. The Dons were clearly looking to take away the shooting of the Mats and pressuring the perimeter with intensity leading to a few misses, which after a long possession for the Dons got Theo back to the line for 2. The Mats got on the board with a 3 but the Theo show continued with another driving layup to make it 7-3 and a Jack Bayless tip in got it to 9-3. Justin Zegarowski got to the hoop on an inbounds cut for 2 and then Jake Davis hammered home a transition dunk to make it 13-3 and force a Mats timeout. The coaching move worked with Miramonte getting back-to-back baskets before Jake got another 2 inside. Zubin Acuna got into the scoring act with a nice put back and the Dons led 17-9 to end Q1

Miramonte started off Q2 with a quick bucket but the Dons struck back with Colin Norstad hitting Brady Quinn with a beautiful pass for a layup and then on the next trip Brady returned the favor setting up Colin for 2 inside. Another layup from Theo on the left side made it 23-12 for the home team.  Miramonte got hot from 3 hitting three in a row, countered by 2 more Stoll layups to make it a 7 point game. The Mats hit another 3 and got a stop but after a defensive rebound Zeg scored on a nice move at the basket after a long outlet from Jake. A late 2 made it a 30-26 game at the half.

Jake got on the board first in Q3 with a tip-in, but it was a defensive battle for the first third of the quarter. The Mats got a 3 with 5 to play that Zeg answered with a bomb of his own. The Mats were not going away hitting another 3 and then Jack got a cutting 2 on a rare basket interference call. The Dons then ratcheted the defense up again and got a block from Jake, a trap steal from Brady and Zeg that turned into a layup for Jake and then a turnover on the next possession. It was still anybody’s game but the Dons’ point guard was FELLING IT as Theo drained a 3 on the next inbounds to get the lead back to 8, and another 3 on the next trip to make it 11, followed by a layup to extend to 13 before the Mats could stop the bleeding with a basket. Theo capped off his hot quarter with another trifecta to make it a 14 point game at the break. There are times when a player just can’t miss…this was one of those times and the Dons crowd recognized it and was hopping heading into the final period.

The Dons came out for Q4 with a long offensive set that led to a 3 from the corner for Brady assisted by Nate Bennett and a roar from the crowd that was still rolling in the momentum of Theo’s big Q3, but the Mats again countered to keep in striking distance. The Mats came out in a press and created a turnover which led to a 3, but the Dons methodically broke the press the next few times for a Brady 2 and then a Theo finger roll. Two more from distance for Miramonte’s Marcus Robinson and an and 1 made it a 9 point game but Theo answered with another press break layup. Theo was still cooking with 2 FT and another pull-up to get the Dons lead back to 13, but 2 quick Mats baskets forced a timeout from Coach Powers with 90 seconds remaining and an 8 point lead. Jack spilt a trap for a layup coming out of the TO and the Dons got a turnover next time down.  It looked like we were probably headed for some fouling and free throw games with a 10 point lead and the ball, but the Mats chose to press and defend which led to a layup from Jake and a 12 point insurmountable lead. A late foul from the Mats padded Theo’s scoring with 2 more and a 69-55 win for the Don’s in front of the appreciative crowd. Theo led the scoring with a career high 34 while Jake added 11, Zeg and Brady had 7 each and Jack had 6.